Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer, songwriter and model. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s, as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo, achieving widespread success in the early 2000s. Her music is a mixture of mainstream pop, disco, nu-disco, and 1980s electronic influences.

Her solo debut album, Read My Lips, was released in September 2001. The album reached number two in the UK Albums Chart and was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The record experienced international success, selling more than 2 million copies worldwide. It produced four singles, three of which reached the top three in the UK. In 2003, Read My Lips won the Edison Award for "Best Dance Album". Ellis-Bextor's second album, Shoot from the Hip, was released in October 2003. The album reached number 19 in the UK and produced two top ten singles. Trip the Light Fantastic, her third album, was released in May 2007 and reached number seven in the UK. The album produced three singles, one of which reached the top ten in the UK.

In 2009, Ellis-Bextor released the Freemasons collaboration "Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)" (reaching number 13 in the UK) and her first extended play, Sophie Ellis-Bextor: iTunes Live in London. Her fourth studio album, Make a Scene, was released in April 2011 (reaching number 33 in the UK), with its lead single "Bittersweet" peaking at number 25 in the UK.

In 2014, Ellis-Bextor released her fifth studio album, Wanderlust which became her highest charting album since "Read My Lips", peaking at number 4 in the UK. Coinciding with the album's release, the lead single, "Young Blood", reached number 34 in the UK. Her next effort, the Latin America inspired Familia earnt critical acclaim in 2016.

Early life

Ellis-Bextor was born in London to Janet Ellis, who was later a presenter on BBC's children's television programmes Blue Peter and Jigsaw, and Robin Bextor, a film producer and director: they separated when she was four. As a child, Ellis-Bextor occasionally appeared on Blue Peter alongside her mother, who presented the programme.

She attended St. Stephen's School and later Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith. Among her earliest public performances were with the W11 Opera children's opera from the age of thirteen, and she is now a patron of the organisation.

Ellis-Bextor has said "I didn't see myself as a good-looking girl and that was good, because I didn't rely on it.... I've now found lots of like-minded weirdos so it's OK."

Career

1996–99: Theaudience

Ellis-Bextor began her professional musical career in 1996, singing lead vocals in indie band Theaudience. The band released four singles, including the UK Top 40 hits "I Know Enough (I Don't Get Enough)", and "A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed", and one self-titled album (theaudience (1999)). Videos for the band's singles were directed by her father, Robin Bextor. While in Theaudience, readers of Melody Maker voted Ellis-Bextor number one in a poll of 'most sexy people in rock'.

The band split in 1999 after demos for a planned second album were rejected by their label Mercury Records, who then dropped the band. Ellis-Bextor recorded a duet with Manic Street Preachers — "Black Holes for the Young" — as a B-side for their 1998 single "The Everlasting", and in 1999, made an appearance on the Departure Lounge album Out of Here.

2000–2003: Read My Lips

After Theaudience split, Ellis-Bextor took a year off from singing.

In 2000, Ellis-Bextor collaborated with Italian DJ Spiller, adding vocals to his then-instrumental club track "Groovejet". Before recording, Ellis-Bextor's lyric was partly reworked by Rob Davis, who replaced her hook "And so it goes... how does it feel so good?" with "If this ain't love... why does it feel so good?", thereby providing the song with its subtitle. "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" entered the UK charts at number one, just beating former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham on her first solo outing to the top. "Groovejet" won several awards: No. 1, Pop Top 20; No. 1, ILR; No. 1, Radio 1; No. 8, top dance track of 2000 and single of the year in Melody Maker. In the Metro Newspaper, it received ninth place in the contest for the Greatest No. 1 of all time. In 2000, it was a finalist in The Record of the Year. In that same year, it won the awards for Best Single and Best Ibiza Tune at the Ericsson Muzik Awards.

In 2001, Ellis-Bextor released her début album, Read My Lips. It reached number two on the UK charts and spawned four top-twenty hit singles. Her rework of Cher's "Take Me Home" reached number two, as did "Murder on the Dancefloor", which became Ellis-Bextor's biggest single and was on charts for twenty-three weeks. "Murder on the Dancefloor" became Europe's most played song of 2002. In 2002, Read My Lips was re-released with two new songs (and a live version of "Groovejet") and Ellis-Bextor won the Recording Artist Award at that year's Showbusiness Awards. Her third single, "Get Over You / Move This Mountain", was released in June 2002 and reached number three. The fourth single, "Music Gets the Best of Me", rose to number fourteen in December. At the beginning of 2002, Ellis-Bextor was nominated for the "British Female Solo Artist" BRIT Award, going on to be nominated for a further two consecutive years.

2003–2006: Shoot from the Hip

Her second album, Shoot from the Hip, was released in October 2003 and yielded two further top-ten singles. The album reached number 19 on the UK charts and was certified silver in 2013 for shipments of 60,000.

