The Webb Sisters are an English musical duo comprising the siblings Charley and Hattie Webb from

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. They were backing singers for

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

and

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the lat ...

. They also appear on

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 ...

's album If on a Winter's Night...''.

Biography and history

Charley Webb and Hattie Webb were born in Kent, England, to an entrepreneur-drumming father and a tennis coach mother. They have two brothers, Brad Webb and Rocco Rands-Webb, who are both drummers. According to Charley, music often blared from all over the house. Although Charley became briefly interested with being an ambulance driver, the sisters early on decided on a career in music. Hattie plays the

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, and Charley the guitar,

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

, and piano. When they were teenagers, the pair began to give recitals all over the country, and played at, among others, charity functions and parties, and played twice for Princess Anne and once for Queen Elizabeth II. They met Johnny Pierce, a record producer who invited them to

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 ...

, where they recorded their debut album, ''Piece of Mind''. After six months, they went to California, selling the album at their gigs. They were soon discovered and were offered a publishing deal by Windswept Pacific Publishing, and, soon afterward, they signed a record deal with

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. Charley and Hattie collaborated with Jeff Trott (Sheryl Crow, Aimee Mann),

Mike Elizondo Mike Elizondo (born October 22, 1972) is an American producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. A protege of Dr. Dre, Elizondo has worked with 50 Cent, Eminem, Carrie Underwood, Fiona Apple, Mastodon, Ry Cooder, Skylar Grey, Twenty ...

(Dr. Dre, Fiona Apple), and Steve Booker (Duffy) on material that would become their album ''Daylight Crossing''. Two years later they returned to the UK, where they worked with

sister company

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 ...

for the album's release. ''Daylight Crossing'' was produced by

Steve Lipson ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

and

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

, recorded at Sarm Hook End,

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although ''Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly re ...

and

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, including Jimi Hendr ...

. The album featured musicians

Simon Tong Simon Tong (born 9 July 1972) is an English guitarist and keyboardist who was a member of the Verve between 1996 and 1999. He has played with Damon Albarn on tour with his bands Blur and Gorillaz, and as a member of the Good, the Bad & the Que ...

and Simon Jones from the band

The Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Simo ...

and

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the ''Modern D ...

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 ...

. ''Daylight Crossing'' was released in June 2006 and became the 'Record of the Week' and 'Album of the Week' at BBC Radio 2, reaching No. 2 on UK's TV music video airplay chart. iTunes chose ''Daylight Crossing'' as 'Album of the Week' and singled out the song "Torches" as its 'Single of the Week' during its release week. The Webb Sisters performed on ''

The Sharon Osbourne Show ''The Sharon Osbourne Show'' is an American talk show that ran for one season (2003–2004) on various US channels. Cancellation The show was eventually canceled due to poor ratings and scathing attacks by critics as being too focused on Os ...

'' and toured in support of

Jamie Cullum Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He has recorded nine stu ...

(for whom their brother Brad has played drums),

Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single " The Remedy (I Won't ...

, James Morrison and

Kubb Kubb (pronounced in Swedish and Gutnish) is a lawn game where the objective is to knock over wooden blocks () by throwing wooden batons () at them. Kubb can be described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. Play takes place on a smal ...

, alongside band Leya and Joe Echo. Their song "Still The Only One" was played on the TV show ''Cane'' on CBS. In May 2007, The Webb Sisters represented the UK at America's 400th Anniversary Celebrations in

Jamestown, Virginia The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James (Powhatan) River about southwest of the center of modern Williamsburg. It was ...

, which aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

. They wrote a song with Sharon Robinson entitled "Pocahontas" that was first performed at the celebrations. At that time they collaborated with

Angelo Petraglia Angelo Petraglia (born May 5, 1954) is an American record producer and songwriter. He was a member of the new wave band Face to Face and is best known for his work with Kings of Leon. Early life He was born in the Bronx and grew up in Pelham, N ...

(

Kings of Leon Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and gar ...

) and Nashville's

Craig Wiseman Craig Michael Wiseman is an American Country music songwriter and producer, and the owner/founder of the Big Loud enterprise. He has been writing since the late 1980s, and his songs have been recorded by Lorrie Morgan, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, ...

. Charley and Hattie recorded the song "Fortune of Soldiers" for a

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

tribute record alongside

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. While Colvin has been a solo recording artist for decades, she is best known for her 1998 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home". Early ...

and

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...

. The album '' Born to the Breed: A Tribute to Judy Collins'' was released on Wildflower Records in 2008. In November 2008, The Webb Sisters released their EP ''Comes in Twos''. It was released on iTunes in February 2009. The Webb Sisters were asked by Sting to sing on his album ''If on a Winter's Night…'', released October 2010, including his single "Soul Cake". Their second EP, ''The Other Side'', was released in January 2010 to coincide with a solo tour in USA and Canada, which included supporting

. After an invitation by producer

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

, The Webb Sisters sang on

Natalie Maines Natalie Louise Maines (born October 14, 1974) is an American singer. She is the lead vocalist for the all-female country band The Chicks. In 1995, after leaving Berklee College of Music, Maines was recruited by the Dixie Chicks to replace thei ...

