Beth Ann Rowley (born 10 October 1981) is an English singer-songwriter.

Early life

Rowley was born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, Peru, to British parents who moved back to

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England, when Rowley was two years old.

Career

Early career

She was influenced by her family's love for many different musical styles, particularly

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

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, ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and Latin American music. When aged 16, Rowley formed The Apogee, an original five piece

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

acid jazz Acid jazz (also known as club jazz, psychedelic jazz, or groove jazz) is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul music, soul, and hip hop music, hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1 ...

group. At age 17, she was spotted at an

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, often taking place at night (an open mic night), in which audience members may perform on ...

night in the London entertainment club, Ginglik, in Shepherd's Bush. Rowley studied music and art at Weston-super-Mare College and in 2003, went on to the

Brighton Institute of Modern Music BIMM University (BIMM) is a private university specialising in music, film, performing arts and creative technology. The university is principally based in the United Kingdom with other centres in Ireland and Germany. It is organised into five ...

with the particular help and encouragement of soulsinger

Carleen Anderson Carleen Cassandra Anderson (born May 10, 1957) is an American musician. She was the vocalist, composer, and musician for the Young Disciples and is known for her numerous, varied collaborations. Her solo career began in 1992. She is credited w ...

. During her time at the school, Rowley toured with Ronan Keating and

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...

, providing backing vocals. She attended St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School, in Bristol.

2000–present

In 2000, Rowley teamed up with jazz saxophonist Ben Castle (son of Roy), well known for his work with

Jamie Cullum Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...

. She began writing her own material and with Castle's encouragement and assistance she released three EPs, ''Beth Rowley'' (2004), ''Sweet Hours'' (2006) and ''Violets'' (2007). From the ''Violets'' EP she released a single entitled, "Nobody's Fault But Mine" which was the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

'Single of the Week' for December 2007. Rowley has collaborated with other artists and bands, including

Crowded House Crowded House are an Australian-New Zealand rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Paul Hester (drums), who were both for ...

on their '' Time on Earth'' album, providing backing vocals for the song "Transit Lounge", and Duke Special, who joined her for a duet on her début album, ''Little Dreamer''. Rowley's album '' Little Dreamer'' was released in the UK on 19 May 2008, and went straight into the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

at number 6. On 4 February 2008, the lead single, "Oh My Life" (released on 3 March 2008) from the forthcoming album was featured as '

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

Record of the Week'. The second single from the album, "So Sublime", was released on 12 May 2008. Rowley attended ''

The Edge of Love ''The Edge of Love'' is a 2008 British biographical romantic drama film directed by John Maybury and starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy, and Matthew Rhys. The script was written by Knightley's mother, Sharman Macdonald. ...

'' world premiere on 18 June, which marked the opening of the

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Film Festival. Based on the life of Welsh poet

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

, ''The Edge of Love'' opened nationwide from 27 June. Rowley recorded the exclusive track "Careless Talk", as part of the soundtrack to the film. In 2006, Rowley recorded a song entitled "Too Much Too Late" written by

-based singer/songwriter Steven Reid Williams, in a collaboration featured on the album ''Corners''. In the same year she provided the vocals on Nostalgia77's track "Quiet Dawn" from their album, ''Everything Under the Sun''. On 22 October 2008, Rowley appeared with

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; May 12, 1928 – February 8, 2023) was an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. Start ...

on the BBC Electric Proms series, singing " Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa". On 9 January 2009, a short clip of her song "Sweet Hours" was played on UK soap ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

'' on E4. On 20 January 2009, Rowley was nominated for a Brit Award in the category for Best British Female Solo Artist. Rowley featured in the nightclub scene in the 2009 film '' An Education'', directed by Lone Scherfig. Her track "You Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger" is featured prominently in the official movie soundtrack and the Sony Classics promotional website. On 8 July 2013, Rowley released "Wretched Body", an EP including four songs, as the first of a planned three-piece EP series. Her performance of the song "I Walk Beside You" is used as the theme song for the 2017 BBC series ''

Strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

''.

Touring

Rowley has supported various artists on tour including David Gray, Tom Baxter and Duke Special. In March 2008, Rowley performed at the Play.com Live event inside

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, London. On 4 April 2008, Rowley appeared on

's ' Friday Night is Music Night' performing two tracks with the

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

at the

Mermaid Theatre The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre encompassing the site of Puddle Dock and Curriers' Alley at Blackfriars in the City of London, and the first built in the City since the time of Shakespeare. It was, importantly, also one of the first new th ...

, London She has also made guest appearances on '

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

', ' Parkinson', '' This Morning'' and later,

GMTV GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...

and '' The Charlotte Church Show''. Rowley started her first headline tour at London's Bush Hall on 16 April 2008. She also made an appearance at the Christian arts festival, Greenbelt, in 2008, though it was not her first time at the festival. On 25 February 2011, Rowley supported Katie Melua in an

Eva Cassidy Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American singer and musician known for her interpretations of jazz, Folk music, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her f ...

-style duet on a Radio 2 in Concert at the BBC Radio Theatre.

Discography

*2007: ''Violets'' *2008: '' Little Dreamer'' *2013: ''Wretched Body'' *2018: '' Gota Fría'' *2022: '' Pale Jewel Vol1'' *2024: '' Pale Jewel Vol2''

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial Record Label WebsiteOfficial Australian website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowley, Beth 1981 births Living people English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters British contemporary R&B singers English soul singers Musicians from Lima 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers Singers from Bristol