2007–2008: Trip the Light Fantastic

Ellis-Bextor supported George Michael on his UK tour leg in June 2007. Her own UK tour, the Trip the Light Fantastic Tour, was due to start in August 2007, but it was postponed after Ellis-Bextor was invited to be the "special guest" on Take That's Beautiful World Tour, which commenced in October 2007.

In December 2007, Ellis-Bextor starred in the third Robbie the Reindeer special Close Encounters of the Herd Kind as a female Earth Guardian who sings at the end of the film.

Ellis-Bextor stated that her tour would be rescheduled for March 2008, with all tickets purchased being valid for the rescheduled concerts. The tour was never rescheduled, and Ellis-Bextor subsequently refused to discuss the issue in interviews. The song "If I Can't Dance" was announced as a single but later retracted, as was "Love Is Here".

2009–2011: Make a Scene and Bittersweet

Ellis-Bextor's fourth album, Make a Scene, was released in June 2011. She described it as "very much [a dance album]—more so than any of my other albums."

Looking to her next effort, Ellis-Bextor said she was planning an "album that's really different. I think I need to do something different now and move on from the dance stuff. I might come back to it, but I think this album is a good way to bow out of the dance sound for now. I think it's finishing on a high." She worked with Calvin Harris, Armin van Buuren, Richard X, Dimitri Tikovoi, Hannah Robinson, Metronomy, and Liam Howe from the Sneaker Pimps. The first single from the album, "Bittersweet" (co-written by Freemasons and Hannah Robinson), was released in May 2010 and reached 25 on the UK Singles Chart. "Not Giving Up on Love" was released as the second single from the album, in August 2010 in Europe, followed by "Starlight" as the third single in May 2011. "Off & On" was the fourth and final single.

2012–2014: Wanderlust and collaborations

In May 2011, she revealed that she had begun work on her fifth album. She resumed touring internationally that year, playing venues such as Jakarta's SoulNation festival, as well as returning to Australia by performing in Sydney and Melbourne. Ellis-Bextor collaborated with French DJ Bob Sinclar on a track titled "Fuck with You", which was included on his album Disco Crash and was a huge club hit in Continental Europe.

Ellis-Bextor's collaboration with French DJ Mathieu Bouthier, "Beautiful", was released on 16 July 2012 in France through iTunes.

Beginning in 2012, Ellis-Bextor worked with British singer and producer Ed Harcourt on a "more concept driven record", and possibly having as few as eight tracks. On 23 November, she performed at a London charity gala, including a new song, "Young Blood".

On 26 March 2013, a demo of "Young Blood" was released as a complimentary digital download from her website, as a thank you gift to her fans. On 14 October 2013, Wanderlust was revealed to be the title of her next album, along with the album's cover art. On 15 May 2013, Ellis-Bextor confirmed completion of the album.

Ellis-Bextor performed a headline sold-out show to support Wanderlust's release on 21 January 2014 at Bush Hall, London, and also performed at Union Chapel, London on 14 April. Ellis-Bextor then announced a 10-date UK tour, which finished in Glasgow on 20 April 2014.

"Young Blood" was released as the lead single from the album on 21 November 2013, peaking at #3 on the UK Indie Chart and #34 on the UK Singles Chart.

The album was released on 20 January 2014 and peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart and number one on the UK Independent Albums Chart. Wanderlust also debuted inside the Scottish Top 10 Albums Chart, charting at number nine.

Aside from her Wanderlust project, she has also collaborated with Guéna LG and Amir Afargan on the track "Back 2 Paradise", which was released on 23 June 2014. The single became a club smash and was the number 1 "breakout" in October 2014 on the US Billboard Dance/Club Chart. It later reached number 25 on the Dance/Club Chart. Ellis-Bextor then featured on the song "Only Child", produced by up-and-coming new electronic music project DedRekoning, which was released in September 2014. The track was remixed by Paul Oakenfold, Roddy Reynaert and Pearson and Hirst, among others.

2015–present: Familia and The Song Diaries

After spending 2014 promoting Wanderlust, on 28 January 2015, Ellis-Bextor revealed on her Twitter account that she had begun working on her sixth studio album, once again with Ed Harcourt.

On 3 November her fourth child, Jesse, was born. In January 2016, Ellis-Bextor posted an image on Instagram captioned "Last song written. Next stop - rehearsals! #album6 #whatthehellshouldicallit." She also posted a YouTube video of the making of the album. Ellis-Bextor announced on Facebook that the new album was inspired by a recent visit to North America, particularly Mexico. It was titled Familia, which is the Spanish word for "family" (a tattoo Elis Bextor wears in her arm since her first child's birth) and a sound closer to that of her earlier albums. Referring to its content, the singer explained that she "wanted something with a Spanish or Italian feel" and that it continued some stories from Wanderlust. It spawned four singles, but none of them made it into any major chart. After taking time off for the birth of her child in late 2015, she resumed touring in 2017, mostly at small venues in the UK.

