Julia Fordham (born 10 August 1962) is a British singer-songwriter. Her professional career started in the early 1980s, under the name "Jules Fordham", as a

backing singer A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

for

Mari Wilson Mari Macmillan Ramsay Wilson (born 29 September 1954, Neasden, London) is a British pop and jazz singer. She is best known for her 1982 UK top-10 hit single "Just What I Always Wanted" and her 1960s image complete with beehive hairstyle. Car ...

and Kim Wilde, before signing a recording contract of her own later that decade. Fordham is now based in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Career

1980s

In 1988, Fordham released her first album on Circa Records, simply titled '' Julia Fordham''. After a round of publicity including an appearance on the BBC1 ''

Wogan ''Wogan'' is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 until 1992, presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcas ...

'' chat show in April 1988, it reached No. 20 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

and eventually earned a gold disc. The album contains the

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 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. "Top 40" or "cont ...

single " Happy Ever After" (which peaked at No. 27 in August 1988). The album also charted in the US, reaching No. 118 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Fordham released her second album, ''

Porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

'', in 1989. The album charted at No. 13 and was certified silver by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

. It was Fordham's only album to chart on the US top 100, reaching No. 74.

1990s

In late 1991, Fordham released her third album, '' Swept''. The album reached No. 33 in the UK and contained the top 40 hit "(Love Moves In) Mysterious Ways", which peaked at No. 19 in early 1992 and was also featured in the 1991 film ''

The Butcher's Wife ''The Butcher's Wife'' is a 1991 American romantic comedy film, directed by Terry Hughes and starring Demi Moore and Jeff Daniels. The film concerns a clairvoyant woman (Moore) thinks that she's met her future husband, whom she has seen in her ...

''. Fordham's fourth album, '' Falling Forward'', was released in 1994. The album peaked at No. 21 in the UK. A single, "Different Time, Different Place", narrowly missed the UK top 40 (No. 41). In 1997, Fordham released her fifth album, '' East West''. 1998's ''

The Julia Fordham Collection ''The Julia Fordham Collection'' is the first compilation album by English singer-songwriter Julia Fordham, released in 1998. It covers ten years of Fordham's career, from her 1988 debut album up to the release of the compilation. Content The ...

'' recapped the best-known songs from these five albums and included new versions of recordings, including "Where Does The Time Go" which featured the vocals of

Curtis Stigers Curtis Stigers (born October 18, 1965) is an American jazz singer. He achieved a number of hits in the early 1990s, most notably the international hit " I Wonder Why" (1991), which reached No. 5 in the UK and No. 9 in the US. Career S ...

. Signed in 1999 to Division One/Atlantic Records, Fordham recorded ''Concrete Love''. The album was produced by

Larry Klein Larry Klein (born March 17, 1956) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is based in Los Angeles. He began his career as a bassist, playing with jazz artists Willie Bobo, Freddie Hubbard, Carmen McRae, Joe Henderson, Bobb ...

who has worked with many artists including Joni Mitchell (his former wife) and with Fordham previously on ''Falling Forward''. The release was cancelled when a corporate reshuffle caused her

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

to be closed and her contract ended. The album eventually emerged on Vanguard Records and various other labels internationally, including

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...

in the UK. It now featured a re-recording of its title track as a duet with

India Arie India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), also known as India Arie (sometimes styled as india.arie), is an American singer and songwriter. She has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards ...

, as well as different cover artwork. Remixes of the single "Wake Up with You" were also released. Fordham embarked on an acoustic club tour in the US, the UK and Japan.

2000s

Fordham's seventh album, '' That's Life'', was released on her 42nd birthday in 2004. She performed more live shows which included a successful run of shows in Japan at the

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

venues. ''That's Live'', a live album and DVD (filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

with guest appearances by the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter India Arie, the trumpeter Mark Isham and

Judith Owen Judith Owen (born 2 January 1969) is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her first North American album, ''Emotions on a Postcard'', was released in 1996 and has been followed by several additional albums. She is co-founder of Twanky Records with her hu ...

), was released in January 2005. Fordham then came to the end of her recording contract with Vanguard. Also in 2005, her sister, Claire Fordham, had a book published, ''Plus One: A Year in the Life of a Hollywood Nobody'', based on her experiences of being Fordham's sister and living in Los Angeles. Fordham continued to record, independently releasing a remake of her debut single "Happy Ever After" (with the help of a children's choir from a village near her hometown on the south coast of England) in aid of

Indian Ocean Tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

relief. This was backed by two tracks written and recorded with

Aadesh Shrivastava Aadesh Shrivastava (4 September 1964 – 5 September 2015) was a music composer and singer of Indian music. Initially, he had worked as a drummer to music composers including R. D. Burman, Rajesh Roshan before working independently as a music d ...

. The single was then released to download and made available to purchase on CD. The proceeds from the sales of the record helped to rebuild a school in Cuddalore, India. The recording in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, UK brought Fordham back full circle to where she first started writing and performing songs in local folk clubs as a teenager. In 2006, Fordham released an EP entitled ''Baby Love'', via

AWAL AWAL (an initialism of Artists Without a Label) is a British music distribution company owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The company serves as an alternative to the traditional music label deal, offering deal structures to artists and independ ...

