Sophie Ellis Bexter

Sophie Ellis Bextor

Profession: Singer
Place/Date of Birth: London, 10 April 1979

Singers out for fashion week - Feb 13 2008
Sophie Ellis Bextor and Robin Gibb were among the latest celebrities to catch a show at this week's London Fashion Week.

The 28-year-old songstress attended the PPQ catwalk show and revealed that she had been a real fan of the label for "a little while".

She said: "Throughout last year when I did my third album I ended up wearing quite a few of their bits. I like where they're coming from you know, it's a nice mixture of style and it's very youthful and it's got a bit of humour about it as I quite like designers that aren't too po-faced about everything."

Sophie also revealed that she is working on new material for her greatest hits album, which she hopes to release in late spring.

Meanwhile, Bee Gee Robin Gibb, who's currently working on the Bee Gees broadway musical, admitted he was a follower of fashion and tries to catch a show when he's in Milan and Paris too.

"I'm here because I like the atmosphere. It's just a good buzz to see all the different styles and the innovations it's very healthy, very inspiring," he said.

Sophie calls for sweet memories - Jan 29 2008
Sophie Ellis-Bextor shows off more than a sweet tooth as she poses in a tonne of Hundreds and Thousands.

The 28-year-old was photographed by Rankin to launch a campaign to collect "hundreds and thousands" of the nation’s childhood memories. The Children’s Society wants people to describe early recollections for a report on what a good childhood should look like.

Sophie, mother of three-year-old Sonny, said she’s "delighted" to be involved.

"As a mum, I want my children to have some fantastic memories," she added. "Being covered in Hundreds and Thousands is much more fun than I imagined but the serious message is we really need hundreds and thousands of childhood memories - please share yours."

Martin Field, the charity’s director of campaigns, said: "Recent research held up the UK as the worst country in the developed world to grow up in. This is a chance for everyone to contribute towards making childhood better. Memories help shape us and we want to make a positive change for children."

Sophie, who’s married to The Feeling’s Richard Jones, said her own memory was August 10, 1987, when her brother was born.

"Jack’s father is my stepdad and on the day Jack was born I was with my dad who was really happy for me and made me a special coin to mark the occasion."

She added: "I remember being proud not just that I finally wasn’t an only child any more but also that my parents had moved onto better things since their divorce."

People can contribute memories at www.hundredsandthousands.org.

Sophie to tour with Take That - Setp 14 2007
Sophie Ellis-Bextor has shelved her UK tour so she can go on the road with Take That.

The singer, 28, has confirmed on her website that she will be the ’Special Guest’ on the boy band’s European tour, which starts in Belfast on October 11.

"I’m so sorry I’ve had to postpone the tour. I hope you understand that it was proving incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to do both," Sophie told fans.

"I’m thrilled Take That have asked me to tour with them, they’re lovely boys and their tours are second to none. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity any girl would be a fool to turn down!"

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Biography

Born in Middlesex, Greater London in 1979, Sophie Ellis Bextor was educated at Godolphin and Latimer School in Hammersmith and is the daughter of Janet Ellis, a former Blue Peter presenter. Sophie has always had a fairly definite ideas about who she wanted to be. She edited her school newspaper at Godolphin and Latimer and whenever debates about music came up in the playground, would confidently declare: "I prefer the original." By 16 a love of Madonna and Michael Jackson had been swapped for Britpop as Sophie, clad in Adidas, hung out at West End clubs like Popscene. " I loved that very tongue-in-cheek English thing" she explains.

She’d already started singing and at the club Uncle Bob’s Wedding Reception met musician Billy Reeves and handed him a tape. Two years later theaudience emerged, dressed in black, with spiky guitar pop and a bona-fida star in the shape of chicly glamorous Ellis-Bextor. But despite the media acclaim, two Top 30 singles and a breezily confident album that owed more to classic Pretenders than it did Pulp, theaudience crumbled when Billy, the brain of the band, walked out.

In the summer of 2001 though Sophie stepped into the limelight as a solo artist. Her voice on Spiller’s "Groovejet (if This Ain’t Love)" was deliciously infectious, with a sexily-composed vocal that sang, "If this ain’t love, why does it feel so good?" Sophie and Spiller shot to Number One beating off competition from Victoria Beckham and leading to her being dubbed ’The Real Posh’ as she sported a cheeky ’Peckham’ tshirt to celebrate her victory.

Sophie follwed up her success with a debut album, Read My Lips, and several successful singles including Murder on the Dancefloor, Take Me Home and Music Gets The Best Of Me. However, when Shoot From The Hip, her second album failed to produce any real hits she took time off to be with her baby Sonny and marry The Feeling guitarist Richard Jones.

She is currently set to release a third album in collaboration with, among others, Fred Schneider of the B52s, Cathy Dennis and Shelley Poole. Trip the Light Fantastic is expected to be released in the spring of 2007.

February 2008

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