In November 2017, she announced via Facebook a selection of her greatest hits reworked with an orchestra. In February 2018, she announced via Instagram the album's title The Song Diaries and pointed out that it would consist of re-recorded tracks spanning her career from theaudience to Familia's "Wild Forever", plus a new track. The album's artwork was drawn by David Downtown. The Song Diaries first single "Love Is You", a disco track originally performed by Carol Williams, which is sampled on her early hit Groovejet, was released in August 2018. In the following months Ellis-Bextor further released the reworked versions of "Take Me Home", "Murder on the Dancefloor" and "A Pessimist is Never Disappointed". The Song Diaries was released on 15 March 2019.

Other projects

In 2001 Ellis-Bextor auditioned for the 2001 film Moulin Rouge! for the character, Satine.

In 2007, Ellis-Bextor appeared at Christmas in the Robbie the Reindeer episode, "Close Encounters of the Herd Kind". Ellis-Bextor was depicted as a female alien at the closure of the story, singing the song 'Supersonic', the last track on her third solo studio album Trip the Light Fantastic. In November of that year she also launched the npower Greener Schools Programme, which aims to give schools in the UK a 'green makeover' by providing free energy audits, implementing tailor-made energy efficiency measures to reduce their carbon footprint, and educating children on how to be greener She also launched Capital Radio's Capital 95.8 'Lights Out London' campaign, which asks Londoners to switch off their lights for one hour in a bid to save 750 MWh and send a message to the world on the importance of climate change.

In 2008, she features in the short musical film The Town that Boars Me by photographer Ben Charles Edwards. The film also features Jodie Harsh, Kelly Osbourne and Zandra Rhodes. The film is set to début in late summer at the Portobello Film Festival and is produced by Glass Loves and Shoot to Kill Productions.

An advocate for animal rights, she posed for PETA's anti–fur clothing advertisement. In 2008, she fronted a campaign for The Children's Society encouraging people to log onto the Hundreds and Thousands of Childhood Memories website to donate their favourite childhood memory.

In May 2008, Ellis-Bextor was hired by cosmetics brand Rimmel as one of their new faces. A new song performed by Ellis-Bextor is featured in one of the Rimmel London' spot for the line "Sexy Curves". Ellis-Bextor is appearing as an advocate for Verdi on BBC World News classical music programme Visionaries.

On 4 October 2008, Ellis-Bextor sang at the Keep The Promise Rally in Trafalgar Square to end Child Poverty.

On 22 March 2013 she performed outdoors at Old Republic Square in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

In September 2014, the Pretty Polly hosiery company announced that she was their latest "face and legs", and would be designing and modelling for them.

In March 2019 Ellis-Bextor appeared as an extra in Game of Thrones, Season 8, Episode 3 "The Long Night".

Personal life

Ellis-Bextor married The Feeling bassist Richard Jones in 2005. Jones has said "something kind of smacked us in the face. The chemistry was incredible – it was like nothing I've ever experienced", and their first baby was born, two months early, only eight months after they started going out together. She suffered from pre-eclampsia (the onset of high blood pressure) during her first two pregnancies resulting in both deliveries being premature. Ellis-Bextor is an Ambassador for Borne, a medical research charity looking into the causes of premature birth. The couple's fifth son, Mickey, was born in January 2019.

Awards and nominations

Current band members

• Phil Wilkinson – drums
• Richard Jones – bass
• Ciaran Jeremiah – keyboards
• Seton Daunt – guitar
• Gita Langley – backing vocals, violin
• Cat Parker – backing vocals, violin

Tours

Headlining

• 2002–2003: "Read My Lips Tour" (United Kingdom and Europe)
• 2009–2010: "Straight to the Heart 2010 Tour" (United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and USA)
• 2014: "Wanderlust Tour" (United Kingdom)
• 2017: "Familia Tour" (United Kingdom)
• 2019: "The Song Diaries Tour"

Supporting

• 2006: "25 Live" (Supporting George Michael on his tour leg around the United Kingdom and Ireland)
• 2007: "Beautiful World Live" (Supporting Take That on their tour in the United Kingdom and Ireland)
• 2010: "The Pandemonium Tour" (Supporting Pet Shop Boys on their UK Leg)
• 2011: "Erasure Total Pop! Forest UK Tour" (Supporting Erasure)
• 2019: "Summer 2019" (Supporting Kylie Minogue)

Political Activity

In the 2019 EU Elections, Sophie endorsed The Independent Group for Change Her father, Robin Bextor was a candidate for the South East Region. He obtained 106,000 votes but failed to win a seat.

Discography

Studio albums

• Read My Lips (2001)
• Shoot from the Hip (2003)
• Trip the Light Fantastic (2007)
• Make a Scene (2011)
• Wanderlust (2014)
• Familia (2016)