Siobhán Emma Donaghy (born 14 June 1984 in
London), is an English
singer
songwriter. She attended the Douay Martyrs school in Ickenham,
in the London Bourogh of Hillingdon. She was a founding member of
English pop group the
Sugababes, although
she was replaced by
Heidi Range in
September 2001. Since her departure from the group, Donaghy has
released five solo singles, two albums, and has appeared in a
remixed version of the hit stage show
Rent for its 2007-2008 run where she played
Mimi.
Early life and family
Siobhán
Donaghy was born in London
, England on
14 June 1984. She has two sisters Bevin and Róisín, who is
working as a make-up artist for Siobhán. She is of
Irish descent and has been performing since she
was 12 years old. She was discovered by former
All Saints manager Ron Tom, who went on to
manage
Sugababes.
Sugababes
1998-2001: One Touch
The group was created when
Keisha
Buchanan and
Mutya Buena, friends
since they were only eight years of age, met Donaghy at a party in
1998, when Siobhan was 14 and were introduced by manager Ron Tom.
Buena and Donaghy had been working separately with Tom, and while
they were recording it was suggested that they would try it with a
third member. Buchanan had been invited to come along to watch by
Buena and was asked if she could sing; the name 'Sugababies' was
made up by their manager Ron Tom. Within a year they were offered a
record contract by London Records and started calling themselves
the Sugababes.
Their debut single "
Overload" was
very successful in the United Kingdom and was nominated for a
BRIT Award for "Best Single" and peaking
at no6 and climbing to #3 in Germany and #2 in New Zealand. The
group co-wrote most of the tracks on
One
Touch, with the help of
All
Saints producer
Cameron
McVey.
Their debut album produced three more hits in the United Kingdom:
"
New Year", "
Run for Cover" and "
Soul Sound".
2001-2002: Leaving Sugababes
The Sugababes had been following a heavy touring schedule for over
a year with Donaghy gradually becoming more and more unhappy with
her position in the group. Feeling that the other girls were trying
to force her out, Donaghy decided to leave of her own accord and
did so during a Japanese promotional tour (excusing herself to go
to the toilet, and immediately leaving). Her management initially
stated that she left because she wanted to pursue a fashion
career.
According to Siobhán herself (in messages sent to
MySpace users), she left the band because she never
got along with
Keisha Buchanan, whom
she described as a bully. She became deeply depressed (eventually
being diagnosed with
clinical
depression) and could no longer be a part of the
Sugababes.
In an interview with
thelondonpaper,
Donaghy said: "It's difficult to leave a band and then make sort of
a solo career. I left for a very good reason and I've never for a
second wanted to go back there." Donaghy is still in touch with her
former colleague
Mutya Buena saying she
is always pleased to see her. They are not exactly friends but they
make an effort with each other and chat every once in a while.
However she is no longer speaking with Keisha.
Overloaded: The
Singles Collection is a greatest hits compilation album from
the
Sugababes that was released on 13
November 2006. Contrary to initial reports that vocals from
departed
Sugababes Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy were going to be
re-recorded by
Heidi Range and
Amelle Berrabah, all the original vocals
were kept for the compilation but she did not feature on the cover
art of the album.
Solo career
2003-2004: Revolution In Me
Donaghy started writing music along with the help of former
producer Cameron McVey to help overcome her depression, and began
performing under the alias of "Shanghai Nobody". In March 2003,
Donaghy released "
Nothing But Song"
under this title as she did not want to be known as "The girl who
left the
Sugababes". "
Nothing But Song" was released as a 7"
vinyl single only and was relatively unknown. Upon the release of
her first commercial single, "Overrated", Donaghy reverted back to
her given name. "Shanghai Nobody", when rearranged, spells "Siobhan
Donaghy"
On 23 June 2003 she released her first commercial solo single
"
Overrated", co-written with
Cameron McVey. It peaked at #19 in the United Kingdom. It was
followed by the single "
Twist Of Fate" which was
released on 15 September 2003 and charted at #52. Two weeks later
saw the release of her debut album
Revolution In Me.
Donaghy's debut album was released on
London Records on 29 September 2003. As the
booklet includes 8 additional front covers, there is no official
album cover, as anyone can change the cover to what they want. It
entered the album chart at #117. Lending a hand to Donaghy on
Revolution In Me were father-son producers and writers
Cameron McVey and Marlon Roudette from
Mattafix. Each of the 12 tracks on the album was
co-written by Donaghy with McVey,
Preetesh
Hirji, Matt Kent and others. Several of the tracks on the album
have titles which do not appear in the lyrics. The song "Suasex"
features a Spanish telephone conversation about school.
Parlophone bought the rights to this album when they signed
Siobhán.
