Siobhan Maher Kennedy (born 11 January 1964) is an English

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

. She was the lead vocalist of the

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

-based band

River City People River City People were a folk rock quartet formed in Liverpool, England, in 1986, by vocalist Siobhan Maher, guitarist Tim Speed, his drummer brother Paul Speed, and bassist Dave Snell. Siobhan, Tim and Dave had all been with Liverpool Band " ...

during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band released two

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

, '' Say Something Good'' and '' This Is the World''. She is the daughter of Liverpool

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers * Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Athlete * Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Circus performer * Clown * Club Hostess/Host * Comed ...

and

BBC Radio Merseyside BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 203,000 ...

presenter A presenter is a person or organization responsible for the running of a public event, or someone who conveys information on media via a broadcasting outlet. Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a new ...

Billy Maher.

Musical career

In the 1980s, prior to joining River City People, Maher had been a vocalist with the local bands Passion Polka, Peep Show (with future RCP bassist Dave Snell, to whom she was briefly married) and The Persuaders (with future RCP drummer and co-founder Paul Speed). After River City People split, Maher teamed with the rave act Oceanic for the single "Ignorance" after their regular singer Jorinde Williams lost her voice. "Ignorance" charted at number 72 on the Official UK Singles chart in November 1992 and would be Maher Kennedy's only solo credited hit on the Official Charts database. A couple of years later she formed a duo with

Debbi Peterson Deborah Mary Peterson (born August 22, 1961) is an American musician and the drummer of the band The Bangles. She sang lead vocals on two of the band's released singles, "Going Down to Liverpool" (1984) and " Be with You" (1989). She is the you ...

, drummer and vocalist with

The Bangles The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including "Manic Monday" (1986), "Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), " Hazy Shade ...

, called

Kindred Spirit Kindred Spirit(s) may refer to: Arts * ''Kindred Spirits'' (film), a 1984 Australian film * ''Kindred Spirits'' (2019 film), a 2019 film by Lucky McKee * ''Kindred Spirits'' (painting), a painting by Asher Brown Durand, a member of the Hudson R ...

, who released a self-titled album in 1995. Although Peterson and Maher never officially split, Kindred Spirit is inactive. Peterson returned to the Bangles, and Maher released a solo album in 2002 titled ''Immigrant Flower''. Living in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

having married

Ray Kennedy Raymond Kennedy (28 July 1951 – 30 November 2021) was an English footballer who won every domestic honour in the game with Arsenal and Liverpool in the 1970s and early 1980s. Kennedy played as a forward for Arsenal, and then played as a le ...

, producer of

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...

and Malcolm Holcombe, the country/folk/Americana influence on her music is noticeable. She now styles herself Siobhan Maher Kennedy. On 29 May 2022, her single "God Bless The World" would be a new entry in the Top 40 of Mike Read's Heritage Chart at number 32.

Other work

In 1987, Maher played the part of Lettuce in the ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Br ...

'' spin-off series ''

Damon and Debbie ''Damon and Debbie'' is a three-part spin-off from the Channel 4 soap opera ''Brookside'' first broadcast in November 1987. A Mersey Television production, it was written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, directed by Bob Carlton, and produced by Colin Mc ...

''. Maher also made forays into television presenting, on the 1987 series of the

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

fashion magazine programme ''

The Clothes Show ''The Clothes Show'' is a British television show about fashion that was broadcast on BBC One from 1986 to 2000, and from 2006 on UKTV Style and Really. At its height, ''The Clothes Show'' had around 9 million viewers every Sunday night. It als ...

'' and the 1987 and 1988 seasons of ''But First This!, ''

Children's BBC BBC Children's and Education is the BBC division responsible for media content for children in the UK. Since the launch of specially dedicated television channels in 2002, the services have been marketed under two brands. CBBC (short for Chil ...

