Singer Hannah Reid and guitarist Dan Rothman met in the dorms of Nottingham University where they began writing music together in 2009. They later added multi-instrumentalist Dot Major to complete the London Grammar line-up.

Their popularity rose with the 2012 release of "Hey Now" which they uploaded to the internet and instantly found an online cult following. Their self-released 2013 debut EP "Metal & Dust" reached the Top 5 of the iTunes chart.