(Artists Without A Label). The EP is a collection of songs inspired by the birth of her daughter Marley Rose. Also in 2006, Fordham appeared in a music video for the Judith Owen track "Here", playing the part of Owen's mother. The video was directed by the actress

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, children's author, and activist. She came to prominence with her portrayal of Lt. Barbara Duran on the ABC sitcom '' Operation Petticoat'' (1977–78). In 1978, she m ...

. In 2007, Fordham appeared as guest vocalist on a track, "Carry", on

's album ''Happy This Way''. Fordham is friends with Owen and they have performed together and been a guest on stage at each other's shows. In September 2007,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

released the compilation album ''Songbook''. It was a Philippines-only release and included previous studio recordings as well as live cuts and rare tracks. In November 2007, it was announced that Fordham had completed a new album which was going to be released via a "start up" company called NovaTunes. ''China Blue'' was released as a download-only album in late January 2008.

2010s

In 2010, Fordham teamed up with comedian, actor and pianist

Paul Reiser Paul Reiser (; born March 30, 1956) is an American actor, comedian, and television writer. He is known for his roles as Michael Taylor in the 1980s sitcom ''My Two Dads'', Paul Buchman in the NBC sitcom ''Mad About You'', Modell in the 1982 fi ...

and released the album '' Unusual Suspects''. The two embarked on an acoustic tour after its release. In late 2011, Fordham released three new tracks for download, "You Left Me for Dead", "Red Silk Dress" (collaborations with guitarist

Dominic Miller Dominic James Miller (born 21 March 1960) is an Argentine-born guitarist. With much of his career as a sideman and guitarist for singer Sting, he has also released several solo albums. Career Miller was born in Hurlingham, Argentina to an Iris ...

) and the seasonal track "Christmas in London". Fordham's second album, 1989's ''

'', and its 1991 follow-up, ''Swept'', were both reissued by Cherry Red Records as two-CD deluxe editions in 2013. They were followed by deluxe versions of the first album, ''Julia Fordham'', in 2016, and the fourth album ''Falling Forward'' in 2017. All re-releases contain B-sides, rarities and annotations written by her. In mid-2013, Fordham was scheduled to do 15 concerts across the UK. The tour began in Worcester on 20 June and ended in her hometown of Portsmouth on 13 July. During the tour, Fordham was joined on stage by

and they performed a duet written by Owen titled "That Scares Me" from Owen's album ''The Beautiful Damage Collection''. Owen also performed one of her own songs and provided the on stage harmonies and backing vocals when Fordham sang her chart hit "Happy Ever After" (UK No. 27). "Skipping Under the Rainbow" was played by

Michael Ball Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius Pontmercy in the original London production of ''Les Misérables'', and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in ...

on his Sunday night radio show on BBC Radio 2 on 30 June 2013. On 4 July 2013, Ball joined Fordham on stage at

Bush Hall Bush Hall is located at 310 Uxbridge Road, Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. Originally a dance hall, it is now an independent music venue with a capacity of 400. Bush Hall was built in 1904. It was used as a soup kitchen during World W ...

in London and they performed a duet of Fordham's hit "Where Does the Time Go?" (UK No. 41). Fordham was a guest on the ''

Richard Madeley Richard Holt Madeley ( born 13 May 1956) is an English television presenter and writer. Alongside his wife Judy Finnigan, he presented '' This Morning'' and the chat show '' Richard & Judy''. Madeley's solo projects include the ITV series '' F ...

on Sunday'' show which aired on BBC Radio 2 on 7 July 2013. She performed two songs live for the show, including her single "Skipping Under the Rainbow", with Grant Mitchell accompanying on piano. Shortly after finishing her UK tour, Fordham released an emotive tribute to Nelson Mandela in the form of a video set to Fordham's hit "Happy Ever After" (UK No. 27). This is the single that was inspired by Mandela's struggle through the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

years, his imprisonment and presidential years. After spending the summer of 2014 in the studio recording tracks for a new album, she headed to the UK for a short tour, which opened in Cornwall at St Austell Arts Centre, taking in Bury St Edmunds, Glasgow,

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...

and Stockton-on-Tees. In November 2014, Fordham returned to the UK to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her album ''Porcelain''. She performed the album in its entirety, accompanied by her long-time pianist and album producer Grant Mitchell. The Porcelain 25 tour included shows at Cadogan Hall, London, The Sage in Gateshead, and the Epstein Theatre Liverpool, before closing at the Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne. Shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Tokyo and Osaka in Japan followed. A tour with fellow singers

Judie Tzuke Judie Tzuke ( ; born Judie Myers, 3 April 1956) is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1979 hit " Stay with Me till Dawn", which reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. Life and career Early life Tzuke's family relocated ...

and

Beverley Craven Beverley Craven (born 28 July 1963) is a British singer-songwriter best known for her 1991 UK hit single " Promise Me". Her album '' Change of Heart'' was released in 2014 and '' Mixed Emotions'' in 1999. Biography Early life Craven was born ...

, called Woman to Woman, begun in 2018, was continued into 2019, after a delay due to Craven's treatments for breast cancer. An album of the same name was also released to coincide with the tour, reaching No. 42 in the UK Albums Chart. In 2019 Fordham released a new album titled ''Magic'', written for and dedicated to her daughter Marley.

Discography

Albums

Singles

DVDs

*''Julia Fordham: That's Live'' (Vanguard Records, 2005)

References

External links

juliafordham.com
- Official Julia Fordham website
Julia Fordham on LastFM
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fordham, Julia 1962 births Living people English women singer-songwriters Musicians from Portsmouth English women pop singers Articles containing video clips