The Busker is a Maltese indie pop band founded in 2012, consisting of three members, namely David "Dav.Jr" Meilak (born 11 October 1994),[3] Jean Paul Borg (born 27 August 1993),[4] and Sean Meachen (born 19 November 1993).[5] The band
represented Malta in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song "
Dance (Our Own Party)", which peaked at number one in their home country of Malta for 13 consecutive weeks and was the country's most played song of 2023.[6][7]
Career
The Busker was formed in October 2012 by singer and guitarist Dario Genovese and percussionist Jean Paul Borg. The band began by
busking on the streets of Malta, hence the band's name.[8] Not long after, they started posting covers and original music on
YouTube.[9] Two years later, bassist and keyboardist David Grech and saxophonist Sean Meachen joined. The group draws inspiration from 1960s pop bands such as
The Beatles and
The Beach Boys.[10]
The band went on to release four
extended plays, which led up to the launch of their debut album, "Telegram", released in 2017.[11] Another album was released the following year, entitled "Ladies and Gentlemen", which won Best Album of the Year at the Lovin Music Awards.[8][12] Genovese and Grech eventually left the group,[10][13] and shortly after, Meilak joined the band as the lead singer and frontman.[14] The band subsequently released their fifth extended play, "X", on 1 September 2021.[9]
In November 2022, The Busker was confirmed to be among the 40 participants in the
Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2023, the festival used to select the Maltese representative in the annual
Eurovision Song Contest.[15] Their competing song, "
Dance (Our Own Party)", was submitted the following month. After qualifying first from the quarter-finals and then the semi-finals of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest,[16] on 11 February 2023, the band performed in the final, where they won with the combined support of the judging and televoting. Their victory granted them the right to represent Malta at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in
Liverpool.[17] They performed in the first semi-final, but did not qualify to the grand final.[18] After Eurovision, the band went on to release two singles, both of which peaked at number two in Malta.[19][20]