Joseph McGrail-Bateup from Canberra, Australia, has been officially recognized as the world’s loudest person by Guinness World Records. McGrail-Bateup achieved this title with a shout measuring 122.4 decibels. This surpasses the previous record of 121.7 decibels, held by Annalisa Flanagan of Northern Ireland since 1994.

McGrail-Bateup’s shout of ‘now’ falls within the noise level of a chainsaw or a close-range jet takeoff. This achievement, demonstrated in Canberra, was accomplished without specific training. ‘You can’t really practice for it,’ he shared. After multiple attempts with his voice suffering afterward, he finally broke the record.

He emphasizes that there’s no official record for the loudest man, which he now claims separate from Flanagan’s title as the loudest woman. McGrail-Bateup became involved with competitive shouting after his appointment as Canberra’s town crier in 2017, a role that involves announcements at various local events.

As part of the Ancient and Honorable Guild of Australian Town Criers, McGrail-Bateup previously won a competition with a call reaching 98 decibels. For his record-setting shout, he chose the word ‘now’ after some experimentation. This historic moment was captured in a Canberra radio studio with the presence of witnesses and a professional acoustic engineer.

This is not McGrail-Bateup’s first world record. He had set an archery speed record in 2019, which was surpassed months later by a young competitor. Still, he embraces the possibility of his latest record being broken, viewing it as part of the nature of record-breaking pursuits.