Belinda O'Hooley (born 18 July 1971) is a singer-songwriter and pianist from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, England. Formerly a member of Rachel Unthank and the Winterset (now The Unthanks), she now records and performs as O'Hooley & Tidow with her wife Heidi Tidow (pronounced ''Tee-doe'').

Early life and education

O'Hooley, who has Irish roots, was born in

Horsforth Horsforth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, five miles north-west of Leeds city centre. Historically a village within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it had a population of 18,895 ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, grew up in

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...

and went to school in

Menston Menston is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Along with Burley in Wharfedale, most of Menston is within Wharfedale Ward in the metropolitan borough of Bradford. The remainder of Me ...

. She studied

behavioural sciences Behavioural science is the branch of science concerned with human behaviour.Hallsworth, M. (2023). A manifesto for applying behavioural science. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', ''7''(3), 310-322. While the term can technically be applied to the st ...

at the

University of Huddersfield The University of Huddersfield is a public research university located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It has been a University since 1992, but has its origins in a series of institutions dating back to the 19th century. It has made te ...

Professional career

O'Hooley comes from a long line of

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

musicians and performed alongside her first cousin Tommy Fleming, a singer who was formerly with De Danann.

Rachel Unthank and the Winterset

From 2004 until 2008 she was a member of Rachel Unthank and the Winterset (now The Unthanks). Nic Oliver, reviewing their 2007 album '' The Bairns'' for ''

musicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

'', described O'Hooley as "the ace in the pack throughout The Bairns. Her background in cabaret (intriguingly, she had once appeared on Stars In Their Eyes impersonating Annie Lennox) adds a left-field edge to the music, with her jazzy piano chords lending a sing-along feel to the live favourite Blue's Gaen Oot O'The Fashion. O'Hooley also contributes the two original tracks to the album, although the casual listener could quite easily mistake both Blackbird and WhitehornThe song is actually called "Whitethorn", as O'Hooley explains in an interview with David Peschek: "It's about my great-grandmother, struggling to survive in a tiny village in Ireland...She was pregnant 15 or 16 times and only two babies survived. Because they hadn't lived long enough to be christened, they weren't buried in the local churchyard, but under a whitethorn bush, actually near where my dad lives now. It really brought home to me the history of women's struggles, and made me want to write."
for traditional songs".

Solo albums

In 2005 O'Hooley released a

solo album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century ...

, '' Music is My Silence'', described by reviewer David Kidman of Netrhythms.co.uk as "a commanding and defiant set of thoroughly contemporary-sounding songs" and by FATEA as "a highly polished collection of songs that gently sway between folk and jazz". In 2019 she released a second solo album, '' Inversions'', described by Jude Rogers in ''The Guardian'' as "a set of beautiful piano and spoken-word pieces".

O'Hooley & Tidow

O'Hooley & Tidow at the Purbeck Valley Folk Festival in 2024 She has issued eight albums with Heidi Tidow, performing as O'Hooley & Tidow. Their 2016 album, ''

Shadows A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensiona ...

'', was given a five-starred review by Robin Denselow in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and four of their other albums have received four-starred reviews in the British national press.

Coven

With Heidi Tidow she performs in the all-female group Coven, whose members also include Hannah James, Rowan Rheingans, Hazel Askew and

Grace Petrie Grace Petrie (, born 24 July 1987) is an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leicester, England. She was hailed in ''The Guardian'' as "a powerful new songwriting voice" in 2011. Biography Grace Petrie began performing in 2006 as ...

. In 2017, Coven released an EP, ''Unholy Choir''.

Other musical contributions

O'Hooley played piano on Jackie Oates' albums ''Jackie Oates'' (2006), ''The Violet Hour'' (2008), ''Hyperboreans'' (2009), ''Saturnine'' (2011) and ''Lullabies'' (2013). With Heidi Tidow, she was also featured on

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () was a British anarcho-punk band who formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the Brit Awards 1998. Other singles include "Amnes ...

's album '' ABCDEFG'' (2010) and DVD '' Going, Going – Live at Leeds City Varieties'' (2012), Lucy Ward's debut album '' Adelphi Has to Fly'' (2011) and Patsy Matheson's ''Domino Girls'' (2014). O'Hooley & Tidow were amongst the musicians on the album ''The Ballads of Child Migration: Songs for Britain's Child Migrants'', released by Delphonic Records in October 2015. They contributed the music for one song on the album, "Why Did I Leave Thee?" O'Hooley also accompanied

Nic Jones Nic Jones (born Nicolas Paul Jones; 9 January 1947) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Regarded as a prominent figure of the British folk revival, he has recorded five solo albums and collaborated with various musicians. Biography ...

at London's

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts European classical music, classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by ...

on his 2011 comeback tour and on further tours in 2012 and 2013. In 2015 O'Hooley accompanied Jim Boyes on his ''Sensations of a Wound'' tour, telling a little-known story of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. An album of this music, ''Sensations of a Wound: The Long, Long Trail of Robert Riby Boyes'', was released on the No Masters label in February 2015. She appeared on Ray Hearne's album ''Umpteen'' in 2016.

Other work

She had a small acting role as a plain-clothes police inspector in episode 1 of season 3 of '' Happy Valley'', the TV programme created by

Sally Wainwright Sally Anne Wainwright (born 1963) is an English television writer, producer, and director. She is known for her dramas, which are often set in her native West Yorkshire, and feature "strong female characters". Wainwright has been praised for th ...

who also created the TV series '' Gentleman Jack''.

Discography

with Rachel Unthank and the Winterset

Belinda O'Hooley

O'Hooley and Tidow

Belinda O'Hooley's recordings with Heidi Tidow are listed at O'Hooley & Tidow.

with Coven

Personal life

Belinda O'Hooley and her wife Heidi Tidow, who married in 2016, live in Golcar in West Yorkshire. They have a son, Flynn, born in September 2019.

Notes

References

External links

Official website: O'Hooley & Tidow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohooley, Belinda 1971 births Living people 20th-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century British accordionists 21st-century British pianists 21st-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century English women musicians 21st-century folk singers 21st-century British women pianists 21st-century English women singers Alumni of the University of Huddersfield Composers for piano English accordionists British women accordionists English folk musicians English people of Irish descent English lesbian musicians English LGBTQ singers English LGBTQ songwriters English singer-songwriters English women pianists English women singer-songwriters Folk pianists Lesbian singers Lesbian songwriters LGBTQ people from Yorkshire Musicians from Leeds People from Golcar People from Guiseley People from Horsforth The Unthanks members