Born in Sussex, England in 1971, Antony spent his childhood in England, Amsterdam, and in the San Francisco Bay Area before moving to NYC at the age of 19. In 1990, he founded the performance collective Blacklips with creative partner Johanna Constantine, and spent the next several years developing his voice and ideas on late night stages around NYC.  Antony emerged with a focus on music with his musical ensemble “the Johnsons” in 2000. The same year British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 released Antony's debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, and a follow-up EP, I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy, in 2001.

Antony and the Johnsons' second album I Am a Bird Now won the UK's Mercury Prize in 2005 and was called Album of the Year by Mojo magazine. Featuring Peter Hujar’s timeless portrait “Candy Darling on her Deathbed” on its sleeve, the album featured guest appearances by Lou Reed, Devendra Banhart, Boy George and Rufus Wainwright. Antony and his musicians played over 150 concerts around the world between 2005-2006, including at Carnegie Hall, La Carre, the Sydney State Theater, and the Queen Elizabeth Hall with guests including Little Jimmy Scott and Marc Almond.