MELBOURNE, Australia — An unlikely Australian record-breaker has secured his place in the Guinness World Records history books, dethroning a 30-year standing mark to earn the title of the world’s loudest male individual. Joseph McGrail-Bateup, a 58-year-old Canberra resident who works full-time as an air conditioner cleaner and serves as an honorary official town crier, earned the global recognition last week after delivering a shout that clocked in at 122.4 decibels.
His thunderous yell of the word “now” surpasses the previous 121.7 decibel record set back in 1994 by Annalisa Flanagan, a Northern Irish schoolteacher who famously shouted the word “quiet” to claim her mark. To put McGrail-Bateup’s achievement in perspective, his shout falls into the same noise intensity category as a running chainsaw, a departing jet aircraft heard at close range, and a blaring ambulance siren right beside the listener.
In an interview this week, McGrail-Bateup explained that the extreme nature of the feat meant no structured training or practice could prepare him for the record attempt. “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,” he said. “It took me seven attempts just to nail one word, which was ‘now,’ and my voice was completely gone for the next couple of days. It was husky and terrible, so you really can’t practice for it. But even so, it’s a lot of fun when you’re doing it.”
Unlike the previous all-gender record, no prior mark for the loudest male shout existed, so McGrail-Bateup said he is comfortable framing himself as the world’s loudest man, while Flanagan retains her title as the world’s loudest woman. “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 explained.
The accidental challenge came about when McGrail-Bateup was searching the Guinness World Records database for existing town crier-related feats, and stumbled across Flanagan’s long-standing shouting record instead. His path to competitive volume began in 2017, when he was appointed Canberra’s honorary official town crier — a part-time, unpaid ceremonial role created by the local government that he describes as “a bit of fun.” He goes by the ceremonial title Lord Joseph, and makes public announcements at local community gatherings, school fairs, and car shows across the region. The role also granted him membership to the Ancient and Honorable Guild of Australian Town Criers, a national organization that works to preserve the historic ceremonial tradition and hosts competitive events for its members.
Earlier this year, McGrail-Bateup took home first place in the guild’s 2024 national competition, delivering the traditional town crier opening call “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez” at 98 decibels to claim the win for loudest call. Ahead of his world record attempt, he tested out a range of different words to find which one delivered the maximum volume, before ultimately settling on the short, punchy single syllable of “now.”
The official record measurement took place on May 2 in a Canberra radio studio, with a professional acoustic engineer on hand to capture the reading and independent witnesses present to verify the attempt. The verified measurement files were submitted to Guinness World Records, which made the official announcement of the new record last Friday.
This is not McGrail-Bateup’s first experience breaking a global Guinness record. Back in 2019, he claimed a speed record for fastest archer to shoot 10 arrows, finishing the feat in 60.03 seconds and shaving a tiny fraction of a second off a mark that had stood unbroken since 2015. Just nine months later, however, a 7-year-old child shattered his archery record by an impressive 11.4 seconds.
Today, McGrail-Bateup says he has no interest in reclaiming the archery title, nor does he worry about someone eventually beating his new shouting record. “If someone beats me, that’s fantastic,” he said. “After all, records are meant to be broken.”