's summer holiday morning programme. For the 1987 season she presented a week solo (others doing the same included Andy Crane, Simon Potter, Tracy Brabin and Anthea Turner) and in 1988 presented throughout the run in rotation with other members of the presenting team for that season (

Andy Crane Howard Andrew Crane (born 24 February 1964) is an English television and radio presenter, best known for presenting Children's BBC between 1987 and 1990 and for his current work as a presenter on the Greatest Hits Radio network. Career Crane ...

, Colin Heywood and

Sue Devaney Sue Devaney (born Susan Barber, 2 July 1967) is an English actress. Her roles include Debbie Webster in ''Coronation Street'', Rita in ''Jonny Briggs'', Liz Harker in ''Casualty'' and Jane in ''Dinnerladies''. Career Devaney has played various r ...

). Maher sang background vocals on

Willy DeVille Willy DeVille (born William Paul Borsey Jr.; August 25, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created orig ...

's 1996 ''

Loup Garou In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...

'' album and the 1997

Joey Tempest Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson (born 19 August 1963), known professionally as Joey Tempest, is a Swedish singer best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Europe. He has written the band's great hits such as " The Final Countdown", " Rock the ...

album ''

Azalea Place ''Azalea Place'' is the second solo album by Joey Tempest, the vocalist in the Swedish hard rock band Europe. It was released on 25 April 1997. "After my first solo album I went out to the States to work with Richard Dodd - who's this English guy ...

'', and duetted with

on the song "Poison Lovers" from his 1997 album '' El Corazón''. Additionally, she has performed backing vocals on several albums by Malcolm Holcombe, including the 2009 release ''For The Mission Baby.'' Maher also sang backing vocals on

Manu Katché Manu Katché (born 27 October 1958) is a French drummer and songwriter of Ivorian descent. He has worked extensively as a session musician, notably with Sting and Peter Gabriel, and his solo albums as a bandleader are largely in the jazz fusion ...

's album ''It's About Time'', which was recorded at

Real World Studios Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World Records record label, Real Wor ...

and featured

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

and

Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific session bassist, he has played bass for acts such as The Who, the John Mayer Trio, Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan, Jeff Beck ...

amongst others. The 2002

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

comedy-drama ''Being April'' featured a theme song performed by Maher—the Richard Thompson-penned "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight." Maher appeared in one episode performing the song, which is also featured on her solo album ''Immigrant Flower.'' Inspired by the community of musicians and songwriters in Nashville, Maher Kennedy began a project in Liverpool in 2019 called The Liver Girls to pursue the creation of a similar collective of women singer-songwriters in her former home city.The Liver Girls on Facebook
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Discography

Solo recordings

* 2002: ''Immigrant Flower'' (

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

/ Gravity)

With
Kindred Spirit Kindred Spirit(s) may refer to: Arts * ''Kindred Spirits'' (film), a 1984 Australian film * ''Kindred Spirits'' (2019 film), a 2019 film by Lucky McKee * ''Kindred Spirits'' (painting), a painting by Asher Brown Durand, a member of the Hudson R ...

* 1995: ''Kindred Spirit'' (

I.R.S. Records I.R.S. Records was an American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave ...

)

With River City People

;Albums * 1989: '' Say Something Good'' (

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

) * 1991 '' This Is the World'' (EMI) ;Single(s) * 1990: "

California Dreaming "California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 196 ...

" (EMI) cover of

The Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of Am ...

, now available with the reissue of the ''Say Something Good'' album

References

External links

* *

2002 ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...

'' interview with Siobhan Maher Kennedy
Siobhan Maher as presenter in 1987 on BBC1's ''But First This!''Live clip of Siobhan Maher with The Persuaders, Liverpool 1987
accessed 2 April 2009
''What Are We Going To Do'', The Persuaders music video featuring Siobhan Maher
accessed 4 April 2013
''California Dreaming'' by River City People
in a 1990 appearance on

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

, accessed 7 November 2021
''What's Wrong With Dreaming'', River City People music video
accessed 5 April 2013
''This is the World'', River City People live performance
accessed 30 May 2014
''Here in My Eyes'', Kindred Spirit music video
accessed 2 April 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Siobhan Maher 1964 births Living people Singers from Liverpool Kennedy, Siobhan Maher