Canberra town crier sets loudest person record with 122.4 dB shout

Canberra town crier Joseph McGrail-Bateup has been certified by Guinness World Records for a 122.4-decibel shout. The feat ended a 30-year mark and underlined his unusual rise from honorary crier to global record-holder.

In Short

• He needed seven attempts, and his voice stayed husky for days
• The record attempt was captured in a Canberra radio studio
• A professional acoustic engineer and witnesses verified the shout for Guinness

An Australian professional air-conditioner cleaner and honorary town crier has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s loudest person after recording a 122.4-decibel shout.

Joseph McGrail-Bateup, 58, from Canberra, broke the previous record of 121.7 dB set in 1994 by Northern Ireland schoolteacher Annalisa Flanagan, who had shouted the word “quiet”. McGrail-Bateup yelled “now”, a sound level in the range of a chain saw, a jet taking off and an ambulance siren at close range.

McGrail-Bateup said the record attempt was not something he could prepare for in advance. “There’s no way that you can actually practise for it. You have to just keep it for the day, especially with the world record attempt,” he said on Tuesday.

He said it took a toll on his voice. “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 practise for it. But it’s a lot of fun when you’re doing it,” he added.

McGrail-Bateup said he saw himself as the world’s loudest man rather than the loudest person, as there had been no previous record for the loudest man. “I’m pleased that she gets to keep her record. So she’s still the loudest woman in the world and I’m the loudest male in the world,” he said.

He said he came across Flanagan’s record while searching Guinness World Records for achievements linked to town crying. He became competitively loud after being appointed Canberra’s official town crier in 2017, an honorary part-time role created by the local government which he described as “a bit of fun”. His town crier name is Lord Joseph.

In the role, he makes announcements at community events, school fetes and car shows. It also brought him membership of the Ancient and Honorable Guild of Australian Town Criers, a competitive professional body focused on preserving members’ historic and ceremonial roles.

In 2024, he won a guild competition with the loudest “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez,” at 98 dB. The phrase is used by an Australian town crier to call for silence and attention before making a proclamation.

For the world record attempt, McGrail-Bateup tested several words before choosing “now”. The shout was recorded on May 2 in a Canberra radio studio by a professional acoustic engineer in the presence of witnesses. The files were then sent to Guinness World Records, which announced the record on Friday.

This is the second time McGrail-Bateup has broken a world record. In 2019, he set a speed record for an archer shooting 10 arrows in 60.03 seconds, trimming a fraction of a second off a record that had stood since 2015. Nine months later, a seven-year-old boy beat that mark by 11.4 seconds.

McGrail-Bateup said he was not interested in trying to win back the archery record or in holding on to his shouting record. “If someone beats me, that’s fantastic,” he said. “Records are meant to be broken.”

Guinness has now recognised McGrail-Bateup’s 122.4-decibel shout of “now” as the loudest ever by an individual, surpassing a record that had stood for three decades.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends