Siobhan Maher Kennedy (born 11 January 1964) is an English

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

. She was the lead vocalist of the

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

-based band River City People during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band released two

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' Say Something Good'' and '' This Is the World''. She is the daughter of Liverpool

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers

* Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Barker (occupation), Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Cheerleader * Circus arts, Circus perform ...

and

BBC Radio Merseyside BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside, North and West Cheshire and West Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool. According to RAJAR, t ...

presenter Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a news program * Sports commentator, an announcer who presents analysis of a sporting event * Radio personality, presenter or announcer on a radio show * Television ...

Billy Maher.

Musical career

In the 1980s, prior to joining River City People, Maher had been a vocalist with the local bands Passion Polka, Peep Show (with future RCP bassist Dave Snell, to whom she was briefly married) and The Persuaders (with future RCP drummer and co-founder Paul Speed). After River City People split, Maher teamed with the rave act Oceanic for the single "Ignorance" after their regular singer Jorinde Williams lost her voice. "Ignorance" charted at number 72 on the Official UK Singles chart in November 1992 and would be Maher Kennedy's only solo credited hit on the Official Charts database. A couple of years later she formed a duo with

Debbi Peterson Deborah Mary Peterson (born on August 22, 1961) is an American musician and the drummer of the band The Bangles. She sang lead vocals on two of the band's released singles, "Going Down to Liverpool" (1984) and " Be with You" (1989). She is the y ...

, drummer and vocalist with

The Bangles The Bangles are an American all-female band, all-female pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, in 1981. They are known for hit singles during the 1980s that made them one of the most successful pop rock groups of the decade. The band’s biggest ...

, called Kindred Spirit, who released a self-titled album in 1995. Although Peterson and Maher never officially split, Kindred Spirit is inactive. Peterson returned to the Bangles, and Maher released a solo album in 2002 titled ''Immigrant Flower''. Living in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

having married

Ray Kennedy Raymond Kennedy (28 July 1951 – 30 November 2021) was an English Association football, footballer who won every domestic honour in the game with Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool in the 1970s and early 1980s. Kennedy playe ...

, producer of

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...

and Malcolm Holcombe, the country/folk/Americana influence on her music is noticeable. She now styles herself Siobhan Maher Kennedy. On 29 May 2022, her single "God Bless The World" would be a new entry in the Top 40 of Mike Read's Heritage Chart at number 32.

Other work

In 1987, Maher played the part of Lettuce in the ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Bro ...

'' spin-off series '' Damon and Debbie''. Maher also made forays into television presenting, on the 1987 series of the

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

fashion magazine programme '' The Clothes Show'' and the 1987 and 1988 seasons of ''But First This!, ''

Children's BBC BBC Children's and Education is the BBC division responsible for media content for children in the UK. Since the launch of specially dedicated television channels in 2002, the services have been marketed under two brands. CBBC (short for Chil ...

's summer holiday morning programme. For the 1987 season she presented a week solo (others doing the same included Andy Crane, Simon Potter, Tracy Brabin and Anthea Turner) and in 1988 presented throughout the run in rotation with other members of the presenting team for that season (

Andy Crane Howard Andrew Crane (born 24 February 1964) is an English television and radio presenter, best known for presenting Children's BBC between 1987 and 1990 and for his current work as a presenter on the Greatest Hits Radio network. Career Cran ...

, Colin Heywood and

Sue Devaney Sue Devaney (born Susan Barber, 2 July 1967) is an English actress. Her roles include Debbie Webster in ''Coronation Street'', Rita in ''Jonny Briggs'', Liz Harker in ''Casualty'' and Jane in '' Dinnerladies''. Career Devaney has played variou ...

). Maher sang background vocals on

Willy DeVille Willy DeVille (born William Paul Borsey Jr.; August 25, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created song ...

's 1996 '' Loup Garou'' album and the 1997

Joey Tempest Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson (born 19 August 1963), known professionally as Joey Tempest, is a Swedish musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Europe. He has written most of the band's biggest hit songs, including " The Fi ...

album '' Azalea Place'', and duetted with

on the song "Poison Lovers" from his 1997 album '' El Corazón''. Additionally, she has performed backing vocals on several albums by Malcolm Holcombe, including the 2009 release ''For The Mission Baby.'' Maher also sang backing vocals on

Manu Katché Manu Katché (born 27 October 1958) is a French drummer and songwriter of Ivorian descent. He has worked extensively as a session musician, notably with Sting and Peter Gabriel, and his solo albums as a bandleader are largely in the jazz fusio ...

's album ''It's About Time'', which was recorded at

Real World Studios Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the old Box Mill building in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World R ...

and featured

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

and

Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A session bassist, he has played bass for a number of acts such as the Who, the John Mayer Trio, Gary Numan, Paul Young, Don Henle ...

amongst others. The 2002

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

comedy-drama ''Being April'' featured a theme song performed by Maher—the Richard Thompson-penned "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight." Maher appeared in one episode performing the song, which is also featured on her solo album ''Immigrant Flower.'' Inspired by the community of musicians and songwriters in Nashville, Maher Kennedy began a project in Liverpool in 2019 called The Liver Girls to pursue the creation of a similar collective of women singer-songwriters in her former home city.The Liver Girls on Facebook
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Discography

Solo recordings

* 2002: ''Immigrant Flower'' ( BMG / Gravity)

With Kindred Spirit

* 1995: ''Kindred Spirit'' (

I.R.S. Records I.R.S. Records was a major American record label founded by Miles Copeland III and Jay Boberg in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave and a ...

)

With River City People

;Albums * 1989: '' Say Something Good'' (

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

) * 1991 '' This Is the World'' (EMI) ;Single(s) * 1990: " California Dreaming" (EMI) cover of

The Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, with a brief reunion in 1971. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York C ...

, now available with the reissue of the ''Say Something Good'' album

References

External links

* *

2002 ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...

'' interview with Siobhan Maher Kennedy
Siobhan Maher as presenter in 1987 on BBC1's ''But First This!''Live clip of Siobhan Maher with The Persuaders, Liverpool 1987
accessed 2 April 2009
''What Are We Going To Do'', The Persuaders music video featuring Siobhan Maher
accessed 4 April 2013
''California Dreaming'' by River City People
in a 1990 appearance on

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

, accessed 7 November 2021
''What's Wrong With Dreaming'', River City People music video
accessed 5 April 2013
''This is the World'', River City People live performance
accessed 30 May 2014
''Here in My Eyes'', Kindred Spirit music video
accessed 2 April 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Siobhan Maher 1964 births Living people Singers from Liverpool Kennedy, Siobhan Maher