China Alexandra Soul (born 5 May 1988) is an American-British former singer-songwriter who resides in England. Her debut album, ''Secrets & Words'', was released in the UK on 25 October 2010 through AS:Music. She is the daughter of actor-singer

David Soul David Soul (born David Richard Solberg; August 28, 1943 – January 4, 2024) was an American-British actor and singer. With a career spanning five decades, he rose to prominence for portraying Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the Americ ...

and actress

Julia Nickson Julia Nickson is an American actress. She first came to the attention of audiences in the United States in the Sylvester Stallone film '' Rambo: First Blood Part II''. She appeared in the 2004 film '' Ethan Mao'' and in the 2008 independent film ...

Career

Soul began playing music and writing songs at the early age of 14. Songs such as debut single "Cold", title track "Secrets & Words", "Into the White" and "Long Way Back" all appear on Soul's debut album, ''Secrets & Words'', and were written when she was just 16. In April 2014, Soul joined the cast of ''

Chaplin's Circus Chaplin's Circus is a touring U.K. circus, established in 2012 by Gary Stocker and Mark Foot. It is a narrative-driven performance which incorporates both pantomime with traditional circus skills and tells the story of a 1920s circus "on the bri ...

'', playing the part of

Ruth Etting Ruth Etting (November 23, 1896 – September 24, 1978) was an American singer and actress during the 1920s and 1930s, who had over 60 hit recordings and worked in stage, radio, and film. Known as "America's sweetheart of song", her signature tu ...

, an American singing star and actress of the 1920s and '30s.

Debut album

In late 2008, Soul met

Chaz Jankel Charles Jeremy "Chaz" Jankel (born 16 April 1952) is an English musician and songwriter. In a music career spanning more than 50 years, he came to prominence in the late 1970s as the guitarist and keyboardist of the rock band Ian Dury and the ...

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(formerly Ian Dury and the Blockheads) and Jankel began producing and co-writing what was to become Soul's debut album ''Secrets & Words''. Soul's debut single "Cold" was released through AS:Music in the United Kingdom on 18 October 2010. The album was released one week later on 25 October 2010. In November 2010, Soul was invited onto the

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot O'Leary (born 24 May 1973) is a British-Irish broadcaster. He presented the television talent show ''The X Factor'' on ITV from 2007 until its final series in 2018, with the exception of 2015. Since 2021, O'Leary has presented ITV' ...

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 ...

show for a live session and interview where she played "Cold" and a cover of the

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

song "You're in My Heart". On 1 May 2011, Soul appeared on the

Aled Jones Aled Jones, (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer, radio and television presenter, and actor. As a teenage chorister, he gained widespread fame in 1985 with his recording of " Walking in the Air", which reached No 5 in the UK pop chart. He ...

show for a live interview and performance of her follow-up single "Breathe". On 18 May 2011, she appeared on the '' Steve Wright in the Afternoon''

show with her father. She also received spot-plays on shows such as the

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Jayne County, To ...

Show and appeared on ITV's

Lorraine Kelly Lorraine Kelly (born 30 November 1959) is a Scottish television presenter. She has presented various television shows for ITV and STV, including '' Good Morning Britain'' (1988–1992), ''GMTV'' (1993–2010), ''This Morning'' (2003–2005, ...

show for an interview. "Cold" was also released as a limited edition 7" white vinyl through FooFar records in January 2010. Its B-side was an a cappella cover of the

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

song "Be My Husband". Soul's follow-up single "Breathe" was released 25 April 2011.

Personal life

Soul is the only daughter of actor/singer

and actress

. She has five half-brothers from her father's previous marriages. Born in

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, Florida, Soul grew up in Los Angeles, California. She studied creative writing at Orange County High School of the Arts. In June 2006, Soul relocated to London and attended

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

where she studied English Literature and Creative Writing.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soul, China 1988 births Living people American expatriates in the United Kingdom American women guitarists American women singer-songwriters American people of Chinese descent American people of English descent American people of Norwegian descent American people of Singaporean descent American women pop singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters Orange County School of the Arts alumni