Sophie Ellis-Bextor

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Sophie Ellis-Bextor in Leeds (2013)

Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born April 10, 1979 in London ) is a British singer-songwriter . Their music is a mix of pop, dance and new wave.

Life

Ellis-Bextor is the daughter of Janet Ellis (a former host on the BBC children's series Blue Peter ) and Robin Bextor (an award-winning director ). Her mother gave her her first television appearance as a child. She has been married to Richard Jones, a former musician in her band and now bassist for The Feeling , since July 2005 . They have five sons (born in 2004, 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2019).

Music career

Ellis-Bextor performing at the GAY club in London in 2007

Ellis-Bextor cites Blondie , Prince , David Bowie and Goldfrapp as musical role models .

1997–2000: theater and success with Groovejet

From the end of the 1990s, Ellis-Bextor was the singer in the band theaudience , with whom she was able to place herself in the British charts several times. After they broke up, she worked as a model , but then concentrated again on music and so in 2000, in collaboration with the Italian DJ Spiller, the single Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) was created , which in August 2000 topped the British Single charts stormed.

2001-2003: Read My Lips

After that, Ellis-Bextor managed to build a successful solo career. With her first single Take Me Home (2001), a cover version of Cher's 1979 hit of the same name , she jumped to number 2 on the British charts. With the two follow-up singles Murder on the Dancefloor and Get over You , she reached number 2 and number 3 in the UK charts. Murder on the Dancefloor also developed into an international hit in 2002 and placed in the top 20 of the German single charts. For her debut album Read My Lips , she worked with many music greats, such as the American musician Moby , Alex James (bassist for Blur ) and Gregg Alexander (former singer of the New Radicals ). The latter was also her main producer and co-writer. The album received a lot of critical acclaim. This was followed in 2002 by a fourth single, Music Gets the Best of Me , which made it to number 14 on the UK single charts. At the same time, Sophie Ellis-Bextor started her first tour, which also led her to four appearances in Germany.

2003-2004: Shoot from the Hip

With their second album, Shoot from the Hip , released in 2003 , Ellis-Bextor was unable to build on the commercial success of their debut, despite good reviews. The two released singles Mixed Up World and I Won't Change You nevertheless reached the top 10 of the British charts. In Germany, however, both singles could not place themselves high in the charts.

2004–2006: break

After the birth of her first son on April 23, 2004, the singer took a long break. She was only heard under the pseudonym Mademoiselle EB on the club hit Circles (Just My Good Time) by Busface. The song was released as a single in March 2005, but could not place in the UK charts.

2007–2011: Trip The Light Fantastic

In early 2007, Catch You, the first single from Ellis-Bextor's third album Trip the Light Fantastic, was released . The single was only released in the UK and reached number 8 on the singles chart. The second single, Me and My Imagination , was far less successful and only made it to number 23. Trip the Light Fantastic , released in May 2007, reached number 7 on the charts for one week. Trip the Light Fantastic was also released in Germany in May 2007. This album, too, received positive reviews from the critics. The third single, Today the Sun's on Us , was released again in August 2007 only in Great Britain and reached number 64 in the UK singles chart. The Trip the Light Fantastic Tour was supposed to start in autumn 2007, but was postponed to the end of 2007. When she got an offer to tour with Take That , her own tour was postponed again to early 2008. In late 2007, Today the Sun's on Us was even released in Germany. At the beginning of 2008 the decision was made in Spain to release a fourth single, If I Can't Dance . If I Can't Dance was briefly very successful in Spain.

2011-2013: Make a Scene

After Trip the Light Fantastic , a greatest hits album was discussed as a successor for a long time, Ellis-Bextor confirmed this on their official website at the end of 2007. In April 2008 she announced that her plans had changed: The greatest hits album would not be released until 2011, she had now finally decided to first release a fourth, new album. In June 2008 she released two brand new songs on MySpace with Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer) and Off & On . Both were talking about becoming the first single on the new album. After a while this was denied, as both songs were only used as a promotion.

The fourth album was then postponed several times. At the end of November, Ellis-Bextor announced that she was pregnant for the second time. On February 7, 2009, she gave birth to their second son. In June 2009, Sophie Ellis-Bextor announced in an interview that the fourth album was three-quarters finished and, apart from Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer) , she was working on another song with the British DJ duo Freemasons . In December 2009 she announced that the album was ready.