' (of the

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and E ...

) version of "

God Only Knows "God Only Knows" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1966 album ''Pet Sounds''. Written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher, it is a Baroque-style love song distinguished for its harmonic innovation and its subversion of typica ...

", which was featured on the series finale of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's ''

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006 to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne Tripp ...

'' on 20 March 2011. The band's album '' Savages'' was released on 9 May 2011 in UK and beyond. ''Savages'' was produced by multiple

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning producer

Peter Asher Peter Asher, (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and r ...

. ''Savages'' was nominated for The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Adult Contemporary category. They won the award for their song "Baroque Thoughts" in the same category. The Webb Sisters released the EP ''When Will You Come Home?'' in 2013.

Working with Leonard Cohen

In April 2008, it was announced that The Webb Sisters had been chosen to join

on his first tour in 15 years. The world tour started in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, in May 2008 and concluded at

The Colosseum at Caesars Palace The Colosseum at Caesars Palace is a theater located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The theater is the main entertainment venue for Caesars Palace. Deemed the ''Home of the Greatest Entertainers in the World'', the theater has hosted ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, USA, in December 2010. 246 shows were played. ''Leonard Cohen Live in London'' was recorded in July 2008 at London's

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decemb ...

and released on 31 March 2009. Charley and Hattie were featured on the DVD on the song "If It Be Your Will".

2008

The Webb Sisters joined the band alongside

Rafael Gayol Rafael Bernardo Gayol (born July 13, 1958) is an American drummer. He is best known for his work with singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, and with such diverse artists as Charlie Sexton, BoDeans, Robbie Robertson, A-ha, Shawn Colvin, Bob Schnei ...

, Javier Mas,

Roscoe Beck Charles Roscoe Beck is an American bassist with a reputation as "a solid bottom-liner". Beck has played with artists like Robben Ford, Eric Johnson, Leonard Cohen, and The Dixie Chicks. He is also a successful record producer with two Grammy ...

, Sharon Robinson, Neil Larsen, Bob Metzger and Dino Soldo. The schedule of the first leg in summer 2008 encompassed Canada and Europe, including performances at The Big Chill, The Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Pyramid Stage at the 2008 Glastonbury Festival. While in Dublin, Leonard Cohen and his band were the first to play an open-air concert at IMMA Royal Hospital Kilmainham ground. In 2009, the performances were awarded with Ireland's Meteor Music Award as the best international live performance of the year. In September, October and November 2008, the tour travelled through Europe, including stops in Austria, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Italy, Germany, and Scandinavia.

2009

The third leg of Cohen's World Tour 2008–2009 encompassed New Zealand and Australia alongside artist Paul Kelly from 20 January to 10 February 2009. Simon Sweetman in ''The Dominion Post'' (Wellington) wrote "It is hard work having to put this concert in to words so I'll just say something I have never said in a review before and will never say again: this was the best show I have ever seen." Cohen played his first American concert in 15 years at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on 19 February 2009. The North American Tour of 2009 opened on 1 April and included the performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 17 April 2009, in front of one of the largest outdoor theatre crowds in the history of the festival. His performance of "Hallelujah" was widely regarded as one of the highlights of the festival, thus repeating the major success of the 2008 Glastonbury appearance. On 1 July 2009, Cohen and his band started a marathon European tour, the third in two years. The itinerary mostly included sport arenas and open-air summer festivals in Germany, UK, France, Spain, Ireland (the show at O2 in Dublin won him the second Meteor Music Award in a row), but also performances in Serbia in the Belgrade Arena, in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkey, and again in Romania. On 3 August, Cohen gave an open-air show at the Piazza San Marco in Venice. The last concert of this leg was held in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 24 September, three days after Cohen's 75th birthday, at Ramat Gan Stadium. The 47,000 tickets for the Tel Aviv concert, Cohen's first performance in Israel since 1980, sold out in less than 24 hours. The sixth leg of the 2008–2009 world tour went again to US, with 15 shows in October and November, with the "final" show in San Jose. The final leg included two new songs, "Feels So Good" and "The Darkness". But at that point, Cohen's "World Tour 2010" was already announced with the European dates in March. On 14 September 2010, Sony Music released live CD-DVD album ''Songs from the Road'', with the selection of 2008 and 2009 live performances.

