Sarah Cracknell (born 12 April 1967) is an English singer-songwriter and lead singer of the

electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...

band Saint Etienne.

Career

Cracknell's career started with the Windsor-based indie band The Worried Parachutes in 1982. Following the demise of the band she released a solo single, ''Love Is All You Need'', in 1987. With friend Mick Bund, she then formed a new band, Prime Time, who released a handful of singles. She appeared on 1990 dance track ''Fingertips'' by Lovecut DB. Sarah Cracknell 2007

Saint Etienne was originally to be an indie dance act featuring various vocalists. After Moira Lambert sang on their initial 1990 single "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and Donna Savage was heard on the follow-up single "Kiss and Make Up", Cracknell lent her vocals to "Nothing Can Stop Us" and ended up doing the rest of the singing on their debut album '' Foxbase Alpha''. Cracknell has been Saint Etienne's permanent vocalist since then. Preceded by the single "Anymore" in 1996, Cracknell released a solo album, ''

Lipslide ''Lipslide'' is the debut solo album from Saint Etienne lead singer Sarah Cracknell. The album was co-produced by Cracknell and a variety of producers and released in the UK by Gut Records in 1997. Upon its release ''Lipslide'' earned favor ...

'', in May 1997. Originally released in the UK only by Gut Records, the album featured dance, indie and pop tunes and received good reviews from critics, but was not a big seller (Cracknell has in interviews placed some of the blame on lack of proper promotion by Gut). ''Lipslide'' finally surfaced in the U.S. three years later, when

Instinct Records Instinct Records is a New York City electronic-music record label that first gained prominence in 1989. It is best known for releasing much of Moby's early work. Moby produced a number of tracks under various monikers so that in the early days, ...

released it in February 2000. With completely different cover art, the original album's track listing was also modified: five tracks were removed and four new songs plus a remix were added. Months later, Instinct released the ''Kelly's Locker'' EP, which contained the five tracks originally removed from the UK version of ''Lipslide'', along with two previously unreleased songs and a new remix. Cracknell was

Spiller Cristiano Spiller (born 3 April 1975) is an Italian electronic music DJ and record producer. He is best known for his 2000 single "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)", featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The song reached number-one in the UK, Australia, I ...

's first choice for the vocals of his number-one hit "

Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" is a song by Italian electronic music producer Spiller with lead vocals performed by British singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Various versions of the single were later featured on the German reissue and som ...

" in 2000, but never got to record the song. She has recorded tracks with various artists such as David Holmes ("Anymore", "Gone"), Xploding Plastix ("Sunset Spirals"), Cheapglue ("You've Just Won Me Over") and Paul Van Dyk ("The Riddle (Tell Me Why)," although billed as a collaboration between Van Dyk and St. Etienne but with Cracknell on vocals). She recorded a duet of

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dra ...

's 1968 song " I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" with

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. H ...

for his album '' Stardom Road'', released in June 2007. In December 2007, BBC radio began playing "The Journey Continues" by Mark Brown featuring Cracknell. The song consists of extensive samples from a composition by Elena Kats-Chernin entitled

Eliza's Aria Eliza Aria is an operatic vocalise from the ballet ''Wild Swans (ballet), Wild Swans'', composed by Elena Kats-Chernin. The piece was first recorded by soprano Jane Sheldon and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and released on the ABC Classics lab ...

, well known to UK TV viewers as the music from the computer-animated 'For the Journey' commercials for Lloyds TSB bank. The single was released in February 2008 on Positiva. The song peaked at #11 in the UK after being released. Cracknell has collaborated with French pop star Etienne Daho on several occasions. She co-wrote and sang back-up vocals on "Les passagers" from his 1996 album ''

Eden Eden may refer to: * Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis Places and jurisdictions Canada * Eden, Ontario * Eden High School Middle East * Eden, Lebanon, a city and former bishopric * Camp Eden, Iraq O ...

'', and also co-wrote "Le premier jour" which was released as a single from his greatest hits compilation ''Singles''. With Saint Etienne, they collaborated on the '' Reserection EP''. Saint Etienne's single "He's on the Phone" (which featured both Cracknell and Daho) was actually an English-language adaptation of Daho's French language 1984 single "Weekend à Rome". On 21 August 2014, Cherry Red Records announced that it had signed Cracknell to a worldwide deal under which she would release a new solo album. The album, entitled ''Red Kite'', was recorded in December 2014 and released on 15 June 2015. A series of live shows by Cracknell in support the album were planned for the weeks following its release.

Personal life

Cracknell married Martin Kelly (joint managing director of Heavenly Recordings and Heavenly Films) in Kensington and Chelsea,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 5 December 2004. They have two children, born in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...

in 2001 and 2004. Cracknell is the daughter of

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

's first assistant director Derek Cracknell.

Discography

The

discography Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...

consists of two studio albums, two compilations, six solo singles and four singles as a featured artist.

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

As lead singer

As featured artist

Guest appearances

References

External links

Sarah Cracknell Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cracknell, Sarah 1967 births Living people Alternative rock singers Alternative dance musicians British alternative rock musicians British indie pop musicians English dance musicians English electronic musicians English house musicians English women singer-songwriters Musicians from Essex Gut Records artists Synth-pop singers English women pop singers English women in electronic music Instinct Records artists