Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

band

Theaudience Theaudience (styled as theaudience) were an English rock band, formed in London in 1996. They released one album and saw three singles enter the UK Singles Chart. The band's singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor became a successful solo artist after the b ...

. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and achieved success beginning in the early 2000s. Her music is a mixture of mainstream

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric p ...

, nu-disco, and 1980s electronic influences. Ellis-Bextor's debut solo album, '' Read My Lips'', was released in 2001. It peaked at number two on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

and was certified double platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

; it sold 1.5 million copies worldwide. Three of its four singles—the

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

cover " Take Me Home", " Murder on the Dancefloor", and the double A-side "Get Over You" / "Move This Mountain"—reached the top three in the UK. In 2003, ''Read My Lips'' won the Edison Award for Best Dance Album. Its follow-up '' Shoot from the Hip'' (2003) reached number 19 in the UK and spawned two top ten singles, " Mixed Up World" and " I Won't Change You". Ellis-Bextor's third studio album, '' Trip the Light Fantastic'' (2007), peaked at number seven in the UK and its lead single "

Catch You "Catch You" is a song by the British recording artist Sophie Ellis-Bextor for her third album, '' Trip the Light Fantastic'' (2007). It was written by Cathy Dennis, Rhys Barker and Greg Kurstin and produced by Kurstin. It was released as the al ...

" reached the top ten. Her fourth studio album, '' Make a Scene'' (2011), and its third single " Bittersweet" achieved top 40 positions in the UK. Her fifth studio album, '' Wanderlust'' (2014), peaked at number four becoming her highest-charting album since ''Read My Lips''. She released a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

-inspired sixth studio album, '' Familia'', in 2016 to critical acclaim.

Early life

Sophie Ellis-Bextor's stamp collection Spring Stampex 2018 05

Ellis-Bextor was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Janet Ellis Janet Ellis, (born 16 September 1955) is an English television presenter, actress and writer, who is best known for presenting the children's television programmes ''Blue Peter'' and '' Jigsaw'' between 1979 and 1987. She has published two nove ...

, who was a presenter on BBC's

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

programmes ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Te ...

'' 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 the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

Godolphin and Latymer School The Godolphin and Latymer School is an independent day school for girls in Hammersmith, West London. The school motto is an ancient Cornish phrase, ''Francha Leale Toge'', which translates as "free and loyal art thou". The school crest incl ...

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...

. Among her earliest public performances were some with the

W11 Opera W11 Opera is an independent opera company in London which produces operas performed by young people aged 9 to 18. Founded in 1971, it takes its name from its location in W11, a postal district in West London consisting largely of Notting Hill and ...

children's opera beginning at 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 while singing lead vocals in indie band

. The band released four singles, including the UK Top 40 hits "

I Know Enough (I Don't Get Enough) "I Know Enough (I Don't Get Enough)" is a song by Theaudience from their self-titled debut album, ''Theaudience''. It was released as the fourth and final single from the album on 27 July 1998. It reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart ...

", and " A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed", and one self-titled album (''

theaudience Theaudience (styled as theaudience) were an English rock band, formed in London in 1996. They released one album and saw three singles enter the UK Singles Chart. The band's singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor became a successful solo artist after the b ...

'' (1999)). Videos for the band's singles were directed by her father, Robin Bextor. While in Theaudience, readers of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' 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 Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

, who then dropped the band. Ellis-Bextor recorded a duet with

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

— "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''.

2000–2006: ''Read My Lips'' and ''Shoot from the Hip''

After Theaudience split, Ellis-Bextor collaborated with Italian DJ Spiller, in 2000, adding vocals to his track " Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)". It entered the UK charts at number one, just beating former Spice Girl

Victoria Beckham Victoria Caroline Beckham (; born 17 April 1974) is an English fashion designer, singer, and television personality. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Posh Spice. Wi ...

on her first solo track. "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 The Record of the Year was an award voted by the United Kingdom public. For many years it was given in conjunction with television programmes of the same name. The first show ran in the early evening on a December Saturday just before Christmas ...

''. 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

'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 "Get Over You" and "Move This Mountain" are two songs by British pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor. In most countries, "Get Over You" was released as the sole single, but in the United Kingdom, the two tracks were released as a double A-side sing ...

", was released in June 2002 and reached number three. The fourth single, "

Music Gets the Best of Me "Music Gets the Best of Me" is a song by British singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor, rel