Melbourne: Joseph McGrail-Bateup, an Australian honorary town crier, has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's loudest person after recording a 122.4-decibel shout.
Guinness World Records last week confirmed the 58-year-old Canberra resident broke the previous record of 121.7 dB, set by Northern Ireland schoolteacher Annalisa Flanagan in 1994. McGrail-Bateup yelled the word "now", while Flanagan's record came from shouting "quiet". The volume is comparable to a chain saw, a jet aircraft taking off or an ambulance siren at close range.
McGrail-Bateup said the record attempt was not something he could prepare for.
"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.
He added that it took seven attempts to record the winning shout and left him hoarse for several days.
McGrail-Bateup said he considers himself the world's loudest man, noting there was no separate men's record before his attempt.
"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," he said.
He said he first came across Flanagan's record while searching Guinness World Records for achievements related to town crying.
McGrail-Bateup became Canberra's official town crier in 2017, an honorary part-time role established by the local government. Known as Lord Joseph, he makes announcements at community events, school fetes and car shows.
The role also made him a member of the Ancient and Honorable Guild of Australian Town Criers, a professional organisation dedicated to preserving the historic and ceremonial tradition of town crying.
In 2024, he won a guild competition after delivering the loudest "Oyez, Oyez, Oyez" at 98 dB, the traditional call for silence before a proclamation.
For his Guinness attempt, he experimented with several words before settling on "now". His shout was recorded on May 2 in a Canberra radio studio by a professional acoustic engineer, with witnesses present. The recordings were submitted to Guinness World Records, which announced the achievement on Friday.
This is the second time McGrail-Bateup has held a world record. In 2019, he broke the speed record for an archer shooting 10 arrows in 60.03 seconds, only for a seven-year-old boy to surpass the mark nine months later.
McGrail-Bateup said he had no interest in reclaiming the archery title or holding on to his shouting record.
"If someone beats me, that's fantastic," he said. "Records are meant to be broken."
