Jessica Lee Morgan (born 16 June 1976) is a British singer and songwriter.

Early life

As the daughter of Welsh folksinger

Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single " Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists to be sign ...

and American music producer

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

, Morgan grew up in a musical environment. She learned songs on guitar from her mother and musician friends of the family and was influenced by singer-songwriters such as

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

. Morgan continued to sing in concerts and sessions. One of her earliest sessions was for

Hazel O'Connor Hazel Thereasa O'Connor (born 16 May 1954) is a British singer-songwriter and actress. She became famous in the early 1980s with hit singles " Eighth Day", " D-Days" and " Will You?" She also starred in the 1980 film '' Breaking Glass''. Caree ...

and later for

Elaine Paige Dame Elaine Jill Paige (born Elaine Jill Bickerstaff, 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Chipping Barnet, Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, m ...

as "Jessica Visconti", both produced by her father, Tony Visconti. At university she played solo original gigs and in covers bands, and also put on gigs for other bands.

Career

In 2010, Morgan released her debut album, ''I Am Not''. The same year, she sang on several tracks on the album'' ''You Look Familiar" by her mother Mary Hopkin and her brother Morgan Visconti. In 2011, Morgan recorded "

The Long and Winding Road "The Long and Winding Road" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album '' Let It Be''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. When issued as a single in May 1970, a month after the Beat ...

" for ''The Beatles Complete on Ukulele''. In 2014, she sang on Morgan Visconti's album ''Ride'' and performed live at the launch event in May in New York City. Morgan and her brother had previously collaborated on her album ''I Am Not'', which her brother co-produced. Later in 2014, Morgan took part in the "Dylathon", a 36-hour performance of the works of

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 ...

at the Swansea Grand Theatre to celebrate the poet's centenary directed by

Michael Bogdanov Michael Bogdanov (15 December 1938 – 16 April 2017) was a British theatre director known for his work with new plays, modern reinterpretations of Shakespeare, musicals and work for young people. Early years Bogdanov was born Michael Bogd ...

. She performed her own ''a cappella'' musical adaptation of "Love in the Asylum" and two excerpts from "

Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh people, Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The BBC commissioned the play, which was later adapted for the stage. The first public reading was in New York City in 1953. A Under Milk Wood (1972 film), f ...

" as Polly Garter with the Wales Theatre Company and

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

. On

Saint David's Day Saint David's Day ( or ), or the Feast of Saint David, is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March, the date of Saint David's death in 589 AD. Traditional festivities include wearing daffodils and leeks, ...

2015, Morgan represented her mother at Wales at Number One, a concert at the

Wales Millennium Centre Wales Millennium Centre () is Wales' national arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of 26–28 November 2004 and phase 2 opened on ...

in Cardiff. She sang "

Those Were the Days Those Were the Days may refer to: Music Albums * ''Those Were the Days'' (Johnny Mathis album) (1968) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Cream album) (1997) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Dolly Parton album) (2005) * '' Those Were the Days – The Best of L ...

". The same year, she released her singles "Painting By Numbers" and "When Did It All Begin?" Her second album, ''Around the Block'', was released on 16 June 2017. ''Re:Boot'' was a reworking of her first album and was released in 2018. In 2020 her fourth album, ''Forthright'', was released in June. She sang two songs as a guest on the album ''Decades'' by David Palfreyman and Nicholas Pegg, and a video for one song, "Hurting, Sinking", was released on 1 December 2017. She currently performs solo and with her partner in the UK. In 2020, unable to perform live due to restrictions following the coronavirus outbreak, she started live streaming gigs as part of a Time Zone Tour. In May 2023, Morgan released the album '' Two Hearts'' alongside her mother.

Other projects

In 2005, Morgan founded Mary Hopkin Music, a record label, exclusively for the distribution of previously unreleased material by Hopkin. The label has released several albums including ''You Look Familiar'' and Morgan's cover of "Painting by Numbers". In 2015 Morgan toured with a show called Very Hopkin, singing Mary Hopkin covers as a tribute to her mother. She has also toured her own material as a support act and performing backing vocals, twelve-string guitar and saxophone with the band Holy Holy, featuring

Woody Woodmansey Michael "Woody" Woodmansey (born 4 February 1950) is an English rock drummer best known for his work in the early 1970s as a member of David Bowie's core backing ensemble that became known as the Spiders from Mars in conjunction with th ...

, Visconti, and

Glenn Gregory Glenn Peter Gregory (born 16 May 1958) is a British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of the new wave and synth-pop b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Jessica Lee Living people 1976 births 21st-century English women singers English folk singers Musicians from Reading, Berkshire English people of Italian descent English people of Welsh descent English people of American descent Holy Holy (tribute band) members