The first single Bittersweet was released on May 3, 2010 in Great Britain and reached number 25 in the singles charts. Previously, Ellis-Bextor was a guest on numerous radio stations and also completed several live appearances on British television. The album was first titled Make a Scene and then renamed in March. The official title was now Straight to the Heart ( German: Direkt ins Herz ) and was released in autumn 2010, followed by a second single. A total of 12 songs are included on the European version of the album, the UK edition again contains bonus tracks. The maxi CD for Bittersweet contains another song called Sophia Loren , which was originally supposed to be the first single in early 2009. Bittersweet was again created in collaboration with Freemasons. In addition, Sophie Ellis-Bextor released the song Can't Fight This Feeling in May 2010 in a duet with the French DJ Junior Caldera. But this song will be part of the new album by Junior Caldera and will not appear on Make A Scene . The song Off & On , which appeared on the Internet in 2008, is also included on the new album, as well as a song called Revolution . Off & On was under discussion to become the second single, which Sophie Ellis-Bextor only revised afterwards. The second single from the album was Not Giving Up on Love , a collaboration with Dutch DJ Armin Van Buuren, and was released on August 20, 2010. After that, the album was moved again. In addition, at the end of 2010 it was announced that Can't Fight This Feeling would appear on Make A Scene . In June 2011, the fourth release Starlight was released . Make A Scene was released in July 2011, but did not make it to the top of the UK charts. Due to the failure, her record label Universal ended the contract.

2013–2014: Wanderlust

Ellis-Bextor performing at the Gay Pride Music Festival “White Party” in Bangkok in 2017

In 2013 the first release Young Blood was released for their fifth studio album Wanderlust , which was released in January 2014. With Wanderlust , Ellis-Bextor achieved another commercial success for the first time.

In 2014, further singles followed with Runaway Daydreamer , Love is a Camera and The Deer and the Wolf . She also went on the Wanderlust tour that same year, which took her across the UK. Wanderlust reached # 4 on the UK Albums Chart.

2014–2016: Familia

On January 28, 2015, Sophie Ellis-Bextor announced on Instagram that she was working on her sixth studio album. This was released on September 2, 2016. Come with Us , Crystallise , Wild Forever and Death of Love were released as singles. None of the singles could place in the charts. The album reached number 12 on the UK album charts. She also went on the Familia Tour from 2016 to 2017 , which took her through England.

2017–2019: The Song Diaries

In November 2017 Ellis-Bextor announced they were working on their first Greatest Hits record. In February 2018 she announced the album title, which is called The Song Diaries . She also announced that her hits will be recorded with an orchestra. In August 2018, the first single, Love is You, was released. In November 2018 the orchestral versions of Take Me Home , Murder on The Dancefloor and A Pessimist is Never Disappointed were released as singles. A music video for Take Me Home was also released in November as an orchestral disco version. The album was released on March 15, 2019 and reached number 14 on the UK album charts. In June 2019, she went on tour with her band to promote the album. In the summer of the same year, she supported Kylie Minogue on her Kylie Summer Tour 2019.

Awards

  • 2000
    • Ericsson Music Awards 2000: "Best Single" / "Best Ibiza Tune" (both Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) )
  • 2002
    • UK Show Business Awards 2002: "Recording Artist Of The Year"
    • National Music Awards 2002: "Best Female Vocal Performance"
  • 2003
    • Edison Music Awards 2003: "The Best Dance Album ( Read My Lips )"

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK
2001 Read My Lips DE10 (8 weeks)
DE
AT18 (11 weeks)
AT
CH26 (24 weeks)
CH
UK2
Double platinum
× 2
Double platinum

(44 weeks)UK
First published: September 3, 2001
2003 Shoot from the hip DE84 (2 weeks)
DE
- CH35 (3 weeks)
CH
UK19th
silver
silver

(2 weeks)UK
First published: October 27, 2003
2007 Trip the Light Fantastic DE87 (1 week)
DE
- CH28 (4 weeks)
CH
UK7 (3 weeks)
UK
First published: May 21, 2007
2011 Make a scene - - - UK33 (1 week)
UK
First published: June 12, 2011
2014 Wanderlust - - - UK4th
silver
silver

(16 weeks)UK
First published: January 20, 2014
2016 Familia - - - UK12 (2 weeks)
UK
First published: September 2, 2016
2019 The Song Diaries - - - UK14 (1 week)
UK
Compilation
first published: March 15, 2019

Video albums

  • 2002: Watch My Lips

Filmography

  • 2008: The Town That Boars Me

swell

  1. https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/sophie-ellisbextor-gives-birth-to-baby-boy-37688541.html
  2. Sophie Ellis-Bextor gives birth to second son
  3. wanderlust | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 5, 2020 .
  4. Chart sources: DE AT CH UK

Web links

Commons : Sophie Ellis-Bextor  - Collection of Images