Jacquie O'Sullivan (born 7 August 1960)''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'', 1988. Personal File: Jacqui O'Sullivan, p. 11 is an English singer and songwriter, best known as a member of the pop group

Bananarama Bananarama is an English pop group formed in London in 1980. The group, originally a trio, consisted of friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when ...

from 1988 until 1991, replacing

Siobhan Fahey Siobhan Maire Deirdre Fahey (; born 10 September 1958) is an Irish singer whose vocal range is a light contralto. She was a founding member of the British girl group Bananarama, who have had ten top-10 hits including the List of Billboard Hot ...

, who left in early 1988. The line-up with O'Sullivan had UK top five hits with "

I Want You Back "I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5. It was released by Motown on October 7, 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970. It was performed on the band's first television appearances, on ...

" (1988) and a cover of The Beatles' "

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the sin ...

" (1989), recorded with comedy duo

French and Saunders ''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is al ...

for the charity Comic Relief. In 1989, O'Sullivan joined the group on their first world tour. Prior to Bananarama, O'Sullivan was the lead singer of the band

Shillelagh Sisters The Shillelagh Sisters were a British female group composed of Jacquie O'Sullivan (vocals), Lynder Halpin (double bass), Patricia "Trisha" O'Flynn (saxophone) and Maria "Mitzi" Ryan (drums). Their music style was a mixture of rockabilly and p ...

Career

Early years

O'Sullivan joined the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

group

in early 1983. It was "a sort of a fun band, a kind of trendy band". The band name came about courtesy of their Irish connections. They released their first single "

Give Me My Freedom "Give Me My Freedom" is the debut single by Shillelagh Sisters, released in April 1984 by CBS. The group had some press coverage and also did some television shows (most notably ''The Tube'') and a John Peel session at Radio One. The Shillelagh ...

" in April 1984. The band's dissatisfaction with their record label

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, along with differences between the band members, led to the band's demise in late 1984. O'Sullivan later stated that she felt the records they released "weren't very good".

1988–1991: Breakthrough with Bananarama

In March 1988, she was chosen by

Sara Dallin Sara Elizabeth Dallin (born 17 December 1961) is an English singer/songwriter and a founding member of the pop group Bananarama. The group has achieved 28 UK top-50 and 11 US top-100 singles, including a US number one with "Venus" (1986). Other ...

and

Keren Woodward Keren Jane Woodward (born 2 April 1961) is an English singer/songwriter and, with Sara Dallin and Siobhan Fahey, a founding member of the girl group Bananarama. In 1986, the trio reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with their ve ...

(who had known O'Sullivan since they were eighteen) to become a member of

, as a replacement for outgoing member

, who also approved of the choice. Bananarama's

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

streak continued with the addition of O'Sullivan. They

re-recorded A re-recording is a recording produced following a new performance of a work of music. This is most commonly, but not exclusively, by a popular artist or group. It differs from a reissue, which involves a second or subsequent release of a previousl ...

the vocals for the songs "

" and " Nathan Jones" with O'Sullivan to replace versions previously recorded by Fahey. The group scored eight consecutive

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

hits in the UK with O'Sullivan. She appeared on Bananarama's fund-raising

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' "

" for

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

alongside comedians

and

Kathy Burke Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress and comedian. She appeared in sketch shows such as '' French and Saunders'' (1988–1999), played a recurring role as Magda on the BBC sitcom '' Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992� ...

, who appeared as Lananeeneenoonoo. The record peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart in 1989. She also participated in Band Aid II's 1989 re-recording of "

Do They Know It's Christmas? "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of pop ...

". O'Sullivan's only songwriting credit with Bananarama appeared on the song "

Love, Truth and Honesty "Love, Truth and Honesty" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their first greatest hits album, '' Greatest Hits Collection'' (1988). Co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio, the song was released on 12 Septemb ...

" from the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

'' Greatest Hits Collection''. In 1991, Bananarama recorded the album '' Pop Life'', the only full-length album on which O'Sullivan appeared. Later that year, O'Sullivan left the group, a decision that was amicable with Dallin and Woodward. O'Sullivan later stated in interviews that her role in Bananarama was that of a paid employee and that she was given no say in the creative, musical or visual direction of the group. She said that this lack of input, along with the continued emphasis by the

music press Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

that she was the "new girl" and constant questions of "How does it feel to replace Siobhan?", contributed to her exit. When

parodied Bananarama in their 1988 Christmas special as "Lananenenoonoo", O'Sullivan was portrayed by

as "Kim". O'Sullivan's perceived lack of input into the group was used as a source of humour, with Kim ignored and dismissed in interviews and group discussions.

1992–96: Slippry Feet

When she left Bananarama, O'Sullivan was invited to join the

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

act Slippry Feet from 1992 to 1996. They recorded songs for a record titled ''Freak Time Viewing'' and then disbanded.

2001–present: New management, ''Freak Time Viewing'' and ''The Jacquie O Collection''

In 2001, O'Sullivan signed a three-album deal with AlmaFame Records, featuring unreleased songs from throughout her music career. The first release in late 2001 was the Slippry Feet album ''Freak Time Viewing''. In early 2002, the Shillelagh Sisters album, ''Sham'Rock & Roll'', was released and a third album, tentatively titled ''The Jacquie O Collection'', featuring new songs and re-recordings of her hits with Bananarama, was announced but the record label folded and nothing was released. In 2005, she appeared briefly on the second video clip (also called 'whitey version') of

's song "Pulsatron".

1994–2015: Yoga teacher and massage therapist

O'Sullivan went to India and in 1994 trained to be a yoga teacher. She continued to teach and on her travels has taught yoga all over the world. She continued with her yoga education, taking teacher training with the Prana Yoga College.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, Jacquie 1960 births Living people Bananarama members English new wave musicians English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters British women new wave singers English women pop singers English people of Irish descent Singers from London