Australian town crier officially named world's loudest person
Joseph McGrail-Beitap, 58, from Canberra, broke a nearly 30-year-old record with a shout of “now!” at 122.4 decibels.
New world record
Joseph McGrail-Beitap, known as Lord Joseph, has been officially recognized as the loudest person on Earth. In May, he shouted the word “now!” in Canberra, Australia, reaching 122.4 decibels, surpassing the previous record of 121.7 dB set by Northern Irish teacher Annalisa Flanagan in 1994. His voice is louder than a chainsaw, a jet engine at takeoff, and a rock concert.
Road to the record
McGrail-Beitap has been Canberra's official town crier since 2017. He began entering local shouting competitions in 2022. In 2024, he won one contest with a 98 dB shout—equivalent to a snowmobile—and decided to go for the world record. According to him, his daughter helped choose the word “now” because the previous word “quiet” wasn’t loud enough.
From shy youth to record holder
As a young man, McGrail-Beitap was very shy. After school, he joined a theater where no microphones were used, learning to project his voice. This is not his first Guinness World Record: in 2019, he became the fastest to hit ten arrows in a 40 cm target from 18 meters, completing the feat in 1 minute and 0.03 seconds.
