Rachel Fury is the stage name of Rachel Brennock, an English singer, songwriter and actress known for performing with

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

on tour from 1987 to 1989.

Career

Brennock attended the

Barbara Speake Stage School The Barbara Speake Stage School was opened on 10 February 1945 as an independent school, and was initially set up as a dancing school, by the founding principal Miss Barbara Speake, MBE, and was located in East Acton, London. The school was fe ...

and began her acting career at aged ten appearing in TV commercials, shows and films, such as ''Mr Horatio Knibbles'' (1971), ''Anoop and the Elephant'' (1972) and ''Robin Hood Junior'' (1975). At the same time Brennock was building a career as a singer and in 1972, under the name ''Weeny Bopper''; she recorded the single "David, Donny and Michael", a

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

release intended to capitalise on

teenybopper A teenybopper is a young teenager, typically a girl, who follows adolescent Fads and trends, trends in music, fashion, and culture. The term may have been coined by marketing professionals and psychologists, later becoming a subculture of its own ...

enthusiasm for

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor and musician. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical-sitcom ''The Partridge Family''. After completing high school, Cassidy purs ...

Donny Osmond Donald Clark Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host and former teen idol. He gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gold albums. In the ...

, and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

. By 1978, Brennock was an established London session singer, known for a "sassy ' Ronettes' sound." In the 1980s Brennock adopted the stage name Rachel Fury and toured as a backing singer with

Howard Devoto Howard Devoto (born Howard Andrew Trafford, 15 March 1952) is an English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, an early post-punk band. After Magazine, he went ...

and The Lover Speaks. She co-wrote the song "When We Dream" with Phil Saatchi for his 1987 album ''Wheel of Fortune'', and performed vocals on several Saatchi songs. Fury signed on as a backing singer for Pink Floyd's '

A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour was two consecutive concert tours by the English rock band Pink Floyd. The ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour'' ran from September 1987 to August 1988; the ''Another Lapse tour'' ran from May–July 1989. Both t ...

' (1987–88) and the 'Another Lapse Tour' (1989) after being introduced to the band by her former boyfriend James Guthrie, Pink Floyd's longtime

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...

. She performed on tour with Pink Floyd from 1987 to 1989 and appears in the concert film and on the live album ''

Delicate Sound of Thunder ''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' is a live album by the English band Pink Floyd. It was recorded over five nights at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, in August 1988, during their A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour, and mixed at Abbey Ro ...

'', the Italian TV broadcast of the 1989 concert in Venice, and the

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

recording of the 1987 concert at the Omni in Atlanta. In these live performances, Fury is noted for the opening vocals on "

The Great Gig in the Sky "The Great Gig in the Sky" is the fifth track on ''The Dark Side of the Moon'', a 1973 album by English rock band Pink Floyd. The song features music by keyboard player Richard Wright and improvised, wordless vocals by session singer Clare Tor ...

", first performed on the

A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour was two consecutive concert tours by the English rock band Pink Floyd. The ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour'' ran from September 1987 to August 1988; the ''Another Lapse tour'' ran from May–July 1989. Both t ...

in Tokyo and for harmonising with

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

on "

Comfortably Numb "Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, ''The Wall'' (1979). It was released as a Single (music), single in 1980, with "Hey You (Pink Floyd song), Hey You" as the A-side and B- ...

". Fury also appears on recordings included in ''

The Later Years ''The Later Years'' is a Box set#Music, box set by the English rock band Pink Floyd released on 13 December 2019 by Pink Floyd Records. It follows the 2016 box set ''The Early Years 1965–1972'', and compiles Pink Floyd's work under the leader ...

'' boxset (2019) where she appears in a remastered ''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' film, the Venice canal show film as well as on the expanded version of the ''Delicate Sound of Thunder'' album. After 1989 Fury retired from the stage. She did, however, perform with fellow Pink Floyd touring member,

Durga McBroom Durga McBroom is an American singer who has performed backing vocals for Pink Floyd and is a member of the house music band Blue Pearl, best known for their hit single " Naked in the Rain". She works as an actress, dancer, and singer in the Uni ...

's band,

Blue Pearl Blue Pearl are an English electronic music duo consisting of American female singer Durga McBroom and British musician Youth (Martin Glover). They charted six times on the UK singles chart and had two songs reach the US ''Billboard'' Hot Dance ...

live in 1990.

References

External links

Rachel Fury entry at discogs.com
* (as Rachel Brennock)
Rachel Fury performing in 1990 for Blue Pearl band as a backing vocalist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fury, Rachel Living people English women singers 1961 births