Australian Man Crowned World’s Loudest Person After Shouting At Jet Takeoff Levels

An Australian town crier broke a 30-year shouting record with a 122.4-decibel cry of “now.”

Inside a Canberra radio studio on May 2, the 58-year-old Australian air conditioner cleaner and honorary town crier took a breath and shouted “now” with such force that a professional acoustic engineer recorded it at 122.4 decibels. Guinness World Records has now recognized the cry as the loudest shout by a person.

It was louder than a chainsaw, close to the roar of an ambulance siren at close range, and in the same rough sound neighborhood as a jet aircraft taking off. It also edged past the previous record holder: the 121.7-decibel shout of “quiet” by Annalisa Flanagan, a Northern Irish schoolteacher, in 1994.

Although the difference sounds tiny, it was not. Decibels climb logarithmically, meaning a small numerical increase can represent a meaningful jump in sound energy. McGrail-Bateup’s shout carried about 17 percent more sound energy than Flanagan’s old mark.

For the human ear, both would simply register as painfully, absurdly loud.

The Power of One Word

McGrail-Bateup chose the shout “now” for his Guinness World Records attempt with much consideration.

According to AP, he experimented with several words before settling on the short, explosive syllable. It was short, sharp and easy to drive out in a single burst.

The attempt took seven tries. McGrail-Bateup says this is not something you can really train for.

“There’s no way that you can actually practice for it. You have to just keep it for the day, especially with the world record attempt,” the man told AP.

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“It took me seven attempts just for one word, which was the word ‘now,’ and my voice was shot for the next couple of days as well. It was husky. It was terrible. So no, you can’t really practice for it. But it’s a lot of fun when you’re doing it,” he added.

Sound begins when air from the lungs rushes through the larynx and sets the vocal folds vibrating. The mouth, tongue and throat then shape that vibration into speech. Push too hard, and the same tissue that lets a person speak, sing or laugh can swell, fatigue or become irritated.

McGrail-Bateup’s hoarse aftermath was not surprising.

Why 122 Decibels Is So Extreme For a Human

A normal conversation usually falls somewhere around 60 decibels. Busy traffic can reach around 80 or 90. A chainsaw, siren or rock concert can climb far higher. At 122.4 decibels, McGrail-Bateup’s shout entered a range where sound becomes more than annoying. It can become physically harmful.

That does not mean his shout was as dangerous as standing all day beside noisy industrial machinery. Duration matters. A one-word cry is very different from hours of loud noise exposure. Perhaps this is a good time to remind you all to pack your earplugs for the summer music festivals.

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But the comparison helps explain the scale. Noise safety agencies often warn that long exposure above 85 decibels can damage hearing over time.

The old record belonged to Annalisa Flanagan, a Belfast primary school teacher’s 1994 shout of “quiet.” However, Flanagan is not out of the record book yet.

McGrail-Bateup said he was happy that Guinness allowed Flanagan to keep her place in the record books as the loudest woman, while recognizing him as the loudest man.

“I’m pleased that she (Flanagan) gets to keep her record. So, she’s still the loudest woman in the world and I’m the loudest male in the world,” McGrail-Bateup said.

The distinction is very fitting with the odd civic tradition that led him to the attempt in the first place.

A Modern Town Crier

McGrail-Bateup became Canberra’s official town crier in 2017, an honorary, part-time role created by the local government. His town crier name is Lord Joseph. He makes announcements at community events, school fetes and car shows.

The role predates microphones, loudspeakers and phone alerts. Town criers needed volume, clarity and theatrical presence. They had to gather attention in noisy public spaces, then deliver a proclamation to people who might be standing far away.

Today, the job is mostly ceremonial. But in McGrail-Bateup’s case, it also became training in public loudness, if not exactly training for this record.

In 2024, he won a competition held by the Ancient and Honorable Guild of Australian Town Criers with a 98-decibel cry of “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez.”

This was not McGrail-Bateup’s first record. In 2019, he set a Guinness record for shooting 10 arrows in 60.03 seconds. Nine months later, a 7-year-old boy beat him by more than 11 seconds.

He does not sound eager to defend his previous or current record.

“If someone beats me, that’s fantastic,” he said. “Records are meant to be broken.”