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

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

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 two solo singles, "Love Is All You Need," and "Coastal Town" in 1987. With friend Mick Bund, she then formed a new band, Prime Time, who released a handful of singles. Cracknell was one-half of the du
Lovecut DB
who released three singles between 1991 and 1992 including "Heart Spin," "Fingertips" b/w "Live To Breathe," and "Journey To The Centre Of Love." 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 ''Foxbase Alpha'' is the debut studio album by English band Saint Etienne (band), Saint Etienne, released on 16 September 1991 by Heavenly Recordings. The album was recorded in a style which drew on the club culture and house music of the time ...

''. Cracknell has been Saint Etienne's permanent vocalist since then. Preceded by the single "Anymore" in 1996, Cracknell released a solo album, '' Lipslide'', in May 1997. Originally released in the UK only by

Gut Records Gut Records was a British independent record label, based in Maida Vale in London, England. Formed in 1991, Gut was founded by Guy Holmes, who had been Head of Promotions at Island Records. The first single released on the label, Right Said ...

, 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, th ...

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 A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

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 the Italian electronic music DJ and record producer Spiller with lead vocals performed by English singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Various versions of the single were later featured on the Germ ...

" in 2000, but she never got to record the song, which instead featured

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo and ...

. She has recorded tracks with various artists such as David Holmes ("Anymore", "Gone"),

Xploding Plastix Xploding Plastix is a Norwegian electronic music duo, consisting of Jens Petter Nilsen and Hallvard Wennersberg Hagen. Biography Jens Petter Nilsen and Hallvard Wennersberg Hagen (formerly in Norwegian black metal band Kvist) formed the grou ...

("Sunset Spirals"), Cheapglue ("You've Just Won Me Over") and

Paul Van Dyk Matthias Paul (; born 16 December 1971), known professionally as Paul van Dyk () is a German DJ, record producer and musician. Van Dyk was the first artist to receive a Grammy Award nomination in the newly added category of Best Dance/Electron ...

("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), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

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

Marc Almond Peter Mark Almond (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist of the synth-pop/ new wave duo Soft Cell. He has a distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He has had a diverse career as a ...

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 Elena Davidovna Kats-Chernin (born 4 November 1957) is an Uzbek-born Australian composer and pianist, best known for her ballet ''Wild Swans''. Early life and education Elena Kats-Chernin was born in Tashkent (now the capital of independent Uz ...

entitled Eliza's Aria, well known to UK TV viewers as the music from the 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'', 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 Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...

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 Heavenly Recordings is a London-based independent record label founded by Jeff Barrett in 1990. Heavenly released the first albums from Saint Etienne, Beth Orton and Doves, and early singles by Manic Street Preachers. Current Heavenly artists i ...

and Heavenly Films) in Kensington and Chelsea,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

in 2001 and 2004. Cracknell is the daughter of

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's first assistant director Derek Cracknell and actor and singer Julie Samuel (born 1944).''The Footage Detectives'', Taking Pictures TV, 25 December 2022

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 1965 births Living people British alternative rock singers Alternative dance musicians English alternative rock musicians British indie pop musicians English dance musicians English electronic musicians English house musicians English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters Musicians from Chelmsford Gut Records artists British synth-pop singers English women pop singers English women in electronic music Instinct Records artists