Beth Gibbons
Beth Gibbons | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | Exeter, Devon, England, UK[1] | 4 January 1965
Genres | Trip hop, folk,[2] alternative rock |
Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, keyboards |
Years active | 1991–present |
Labels | Go! Beat, Sanctuary |
Website | Official website |
Beth Gibbons (born 4 January 1965) is an English singer and songwriter. She is the singer and lyricist for the English band Portishead.
Early life
Gibbons was born in Exeter, Devon,[3][1][4] and raised on a farm with two sisters. Her parents divorced when she was young.[5] At 22, she moved to Bath, then Bristol to pursue her singing career, where she met Geoff Barrow, her future collaborator in Portishead.[6]
Career
With Adrian Utley, Gibbons and Barrow released the first Portishead album Dummy in 1994 and have produced two other studio albums, a live album, and various singles in the years since.
She has also collaborated on a separate project with former Talk Talk bassist Paul Webb (Rustin Man). Before she joined Geoff Barrow in Portishead, she had auditioned for the singer's slot in .O.rang, the group formed by Webb after Talk Talk's late-Eighties departure from EMI, but Portishead's sudden success pre-empted matters. In October 2002, they released the album Out of Season in the United Kingdom under the name Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man. The album peaked at number 28 in the UK Albums Chart.[7] It was released in the United States a year later: while touring in North America, Variety favourably described her performance with Rustin as "Billie Holiday fronting Siouxsie and the Banshees".[8]
Gibbons was also a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.
In June 2013, Gibbons announced plans for a new solo album with Domino Records.[9][10] She contributed vocals to a cover of the song "Black Sabbath" with the British metal band Gonga, entitled "Black Sabbeth", released 24 April 2014.[11]
Style and inspiration
She has cited Nina Simone, Janis Joplin, Edith Piaf, Janis Ian and Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins as female musical influences. She also named Bono of U2 as an musical inspiration for his performance on The Joshua Tree, Otis Redding and Jimmy Cliff.[5][12]
Discography
Portishead
- Dummy (1994)
- Portishead (1997)
- Roseland NYC Live (1998)
- Third (2008)
Solo
- Out of Season (2002) with Rustin Man
Other works
- "Orang" on .O.rang's album Herd of Instinct (1994)
- "Jalap" on .O.rang's album Fields and Waves (1996)
- "Lonely Carousel" on Rodrigo Leão's album Cinema
- "Strange Melody" on Jane Birkin's album Rendez-Vous
- "Killing Time" on Joss Stone's Mind Body & Soul
- Soundtrack for Diane Bertrand's film "L'Annulaire" (unreleased, 2005)
- "My Secret" on Jane Birkin's album Fictions
- "Love is a Stranger" on Fried's album Fried
- "Sing" with Annie Lennox from Songs of Mass Destruction
- Soundtrack for Diane Bertrand's film Baby Blues
- "Requiem for Anna" on Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited - performed as Portishead
- Soundtrack for Julie Taymor's film "The Tempest (2010 film)" - "Prospera's Coda" by Elliot Goldenthal
- "Mysteries" with Rustin Man from "The Russian Dolls" soundtrack
- "Black Sabbeth" with Gonga[13]
- "GMO" on JJ DOOM's Key to the Kuffs
References
- ^ a b Tammy La Gorce. "Beth Gibbons Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
- ^ Beitia, Sara (11 August 2004). "Beth Gibbons: Out of Season". Boise Weekly. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ "Full Beth Gibbons Biography". Perfect People. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Beth Gibbons - Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Solo album bio" Biography previously published on a Finnish site (archived), Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ Stuart Clark. "Never Mind the Bollocks". Hot Press. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 226. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Mirkin, Steven (28 October 2003). "Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man". Variety. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ "Domino". Beth Gibbons. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ "Portishead's Beth Gibbons to Release New Solo Album on Domino | News". Pitchfork. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ "Sabbath cover" Jeremy Gordon, 'Portishead's Beth Gibbons Covers Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath" With Metal Band Gonga', Pitchfork, 24 April 2014.
- ^ "Oor Interview 1995" Erik van den Berg, There's not only emotion in the way you sing but also in what you sing, Oor Magazine (no. .6), 8 April 1995, (translated from Dutch). Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ Gordon, Jeremy (24 April 2014). "Portishead's Beth Gibbons Covers Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath" With Metal Band Gonga". Pitchfork. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
External links
- Use dmy dates from July 2013
- 1965 births
- English female singers
- English female guitarists
- English songwriters
- Living people
- Musicians from Bristol
- People from Exeter
- Portishead (band) members
- Contraltos
- Musicians from Devon
- British trip hop musicians
- Women in electronic music
- 21st-century women singers
- English folk singers
- Alternative rock singers