2007-2008: Ghosts
Donaghy parted with London Records in a mutual decision with the
company. She recorded a second album with no record label which was
picked up by
Parlophone, part of the
EMI group. On her official
MySpace page, Donaghy previewed the title track from
the album, "Ghosts", which was released in February 2007 as a 12"
promotional 2-track single with the song "
Don't Give It Up".
The video
was filmed in various different towns including Marrakech
, Essaouira
and El
Jadida
in Morocco
and also in
the mountains. In its first week of release, on downloads
alone, the single "
Don't Give It
Up" reached #72, then, upon release of the physical single went
to #45.
The second single "
So You Say" was
released on 18 June 2007 and peaked at #76 in the United
Kingdom.
The album
Ghosts was released
on 25 June 2007 and peaked at #92. Donaghy said: "I would like some
commercial success. But only because then you're allowed to make
another record." She promoted this album in a number of magazines,
telling The London Paper: "I make left field pop music, and it’s a
difficult genre to be in because it’s not straight pop, it’s not
alternative, and it’s quite hard to market. You have to push it and
work it."
The album was recorded in a small studio near Barneville-Carteret,
France. Producer James Sanger has worked with artists such as
U2,
Keane, and
Dido. Other producers/songwriters
confirmed to have worked with Donaghy on this album are Jony
Rockstar, Carl McIntosh ("There's A Place"), Ben Ranyard ("12 Bar
Acid Blues"), Charles Lucy of
Lucy
Tuning ("Sometimes") and Marius De Vries.
A new remix of 'Don't Give It Up' by Jerry Bouthier is featured on
the new BoomBox CD from Kitsune. The album was released in November
2007.
In January 2009, the music website
We7.com
voted the album the most underrated album ever.
2008-2009: Future Projects
In a recent interview with the music site We7, she indicated that
there will be no further solo albums released for the time being.
"At this point in time I have no further plans to undertake another
record of my own. Ultimately, the true nature of the business side
of the music industry is enough to keep me away. Nonetheless, if I
find myself in the future bursting with ideas and experiences I
feel the need to share through music, I will be back," Donaghy
stated in an interview with We7 in January 2009.
In 2009 Siobhan was featured on the Square1 single "Styfling", the
single was released on 29 June 2009. She has also recently revealed
that she is working on new material.Donaghy stated in a 2009
interview with fashion site ponystep.com that she feels she has
"had the break" she wanted from the industry and is currently
working on new music but is unsure when it will be finished.
Other activities
Donaghy has appeared as a backing vocalist on the
Mattafix album
Signs Of A Struggle and on the
Morcheeba album
The Antidote.
She also
appeared as the character of Mimi, a lead role, in the William Baker directed
production of RENT in London's West
End
at the Duke of York's Theatre
, which opened on 2 October 2007 and ran until 2
February 2008. She said she was "overwhelmed that she got
the part and was looking forward to the challenge".
In August 2007 she
flew to New York to watch RENT on Broadway
to get
inspiration for her interpretation of her part. This was
Donaghy's West End debut.
Donaghy appeared with the cast of RENT to sing 'Seasons of Love' on
the BBC's 2007
Children in Need
show.
Donaghy is also working as a
DJ. In the July 2007
issue of
Word magazine she gave her DJing tips
Albums
Singles
References
- Biography
- Work
- Siobhan Donaghy Mixed By Jerry Bouthier
- Siobhan Donaghy's Ghosts voted most underrated
album at We7.com My Chemical Toilet. 20 January 2009
-
http://ponystep.com/music/article/SiobhanDonaghyTheonethatgotaway_380.aspx
-
http://www.ponystep.com/music/article/SiobhanDonaghyTheonethatgotaway_380.aspx
- RENT
- RENT
- "Chart Stats: The Saturdays". ChartStats.com.
Retrieved 8 March 2009.
- "European Top 100 Albums (Chart Listing for the
Week of Feb 7 2009". Billboard. Nielsen Business
Media, Inc. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
- "Discography The Saturdays". Irish-Charts.com.
Retrieved 8 March 2009.
- "Discographie Sugababes". AustrianCharts.com.
Retrieved 25 November 2008.
- [1]. Ultratop.be
- "Chartverfolgung / Sugababes / Single".
MusicLine.de. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
- "Irish Charts Searchable Database". IrishCharts.ie.
Retrieved 20 September 2008. Note: User must define 'Artist Name'
search parameter as "Sugababes" or "Siobhan Donaghy".
- "Discografie Sugababes". DutchCharts.nl.
Retrieved 25 November 2008.
- [2]. NorwegianCharts.com.
- "Discography Sugababes". Charts.org.nz.
Retrieved 25 November 2008.
- "Discography Sugababes". SwedishCharts.com.
Retrieved 25 November 2008.
- "Discography Sugababes". SwissCharts.com.
Retrieved 25 November 2008.
- Billboard Artist Chart History -
Sugababes
- Allmusic Artist Chart History -
Sugababes
External links
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