Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979)[1] is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo and achieved success beginning in the early 2000s. Her music is a mixture of mainstream pop, disco, nu-disco, and 1980s electronic music influences.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
- Singer
- songwriter
- actress
- model
- writer
- disc jockey
1996–present
5
- Robin Bextor (father)
- Janet Ellis (mother)
In 2000, Ellis-Bextor collaborated with Italian DJ Spiller on "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)", which reached number one in the United Kingdom and in 2015 became the UK's biggest-selling vinyl single of the millennium so far. Her debut solo album, Read My Lips, was released in 2001 and peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart.[2] It was certified double platinum by the BPI, and sold 1.5 million copies worldwide.[3][4] Three of its four singles—the Cher cover "Take Me Home", "Murder on the Dancefloor", and double A-side "Get Over You" / "Move This Mountain"—reached top three in the UK.[2] 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".[2]
Ellis-Bextor's third studio album, Trip the Light Fantastic (2007), peaked at number seven in the UK and its lead single "Catch You" reached the top ten.[2] Her fourth studio album, Make a Scene (2011), and its third single "Bittersweet" achieved top 40 positions in the UK.[2] Her fifth studio album, Wanderlust (2014), peaked at number four.[2] She released a Latin-inspired sixth studio album, Familia, in 2016 to critical acclaim.
Early life[edit]
Ellis-Bextor was born in London to Janet Ellis, who was a presenter on BBC's children's television programmes Blue Peter and Jigsaw, and Robin Bextor, a film producer and director; they separated when she was four.[5] As a child, Ellis-Bextor occasionally appeared on Blue Peter alongside her mother, who co-presented the programme.[6]
She attended St. Stephen's School and later the independent Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith. Among her earliest public performances were some with the W11 Opera children's opera beginning at age 13, and she is now a patron of the organisation.[7]
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."[8]
Other projects[edit]
In 2001 Ellis-Bextor auditioned for the 2001 film Moulin Rouge! for the character Satine.[91] In 2007, she appeared at Christmas in the Robbie the Reindeer episode "Close Encounters of the Herd Kind". She was depicted as a female alien at the closure of the story singing the song "Supersonic", the last track on her third solo studio album Trip the Light Fantastic. In November of the same year, she also launched the npower Greener Schools Programme, which aims to give schools in the UK a 'green makeover' by providing free energy audits, implementing tailor-made energy efficiency measures to reduce their carbon footprint, and educating children on how to be greener[92] She launched Capital Radio's Capital 95.8 'Lights Out London' campaign, which asks Londoners to switch off their lights for one hour in a bid to save 750 MWh and send a message to the world on the importance of climate change.[93]
In 2008 she featured in the short musical film The Town that Boars Me by photographer Ben Charles Edwards. The film also features Jodie Harsh, Kelly Osbourne and Zandra Rhodes. The film was produced by Glass Loves and Shoot to Kill Productions and was set to début at the Portobello Film Festival.[94] The same year she fronted a campaign for The Children's Society encouraging people to log onto the Hundreds and Thousands of Childhood Memories website to donate their favourite childhood memory.[95] In May 2008 she was hired by cosmetics brand Rimmel to be one of their new faces.[96] A song of hers, "Sophia Loren", was featured in one of the Rimmel London television adverts for the line "Sexy Curves".[97] She appeared as an advocate for Verdi on BBC World News classical music programme Visionaries.[98] She was a contestant in the eleventh series of the televised dance competition Strictly Come Dancing in late 2013. She was partnered with Brendan Cole and reached the final, placing fourth.[99]
In September 2014 the Pretty Polly hosiery company announced that Ellis-Bextor was their latest "face and legs", and would be designing and modelling for them.[100] In March 2019 Ellis-Bextor appeared as an extra in Game of Thrones, Season 8, Episode 3 "The Long Night".[101] In July 2020 she started a podcast called Spinning Plates which focuses on mothers and their careers.[102] In the same year she competed in the second series of The Masked Singer as Alien. She was the first celebrity to be unmasked.
In 2021, Ellis-Bextor published her memoir, Music, Men, Motherhood and Me.[103]
It was announced in October 2021 that she would make an appearance in the Australian soap opera Neighbours in 2022, during a storyline set in London.[104] On the morning of 16 November 2021 Ellis-Bextor embarked upon a 24-hour "Kitchen Disco Danceathon", in aid of Children in Need.[105][106] She raised over £1,000,000 for the cause.[105] In December 2022, Ellis-Bextor partnered with Vodafone to unveil its Pro II Broadband during a special Christmas concert in London.[78]
In October 2023 Ellis-Bextor was a guest celebrity judge in the episode Club Bangers of the British reality television series RuPaul's Drag Race UK broadcast on BBC Three.[107]
Personal life[edit]
Ellis-Bextor met her future husband, the Feeling bassist Richard Jones, when he auditioned for her tour band in 2002.[108] Jones has said, "Something kind of smacked us in the face. The chemistry was incredible—it was like nothing I've ever experienced."[109] Their first child was born two months early, only eight months after the start of their relationship.[109] Fourteen months later, in 2005, the couple married.[108][110] They have five children, all sons.[111]
Ellis-Bextor suffered from pre-eclampsia (the onset of high blood pressure) during her first two pregnancies, resulting in both deliveries being premature.[112] She is an ambassador for Borne, a medical research charity looking into the causes of premature birth.[113] She is also an ambassador for the children's charity Lumos which promotes an end to the institutionalisation of children worldwide.[114]
Political activity[edit]
In the 2019 European Parliament election, Ellis-Bextor endorsed Change UK.[115] Her father, Robin Bextor, was a candidate for the South East Region. He received 105,832 votes but lost his deposit, as he did not get at least 5% of the vote.
Studio albums
