Regina Spektor
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albums | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Regina Spektor ( Russian Регина Ильинична Спектор ; German Regina Iljinitschna Spektor; born February 18, 1980 in Moscow ) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter from Russia who is counted on the alternative and pop scene.
Life
When Regina Spektor was nine years old, her Jewish parents, a music teacher and a photographer, emigrated with her to the USA via Austria and Italy due to anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. She grew up in the Bronx , New York , and after training in classical music, she recorded her first self-produced album 11:11 in 2001 with her own songs. She first produced her third album Soviet Kitsch herself and then in 2002 together with the producer of the band The Strokes , on whose North American tour Regina Spektor appeared as a pre-artist that same year. The song Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men , which can be heard on the single Reptilia by the Strokes , was created in cooperation . A European tour with Kings of Leon followed. Only the last two Regina Spektors albums were also distributed in Europe, until 2005 Regina Spektors commercial success was limited to the USA, especially its east coast.
In 2007 Spektor was able to achieve another success in Europe - the single Fidelity entered the British single charts at number 45. The single just barely missed the top 50 in the USA at number 51 on the Billboard charts . That same year she contributed the song Real Love , a cover by John Lennon , to the album Make Some Noise - The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur . In 2008 she sang the title You Don't Know Me in a duet with Ben Folds on his album Way to Normal .
In 2008 Spektor participated with the song The Call on the soundtrack of the film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian of Narnia . For the television series Orange Is the New Black , Spektor recorded the title song You've Got Time in 2013 , which was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Song . She is featured with two songs on the soundtrack of the comedy (500) Days of Summer .
In the summer of 2010, one day before Regina Spektors concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival , her cellist and band leader Daniel Cho drowned in Lake Geneva . Regina Spektor gave birth to a son in March 2014. Her child's father is writer, comedian, musician, actor and producer Jack Dishel (formerly with The Moldy Peaches ). He was also born in the Soviet Union. The two have been married since 2011, live in New York and occasionally work together.
Her seventh studio album Remember Us to Life was released on September 30, 2016 , four years after its predecessor What We Saw from the Cheap Seats .
style
Spector's style is described by the leading pop music webzine Popmatters as a "typical New York anomaly": It combines absurd combinations of images in texts with a soulful, empathetic voice that has made a name for it in the US indie scene. Her charming voice and the unusualness of her pieces are highlighted by the Rolling Stone .
"I make some decisions consciously because I don't want to be a pop star, but see myself as a working singer-songwriter who wants to explore her possibilities and grow musically."
Discography
Albums
- 2001: 11:11
- 2002: Songs
- 2004: Soviet Kitsch
- 2006: Begin to Hope
- 2009: Far
- 2012: What We Saw from the Cheap Seats
- 2016: Remember Us to Life
Concert albums
- 2010: Live in London (DVD / Bluray + 2CD), (concert in London on December 4th, 2009 )
EPs
- 2005: Live at Bull Moose EP
- 2007: Live in California 2006
Singles
- 2006: Carbon Monoxide
- 2006: Us
- 2006: On the Radio
- 2006: Fidelity
- 2007: Hotel Song
- 2007: Samson
- 2007: Better
- 2008: Raindrops
- 2009: Laughing With
- 2010: No Surprises
- 2010: The Call
- 2012: All the Rowboats
- 2012: Don't Leave Me ( Ne me quitte pas )
Compilations
- 2000: Public Domain
- 2006: Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories by Regina Spektor
- 2007: Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
- 2008: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian of Narnia Soundtrack
- 2009: (500) Days of Summer Soundtrack, titles "Hero" and "Us"
- 2016: The Hamilton Mixtape - "Dear Theodosia" (feat. Ben Folds )
Collaborations
- 2004: Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men (B-Side on the single "Reptilia" by The Strokes )
- 2007: Hell No (together with Sondre Lerche for the Dan - Mitten im Leben! Soundtrack)
- 2008: You Don't Know Me (together with Ben Folds on his album Way to Normal )
- 2009: Left Hand Song (together with Joshua Bell on the album At Home With Friends )
- 2011: Evil Twin Brother (together with Thomas Dolby on the album A Map of the Floating City )
- 2017: Revival (Interlude) (together with Marshall Mathers on the album Revival )
Awards
year | price | category | Nominee work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Shortlist Music Prize | Shortlist Music Prize | Begin to Hope | Nominated |
2012 | MTV Video Music Awards | Best Art Direction | All the rowboats | Nominated |
2014 | Grammy Award | Best Song Written for Visual Media | You've got time | Nominated |
literature
- Clifford Thompson, Miriam Helbok, Mari Rich: Current biography yearbook 2011 . 72nd annual, HW Wilson, New York, NY 2011, ISBN 978-0-8242-1121-9 , ISSN 0084-9499 (English).
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Regina Spektor on MusicBrainz
- Regina Spektor at Discogs (English)
- Regina Spektor at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chart sources: Charts DE Charts AT Charts CH Charts UK Charts US
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: US UK
- ↑ Melissa Block: Stories in Song: Regina Spektor's 'Begin to Hope' . NPR's All Things Considered, June 9, 2006.
- ↑ Cellist drowns in Lake Geneva . laut.de; Retrieved December 1, 2010
- ^ Regina Spektor's Facebook page, the news published on April 1, 2014
- ↑ Michael Frauenhofer: Regina Spektor: Begin to Hope . Popmatters, June 12, 2006.
- ↑ Jenny Eliscu: Regina Spektor: Begin to Hope . Rolling Stone, June 12, 2006.
- ↑ Roman Elsener: Pop Expressionist: Regina Spektor mixes styles, cultures and languages . In: NZZ , May 25, 2012; Review; Retrieved June 10, 2012
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Spector, Regina |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Спектор, Регина Ильинична |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Russian-American singer and pianist |
DATE OF BIRTH | February 18, 1980 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Moscow |