2010

The tour started on 25 July 2010 in Arena Zagreb, Croatia. The tour continued through August, with stops in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Scandinavia, and Ireland, where on 31 July 2010 Cohen performed at Lissadell House in County Sligo. It was Cohen’s eighth Irish concert in just two years after a hiatus of more than 20 years. On 12 August Cohen and his band played the 200th show of the tour, in Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden, where he already played in October 2008; the show was four hours long. The Fall leg of the European tour started in early September with an open-air show in Florence, Italy, and continued through Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Austria, where Cohen performed at the famous open-air opera stage of Römersteinbruch bei St. Margarethen im Burgenland, and then continued with dates in France, Poland, Russia (Moscow's State Kremlin Palace), Slovenia and Slovakia. In Slovenia's brand new Arena Stožice, Cohen accepted Croatia's Porin music award for best foreign live video programme, which he won for his ''Live in London'' DVD. Cohen's last European show was held in Sibamac Arena, in Bratislava, Slovakia. The third leg of the 2010 tour started on 28 October, in New Zealand, and continued in Australia, including an open-air concert at the Hanging Rock. It was the first show ever organised at the site. The tour finished with seven special dates added in Vancouver, Portland, Victoria, and Oakland, with two final shows at Las Vegas' The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, on 10 and 11 December. The very last concert on 11 December was the 246th show Leonard, Rafael, Roscoe, Charley, Hattie, Sharon, Javier, Neil, Bob and Dino had played on the world tour, which had started on 11 May 2008.

2012

On 26 March 2012 Cohen announced the first concerts of his

Old Ideas World Tour The Old Ideas World Tour was the final concert tour by Canadian poet and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, and was in support of his 2012 album ''Old Ideas''. The tour started in August 2012, and ended in December 2013. Background On March 26, 20 ...

taking place in Europe from August to October 2012, and later in November and December in Canada and the US. The Webb Sisters were once again a part of the band. Similar to the last tour, they are featured on one song, "Coming Back to You", as well as "If It Be Your Will" in at least some encores. Charley and Hattie shared the vocals as well as instrumentation (harp and guitar). This tour continued in 2013.

2014

They were still working with Cohen, who released ''

Popular Problems ''Popular Problems'' is the thirteenth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on September 19, 2014 in Friday-release countries (such as France and Ireland) and on September 22, 2014 elsewhere. Overview Most of the ...

'' on 19 September, and ''Leonard Cohen: Live in Dublin'' on 2 December prior to his death in 2016.

With Tom Petty

In 2017 the Webb sisters were part of

and The Heartbreakers as backing singers on the band's 40th Anniversary World Tour.

Discography

Albums

* ''Piece of Mind'' (2000) * ''Daylight Crossing'' (2006) * '' Savages'' (2011) (UK chart peak: #132)

EP

* "Comes in Twos" (2008) – 5-track EP featuring "If It Be Your Will" from Leonard Cohen's ''Live in London'' DVD * "The Other Side" (2009) – 4-track EP * "Always on My Mind" (2012) – 4-track EP, USA only * "When Will You Come Home?" (2013) – 5-track EP

Singles

* "I Still Hear It" (2006) – "I Still Hear It", "Dead Old Leaves", "Do it All Over Again" * "Still the Only One" (2006) – "Still the Only One", "My Way to You", "Last Night"

Contributions

* "Heroes & Thieves" (2007) –

Vanessa Carlton Vanessa Lee Carlton (born August 16, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Upon completion of her education at the School of American Ballet, Carlton chose to pursue singing instead, performing in New York City bars and clubs while ...

* '' Born to the Breed: A Tribute to Judy Collins'' (2008) – "Fortune of Soldiers" * "White Man's Curse" (2009) – Paul Chesne * " If on a Winter's Night..." (2009) –

* "Leonard Cohen Live in London" DVD (2009) –

* "People in the Hole" (2010) –

Catherine Feeny Catherine Feeny (born 1976) is an American singer-songwriter based in Portland, Oregon. She grew up in Norristown, Pennsylvania, studied in Washington, D.C., and relocated to Los Angeles, where she started seriously writing her own songs.(J ...

* "Songs From The Road" (September 2010) –

* "God Only Knows" (2011) –

, produced by

* "June in Siberia" (2011) – Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few * "Esplendido Corazón" (2012) – Kevin Doherty (from the record 'Seeing Things') * "Life" (2012) –

The Avett Brothers The Avett Brothers are an American folk rock band from Concord, North Carolina. The band is made up of two brothers, Scott Avett ( banjo, lead vocals, guitar, piano, kick-drum) and Seth Avett (guitar, lead vocals, piano, hi-hat) along with Bob ...

(from the record 'The Carpenter') * "Love Has Come For You" (2013) –

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominated ...

and

Edie Brickell Edie Arlisa Brickell (born March 10, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter widely known for 1988's ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'', the debut album by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, which went to No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' albums chart. ...

Steve Martin & Edie Brickell – Love Has Come For You (Album of the Month)
– folkradio.co.uk 1 May 2013 * "Live in Dublin" (2014) –

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb Sisters, The English folk musical groups Sibling musical duos English musical duos English girl groups Universal Music Group artists Proper Records artists Female musical duos Folk music duos