John Wesley Harding (b. 22 October 1965) is a folk/pop singer-songwriter who has called his style of music "folk noir" and "gangsta folk". He was born Wesley Stace in Hastings, East Sussex, England. His given name, Wesley, comes from John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, who preached one of his last sermons in the town where Harding was born. His stage name may be seen as an almost inevitable nickname for a folk-pop musician, in that his first name overlaps with the Bob Dylan album (and song) "John Wesley Harding".