Abigail Louise Phillips (born 14 January 1994) is an English actress and singer. She is best known for playing

Liberty Savage Liberty Savage is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by actress and singer-songwriter Abi Phillips from 2010 to 2013, and Jessamy Stoddart from 2018. She made her first on-screen appearance on 10&nbs ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...

'' and for her debut single "Summer Sunshine".

Career

Acting

Phillips got her big break after writing a song for soap opera ''

'' titled "Missing You", which proved popular with viewers when it was featured in the character

Steph Cunningham Steph Roach (also Dean and Cunningham) is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Carley Stenson. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 8 March 2000. Steph was introduced into the serial ...

's death scene. Phillips penned the song after being inspired by Steph's cervical cancer storyline and later submitted it to be used on the show. Following the strong response to the track, ''Hollyoaks'' bosses arranged a meeting with Phillips and subsequently invited her to audition for the part of Liberty – a musical character they had been developing for some time. She debuted as Liberty at the age of 16 in December 2010. In April 2011, Phillips showcased her vocals as Liberty when the character took part in a karaoke competition giving a show-stopping rendition of Adele's version of Bob Dylan's "

Make You Feel My Love "Make You Feel My Love", also known as "To Make You Feel My Love" is a song written by Bob Dylan for his album '' Time Out of Mind'', released in September 1997. It was first released commercially in August 1997 by Billy Joel for his compilation ...

Music

In 2011 Abi released her debut single "Summer Sunshine" featuring popular

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Fugative Harry James Byart (born 11 March 1994), better known by his former stage name Fugative, is an English rapper. He worked with Kirk Burrowes in April 2009 in Atlanta the former manager of Mary J. Blige and co-founder of Bad Boy Records after Bu ...

. The song's music video was uploaded onto YouTube and to date has received almost 400,000 views. As a gesture of goodwill Phillips offered a free sample of a song she recorded called "Somebody Without You". Abi has climbed Mt Snowdon for the checkemlads.com charity which helps young men going through testicular cancer. Phillips performed her debut single at T4 on the Beach 2011 in which she performed on the sessions stage. The scenes of Phillips' performance aired on ''Hollyoaks'' shortly afterwards. At the time Abi also announced to fans on her Twitter account that herself,

Jorgie Porter Jorgina Porter (born 25 December 1987) is an English actress and model. She is known for portraying the role of Theresa McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' from 2008 until 2016 and again from 2020. Early life Porter was born in Tr ...

(

Theresa McQueen Theresa McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Jorgie Porter. She made her first appearance on 24 November 2008. The character was introduced as an extension of already established McQueen f ...

) and

Craig Vye Craig Vye (born 19 July 1983) is an English actor, best known for his role as Ethan Scott in teen soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. Early life Craig was born in Hertfordshire, England. Vye trained at RADA, graduating in 2005. He was a member of the B ...

(

Ethan Scott ''Hollyoaks'' is a long-running Channel 4 soap opera in the United Kingdom. This is a list of characters who first appeared on the programme during 2010, listed in order of their first appearance. In January 2010, it was announced that Paul Marq ...

) also recorded scenes for ''Hollyoaks'' at the event. From the age of 12, Phillips has been a member of the Birmingham pub band Shampoo, which is fronted by hairdresser dad Richard and mum Linda at wedding receptions and clubs. More recently Phillips has toured and fronted premier function band Capital Groove at large corporate events and parties. In September 2014, Phillips sang a show stopping rendition of

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

's 'Titanium' and one of her own songs 'On My Way' at The Pride of Birmingham Awards to over 2,000 people including rock legend

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the ...

Ali Campbell Alistair Ian Campbell (born 15 February 1959) is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer of the British reggae band UB40. As part of UB40, Campbell sold over 70 million records worldwide and toured the globe for 30 years. In 2008, C ...

, comedian

Jason Manford Jason John Manford (born 26 May 1981) is an English comedian, presenter, actor and singer. Manford was a team captain on the Channel 4 panel show ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' from 2007 until 2010 and has presented numerous television shows for the BBC an ...

and footballer

Dion Dublin Dion Dublin (born 22 April 1969) is an English former professional footballer, television presenter and pundit. He is a club director of Cambridge United. As a player he was a centre-forward, notably playing in the Premier League for Manchest ...

. Phillips continues to perform and write her own material and plans to release her debut EP during 2015. She considers

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

as one of her musical idols. And also cites

Wynter Gordon Diana Gordon, previously known by her stage name Wynter Gordon, is an American singer and songwriter. She began her career writing music for other artists, later signing with Atlantic Records where she started to work on her own album. Her deb ...

and

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...

as her musical influences. Phillips appeared on ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing competition television series. Created by John de Mol, it premiered on BBC One during the spring television cycle on 24 March 2012. Based on the original ''The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice ...

'' in 2017 as a contestant, although was unsuccessful in getting a place in the competition.

Personal life

Phillips was born in the Birmingham town of

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...

, to Richard and Linda Phillips. Phillips was a student at Birmingham's Stage Coach performing arts school. She is close friends with her co-stars Hollie Jay Bowes and

Tamaryn Payne Tamaryn Payne (born 25 September 1988), is an English actress best known for playing Annalise Appleton in the series ''Hollyoaks''. Early life Payne was raised in Bournemouth, attending the grammar school Bournemouth School for Girls. She then ...

. In May 2022 it was revealed that Phillips had been diagnosed with

thyroid cancer Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck. C ...

Activism

In March 2012, Phillips along with some of the ''Hollyoaks'' cast and crew successfully completed a sponsored sleep-out in a bid to raise funds for youth homelessness charity Centrepoint. Later in the night, Phillips and

Hollie-Jay Bowes Hollie-Jay Bowes (born 17 January 1989) is an English actress, known for her roles as Dawn O'Malley in the BBC drama ''Grange Hill'' and Michaela McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. In 2023, Hollie starred in two episodes of Wate ...

provided some musical entertainment. Lights went out in the village at 1am and the challenge was complete when the sun rose just after 6am. During 201314, Phillips completed a tour of primary schools in the West Midlands in relation to bullying and the effects it has on young people, drawing from past personal experience. Phillips' school campaign achieved national coverage on Television with the BBC, ITV and on radio.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Abi 1994 births Living people English women singer-songwriters English soap opera actresses People from Birmingham, West Midlands English child actresses Child musicians British contemporary R&B singers English pop singers English dance musicians 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers