Rebecca Lucy Taylor (born 15 October 1986), also known by her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

as Self Esteem, is an English singer-songwriter and actress. The inspiration for her stage name comes from the evolution of Taylor's confidence from her early 20s.

Early life

Taylor was born in

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, England. Her father was a steelworker, and her mother was a secretary.

Career

WideAwake030921 (244 of 307) (51422989887)

Taylor was previously a member of folk duo Slow Club, which formed in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

in 2006. The band consisted of multi-instrumentalists Charles Watson and Taylor, with Watson on the piano, Taylor on the drums, and both performing guitars and vocals. The band split up in 2017, following an extensive tour to support their last album, owing to differing musical interests and Taylor feeling unfulfilled. A big fan of

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, she based her logo on

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in th ...

's signature.

2017–2020: ''Compliments Please''

Taylor released "Your Wife", her first single under the Self Esteem moniker, in 2017. Her debut album, ''Compliments Please'', was released on 1 March 2019 on

Fiction Records Fiction Records is a British record label founded by Chris Parry in 1978, owned by Universal Music Group and based in the United Kingdom. It is best known for being the home of The Cure for over 20 years. It was originally a part of Polydor, ...

. The album was preceded by the singles "Wrestling", "Rollout", "The Best" and "Girl Crush". Self Esteem completed a UK tour and played at festivals such as

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonb ...

British Summer Time During British Summer Time (BST), civil time in the United Kingdom is advanced one hour forward of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), in effect changing the time zone from UTC±00:00 to UTC+01:00, so that mornings have one hour less daylight, and e ...

and

Latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north po ...

during 2019.

2021–present: ''Prioritise Pleasure''

In April 2021, Taylor released "I Do This All The Time", the first single from her second album as Self Esteem. The single was praised by

Tracey Thorn Tracey Anne Thorn (born 26 September 1962) is a British singer. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl from 1982 to 1999. She was a member of the band Marine Girls between 1980 and 1983 and since 2007 has been ...

and by

Jack Antonoff Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. Antonoff is the lead singer of rock band Bleachers, and is the guitarist and drummer in the pop rock band Fun. He was p ...

. In July, she released the title track and announced that the record, ''Prioritise Pleasure'', would coincide with a UK tour in October of the same year. In August, Self Esteem released the third single, "How Can I Help You". Taylor directed the music videos for those singles, filming all three at the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a di ...

. In September, the single "Moody" was released. The video for "Moody" was directed by Louise Bhose and features comedian Alistair Green alongside Taylor. In October, Self Esteem released "You Forever", the final single preceding the album. ''

Prioritise Pleasure ''Prioritise Pleasure'' is the second studio album by the British musician Self Esteem, aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor, released on 22 October 2021. The album was nominated for the 2022 Mercury Prize. Critical reception ''Prioritise Pleasure'' r ...

'' was released on 22 October 2021. The UK tour started on 6 November 2021 in Edinburgh. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

'' and '' Gigwise'' ranked ''Prioritise Pleasure'' as the best album of 2021. '' NME'' ranked the album as the fourth best of 2021. ''The Guardian'' named "I Do This All The Time" as the best song of 2021. Taylor composed the soundtrack for the

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

production of

Suzie Miller Suzie Miller is an Australian/British playwright, librettist and screenwriter. In April 2022, Miller made her West End debut with ''Prima Facie'' starring Jodie Comer. Overview Miller is a contemporary international playwright, librettist and ...

's play ''

Prima Facie ''Prima facie'' (; ) is a Latin expression meaning ''at first sight'' or ''based on first impression''. The literal translation would be 'at first face' or 'at first appearance', from the feminine forms of ''primus'' ('first') and ''facies'' (' ...

'', which she digitally released on 14 June 2022.

Collaborations

Taylor released her first single as Self Esteem on Kick + Clap, a label run by Django Django member Dave MacLean. Taylor then went on to feature on the Django Django track "Surface to Air", which appeared on the band's album '' Marble Skies''. She provided guest vocals for "Strangle of Anna", a song by fellow Sheffield act

the Moonlandingz The Moonlandingz are an English rock band, formed in 2015. The band consists of Eccentronic Research Council duo Adrian Flanagan and Dean Honer, along with Fat White Family members Saul Adamczewski and Lias Kaci Saoudi. The band was originall ...

which appeared on their second album, ''

Interplanetary Class Classics ''Interplanetary Class Classics'' is the debut studio album from Sheffield-based rock band The Moonlandingz. It was released on March 24, 2017, through Transgressive Records in Europe and by Chimera Music in the United States. It was produced ...

''. Taylor also performed with the band live.

Awards

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BBC Music Introducing BBC Music ''Introducing'' is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. It gives artists the opportunity to be played on Local BBC Radio and nationally on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, ...

, 2021 , Artist of the Year , , , - !scope="row",

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

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British Breakthrough Act The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

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NME Awards The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine '' NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding ...

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'' , Best Album In The World , , - , Best Album By A UK Artist , , - !scope="row",

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

, 2022 , Album of the Year , ,

Television appearances

Self Esteem has appeared on major TV entertainment shows in the UK and the US including Later...with Jools Holland, the Graham Norton Show, Jools' Annual Hootenanny and

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28am ...

. A self-confessed fan of the UK TV show

Taskmaster A taskmaster is a supervisor who imposes hard or burdensome work. Taskmaster may also refer to: * ''Taskmaster'' (TV series), a British comedy panel show ** ''Taskmaster'' (American TV series), an American version of the British show ** ''Taskm ...

, Taylor appeared in the 2023 New Year's episode in which she came joint second to winner Sir Mo Farah. Performing at Rockaway Beach festival a week after the episode aired, she changed her signature live backdrop to read "Full Season of Taskmaster When?".

Personal life

Taylor has been openly

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, wh ...

since 2013. She has spoken about breaking into the industry in her 30s, stating she used to lie and say she was 25. She said it took her "a while to be proud" of breaking into the industry later in life.

Band members

Current

* Sophie Galpin (backing vocals, keys, bass) * Marged Siôn (backing vocals) * Levi Heaton (backing vocals) * Seraphina D'Arby (backing vocals) * Mike Park (drums)

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Compliments Please'' (2019) * ''

'' (2021)

Extended plays

* ''Cuddles Please'' (2020)

Singles

* "Your Wife" (2017) * "Wrestling" (2018) * "Rollout" (2018) * "The Best" (2018) * "Girl Crush" (2019) * "I Do This All The Time" (2021) * "Prioritise Pleasure" (2021) * "How Can I Help You" (2021) * "Moody" (2021) * "You Forever" (2021) * "Fucking Wizardry" (2022) * “The 345” (2022)

Bibliography

* ''Self Esteem'' (2021)

References

External links

* – official site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Esteem, Self Experimental pop musicians 1980s births Living people Bisexual musicians Bisexual women British women drummers British women pop singers British women guitarists Year of birth missing (living people) English LGBT musicians