Charlotte Mary O'Connor, better known by her stage name Charlotte OC, is a British singer-songwriter.

Biography

Charlotte O'Connor is the daughter of a half-

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

an, half-Indian mother and Irish father. She grew up in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and nort ...

, Lancashire, and attended

Westholme School Westholme School is a coeducational private school in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Founded in 1923, it caters for boys and girls aged from 3 years to 18 years. The school became fully coeducational in 2018. Westholme's motto is ‘MENS SAN ...

. She began playing the guitar at 15 years of age and attended weekend classes at the

Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) is a performing arts higher education institution in Liverpool, founded by Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty and opened in 1996. LIPA offers 11 full-time BA ( Hons) degrees in a ra ...

.Sophie Wylli
"Diana Vickers' best friend has X Factor after signing record deal"
''

Lancashire Telegraph The ''Lancashire Telegraph'', formerly the ''Lancashire Evening Telegraph'', is a local tabloid newspaper distributed in East Lancashire, England. It is edited by Karl Holbrook. There are around twenty towns in the area, including Blackburn, B ...

'', 18 December 2008. When she was 16 years old, she became a global ambassador for surfwear brand

Quiksilver Quiksilver is a brand of surf-inspired apparel and accessories that was founded in 1969 in Torquay, Australia, but is now based in Huntington Beach, California. It is one of the world's largest brands of surfwear and boardsport-related e ...

. O'Connor's music attracted the attention of agent Sam Bush, who signed her to a contract and arranged gigs for her in the United States. She signed a four-album recording deal with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in late 2008, when she was 18 years old. Her debut single, "Treasure Island", was released in September 2011 and her debut album, ''For Kenny'' (produced by Mario Caldato Jr.), followed in November. O'Connor was dropped by Columbia and subsequently took work in her mother's hairdressing salon. O'Connor signed with Stranger Records in 2013. She released her first EP, ''Colour My Heart'', in November 2013 under the stage name Charlotte OC; the same month, the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

classed her as "tipped for success in 2014" and

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

named her "one to watch". Her second EP, ''Strange'', was released by

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

in September 2014, and its track "Hangover" was playlisted on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

." On the playlist: Charlotte OC – Hangover"
''Introducing...'', BBC Music, 30 July 2014. ''Colour My Heart'' and ''Strange'' were recorded with producer Tim Anderson in Los Angeles. In March 2015, O'Connor released her third EP, ''Burning'', which features the single "If My House Was Burning". Her first album, the Anderson-produced ''Careless People'', was released on 31 March 2017. It spawned four singles, "Darkest Hour", "Blackout", "Shell", and "Medicine Man". On 15 May 2020, O'Connor released the EP ''Oh the Agony, Oh the Ecstasy'' featuring the three previously published songs "This Pain", "Freedom" and "Falling for You" as well as two new songs. Since April 2021, the singer-songwriter released several new singles and EP's of her upcoming second studio album, "Here comes Trouble", whose O'Connor released on 15 October 2021.

Artistry

O'Connor described her music as being influenced by

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

, and

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air ...

musics, as well as by the

electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...

she heard at the German nightclub

Berghain Berghain () is a nightclub in Berlin, Germany. It is named after its location near the border between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain in Berlin, and is a short walk from Berlin Ostbahnhof main line railway station.

. As her parents surrounded her with folk and soul music, she lists

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Colu ...

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 ...

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

, Joni Mitchell,

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

and

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown (music style), Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player ...

among her major influences.

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media ...

wrote that O'Connor "blends

Bat for Lashes Natasha Khan (born 25 October 1979), known professionally as Bat for Lashes, is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. She has released five studio albums: '' Fur and Gold'' (2006), '' Two Suns'' (2009), '' The Ha ...

' cosmic mystic pop,

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

' breathless vulnerability, and possesses the vocal chops to keep up with

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

", while ''Hunger'' magazine wrote that her output "feels spiritual and almost occultist"."Premiere: Charlotte OC – Colour My Heart"
''Hungertv.com'', 30 September 2013.

Discography

Albums

*''For Kenny'' (2011) *''Careless People'' (2017) *''Here Comes Trouble'' (2021)

Extended plays

*''Colour My Heart'' (2013) *''Strange'' (2014) *''Burning'' (2015) *''Oh the Agony, Oh the Ectasy'' (2020)

Singles

*"Treasure Island" (September 2011) *"Colour My Heart" (October 2013) *"Hangover" (November 2013) *"Strange" (August 2014) *"If My House Was Burning" (March 2015) *"On & On" (June 2015) *"Blackout" (August 2016) *"Darkest Hour" (September 2016) *"Shell" (June 2017) *"Medicine Man" (July 2017) *"Satellite" (November 2018) *"Boyfriend" (March 2019) *"Better Off On My Own" (May 2019) *"This Pain" (January 2020) *"Freedom" (February 2020) *"Falling for You" (April 2020) *"Inevitable" (May 2021) *"Centre of the Universe" (August 2021) *"Mexico" (September 2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlotte OC 1990s births Living people English people of Malawian descent Columbia Records artists English electronic musicians English women guitarists English guitarists English people of Indian descent English people of Irish descent English women singer-songwriters English soul singers Musicians from Lancashire People educated at Westholme School People from Blackburn Polydor Records artists English women in electronic music English women pop singers 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers Alumni of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts 21st-century women guitarists