Søren Sko (born Søren Svenninggaard 4 July 1963 in

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

) is a Danish singer 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 ...

, best known as a member of the duo ''Sko/Torp''. The artist got his stage name, Sko, which means shoes in danish, from his father who was a shoemaker in Hammel. At the age of 9, Sko and his family moved to Hammel, Denmark. He graduated from Langkær Gymnasium in 1982. After graduating he moved to

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

, and began singing in vocal groups for

Sanne Salomonsen Sanne Salomonsen (born 30 December 1955), is a Danish singer. She has been performing since 1973, and various songs by her band Sneakers were on the charts continuously from 1979 to 1985. She was also a member of the Anne Linnet Band. Salomonsen ...

, among others.

Career

Sko/Torp

While performing at

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

, Sko met the guitarist and keyboardist Palle Torp. The two musicians formed the band Sko/Torp in 1989. The record company

Sonet Synchronous optical networking (SONET) and synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) are standardized protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams synchronously over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diode ...

was reluctant to release their first album ''On a Long Lonely Night'' for fear that an english-language album would become a commercial success. Sanne Salomonsen, whose husband

Mats Ronander Mats Ronander (born 1 April 1954 in Sundsvall, Sweden) is a Swedish rock musician, guitar player, producer and composer. Biography Ronander was born in Sundsvall, but grew up in Örebro. At the age of sixteen he succeeded Peps Persson as singer i ...

had produced the album, persuaded the record label's manager and the album was released in 1990. ''On a Long Lonely Night'' sold more than 200,000 copies. In 1991, the duo was named the new danish name of the year at the

Danish Music Awards The Danish Music Awards (DMA) is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called ''IFPI-prisen'' ("IFPI-Award") until 1991, when it changed its name to ''Dansk Grammy'' ("Danish Grammy"). It was chang ...

, and Søren Sko was named the Danish singer of the year. The duo released three more studio albums as Sko/Torp, before splitting in 1997. Søren Sko and Palle Torp reunited as Sko/Torp in 2004. The duo began touring with their previous albums. In 2019 They released ''Heartland,'' their first album since reuniting, in collaboration with producers Nick Foss and Rune Nissen-Petersen. Their sixth album, ''After Hours'' was released in 2016.

Solo career

In September 1998, Søren Sko released his first solo album, ''Sko''. The album sold 40,000 copies, and earned him the Danish Grammy as the Danish singer of the year. His second studio album ''Shine'' was released in March 2000. ''Unpolished'' was released in 2001, which included covers of popular songs by

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

Poul Krebs Poul Krebs (born 28 May 1956 in Aarhus, Denmark) is a Danish pop/rock singer, songwriter and musician. He has released 23 albums and compilations, several topping the Danish Albums Chart. Krebs grew up in Aarhus and was in his youth a talented h ...

, and

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song "Ne ...

, among others. Sko's fourth album ''Faith Hope Love'' was released in October 2002. It was his first album which he had written and composed all of the songs independently. In January 2004 ''One for My Baby'' was released. The album was produced by the jazz bassist

Chris Minh Doky Chris Minh Doky (born 7 February 1969) is a Vietnamese- Danish jazz bassist. He is the younger brother of jazz pianist Niels Lan Doky. He released his first album, ''Appreciation'', in 1989 four years after picking up the instrument. As a si ...

, and featured cover versions of popular songs by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

, and

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. ''One for My Baby'' also contains two songs which Sko had co-written with Palle Torp. It was the first time the two had worked together since Sko/Torp split in 1997. In 2001, Søren Sko produced EyeQ's debut album ''Let It Spin'', which sold 150,000 copies. EyeQ won the first season of the Danish edition of ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...

'' on TV 2. Sko was a judge for the second season of ''Popstars'' in 2002, along with Simon Junker and choreographer Toniah Pedersen. In 2012, Sko formed the pop-duo Shoes for Julia with Julia Fabrin Jakobsen, a former vocalist for

The Fireflies The Fireflies were an American doo-wop group from Long Island, New York, from the late 1950s to early 1960s. They were one of the first groups in which all band members both sang and played instruments. In addition, they were the first all-white ...

. Their first single, "Cross the Line" was released that June by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

. In October, their self-titled debut album was released. In March 2018, Søren Sko released the album "On Cole" in collaboration with Benjamin Koppel. The album was a tribute to

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

and Søren's father.

Discography

Sko/Torp

Søren Sko

Shoes for Julia

Albums

Singles

* "Cross the Line" (2012) * "Bringing on the Heartache" (2012) * "I Am the Other" (2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sko, Søren Danish songwriters 1963 births Living people