Guinness crowns Canberra town crier as the world’s loudest person at 122.4 decibels

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Joseph McGrail-Bateup, an Australian professional air conditioner cleaner and honorary town crier, has been recognized as the world’s loudest person.

Guinness World Records last week acknowledged the 58-year-old Canberra resident recorded the loudest ever shout by an individual. He yelled “now” at 122.4 decibels.

That broke the previous record of 121.7 dB set by Northern Ireland schoolteacher Annalisa Flanagan in 1994. She had yelled an ear-piercing “quiet.”

That is in the noise range of a chain saw, a jet aircraft taking off and an ambulance siren at close range.

The record attempt was not something McGrail-Bateup could train for, he said Tuesday.

“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,” McGrail-Bateup said.

“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 considered himself the world’s loudest man rather than the loudest person, he said. There was no previous record for 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.

McGrail-Bateup said he stumbled upon Flanagan’s record when searching Guinness World Records unsuccessfully for feats in the realm of town crying.

He became competitively loud when he was appointed the official town crier of the national capital Canberra in 2017. It’s an honorary and part-time role established by the local government which he considers “a bit of fun.” His town crier name is Lord Joseph.

He makes announcements at community events, school fetes and car shows.

With the job came membership of the Ancient and Honorable Guild of Australian Town Criers, a competitive professional organization dedicated to preserving members’ historic and ceremonial roles.

He won a 2024 guild competition with the loudest “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez,” at 98 dB. That was a command for silence and attention before an Australian town crier makes a proclamation.

He experimented with several words for his world record attempt before settling on “now.”

His shout was recorded May 2 in a Canberra radio studio by a professional acoustic engineer and with witnesses present. The files were sent to Guinness World Records, which announced the record Friday.

It’s the second time McGrail-Bateup has broken a world record. In 2019, he broke a speed record for an archer shooting 10 arrows. His time of 60.03 seconds shaved a fraction of a second off a record that had stood since 2015.

Nine months later, a 7-year-old boy shattered McGrail-Bateup’s record by 11.4 seconds.

McGrail-Bateup wasn’t interested in attempting to regain the archery record or in keeping his shouting record.

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