Michael Gordon Clifford (born 20 November 1995) is an Australian musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the pop rock band 5 Seconds of Summer. Since 2014, 5 Seconds of Summer have sold more than 10 million albums, sold over 2 million concert tickets worldwide, and the band's song streams surpass 7 billion, making them one of the most successful Australian musical exports in history.^[1][2][3][4]

Michael Gordon Clifford was born on 20 November 1995 and raised in the Quakers Hill suburb of Sydney, New South Wales which is northwest of the city.^[5] He is the only child of parents Karen and Daryl Clifford, who ran a computer business based near Quakers Hill.^[6] Michael Clifford attended Norwest Christian College where he befriended future band-mate Calum Hood in the third grade.^[7] For his high-school education, Clifford attended Norwest Christian College where he met band-mate, Luke Hemmings in Year 7. He later said that he initially "hated" Hemmings for "a solid year"; they became friends and formed the band.^[8] Clifford met future band-mate Ashton Irwin through mutual friends in Year 9. In a People magazine interview he reflected that he "spent a lot of time away from school". Clifford's irregular attendance resulted in him leaving high school when he was in year 10 instead completing a course at TAFE.^[9][10]

Growing up, Clifford took both singing lessons and piano lessons before quitting because he "hated" them. At the age of eleven, his parents bought him an acoustic guitar and Clifford began taking guitar lessons.^[5] In high-school, Clifford joined his school's church band as a guitarist.^[11]

In 2011, Clifford, Hood, and Hemmings began posting song covers on Hemmings' YouTube channel. The trio eventually added mutual friend Irwin to their videos, forming the current 5 Seconds of Summer lineup.^[12]  After months of posting song covers together, the band began attracting interest from major music labels and publishers and initially signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing.^[13] Clifford has since released five studio albums with the band, each met with worldwide success: 5 Seconds of Summer (2014), Sounds Good Feels Good (2015), Youngblood (2018), Calm (2020), and 5SOS5 (2022).

At the NAMM Show in January 2019, Clifford, in collaboration with Gibson, introduced the Michael Clifford Signature Melody Maker guitar. The guitar was released for purchase in May 2019, with Clifford citing his main inspiration for the guitar being his own first guitar, Joan Jett's Melody Maker.^[14] He said that the goal of the Melody Maker was to "be an homage to the Joan Jett Melody Maker" and that he hoped the guitar would "inspire" someone, just as Jett inspired him. Clifford is the youngest guitarist to ever receive a custom guitar in his name.^[14]

In June 2019, it was revealed Clifford had partnered with Nightfood Ice Cream in developing a custom chocolate flavor for the brand.^[15]

Apart from the band, Clifford has expressed interest in gaming.^[16] His Twitch account, which he uses to live-stream game sessions, has amassed over 150,000 followers.^[17][18] During the Australian Bushfires of January 2020, Clifford held a charity Twitch live-stream, in which all proceeds were donated to Australian Red Cross.^[19]

Clifford has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression.^[20][21] Since the beginning of his career, Clifford has used his platform to raise awareness and be an advocate for mental health.^[22][23][24] In June 2015, Clifford suffered minor face, hair, and shoulder injuries from a pyrotechnics accident during the band's Rock Out With Your Socks Out Tour at the SSE Wembley Arena in London.^[25]

In January 2019, Clifford posted on his Instagram account announcing his engagement to his girlfriend Crystal Leigh, a talent manager. On January 11, 2022 the couple announced their one-year anniversary, saying that they had gotten married in a private ceremony.^[26][27] On June 12, 2023 Michael and Crystal announced they are expecting their first child. On July 13, 2023 Clifford and his wife announced they were having a girl.^[28] On December 7, 2023, The couple announced the arrival of their first child, a daughter, Lua Stevie Clifford. She was born on Monday, October 30, 2023 in Georgia.^[29]

In 2019, it was reported that Clifford bought an eight-bedroom, 4-acre mansion in Los Angeles' Valley Village neighborhood located in San Fernando Valley.^[30] In July 2020, Clifford's net worth was estimated to be US$20 million.^[31]