Rumer (musician)
Rumer |
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Rumer is the professional name of the British female singer-songwriter, Sarah Joyce (born 3 June 1979, Islamabad, Pakistan).[2] Her stage name was inspired by the author Rumer Godden.[3] Rumer's voice has been described by The Guardian as being reminiscent of Karen Carpenter.[4] Supported by leading music industry figures including Burt Bacharach, Jools Holland and Elton John, Rumer was nominated for two Brit awards on 13 January 2011.[5]
Early life
Rumer, real name Sarah Joyce. was born June 3, 1979 in Pakistan, the youngest of seven children. Her mother's husband was a British engineer working on the Tarbela Dam project and the family lived in a self-contained expatriate community near Islamabad. Sarah's mother had a relationship with her cook, who was Pakistani and is Sarah's natural father. None of Sarah's six siblings knew she had a different father and she did not discover this until the age of 11,[3] when her parents divorced and the family returned to England.[6] Sarah went to school in Carlisle until she was 16, then studied drama at Dartington College of Arts[7] in Devon before moving to London.[3] She tried her hand in bands and waitressing.[8]
When her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, Sarah moved to live in a caravan in the New Forest to be with her.[3] and started writing songs. Her mother died in 2003 and Sarah had a breakdown.[8] She joined a commune in the south of England for a year, then returned to London to pursue her music career.[6]
Musical career
Under the name of Sarah Prentice, Sarah sang with a moderately successful London-based folk/indie band called La Honda between 2000 and 2001.[3] In 2004, she formed the band Rumer & The Denials and had released an early version of Come To Me High on 7" in 2007.[9] Their myspace page, now closed, included an acoustic recording of Slow, which was included on the compilation album "A Very Magistery Valentine".[10] A collection of solo material, recorded in 2007, Coffee And Honey,[11] was released under her real name, Sarah Joyce, in South Korea in April 2010.
Rumer's debut album Seasons of My Soul was released on 1 November 2010, produced by her mentor, British composer Steve Brown.[12] Her debut single, Slow, was featured on Smooth FM, and the single Aretha on BBC Radio 2's Record of the Week feature, and she is signed to Atlantic Records. She supported American singer Joshua Radin on his 2010 tour[2] and also supported Jools Holland on his UK tour in the Autumn of 2010 which included a performance at the Albert Hall in London.[13]
Burt Bacharach invited Rumer to his home in California so he could hear her sing and has since written a number of songs for her with lyricist Steven Sater.[14] On 13 December 2010, a Christmas EP Rumer Sings Bacharach at Christmas was released. It featured Some Lovers from the new musical by Bacharach and Sater, Gift of the Magi.[15] A limited edition 7 inch vinyl version was also released with a cover personally designed by Rumer.[16] Rumer also featured on the Boozoo Bajou album Grains, released on !K7 in 2009, performing vocals on the tracks Same Sun, Heavy On Me and Messenger.
In the 2011 UK Asian Music Awards, Rumer was nominated for Best Alternative Act and Best Newcomer[17] and ended up winning Best Alternative Act.[18]
Television and radio appearances
In September 2010, Rumer performed three songs on Later with Jools Holland.[6] She performed with British jazz singer Jamie Cullum in the 2010 Royal Variety Performance.[19] Also in 2010, Elton John invited Rumer to be his special guest at his BBC Electric Proms concert.[6] At the end of 2010, Rumer performed the song Aretha on Jools Holland's Annual Hootenanny.
On 20 February 2011, Rumer sang "What the World Needs Now is Love" on ITV1's Dancing on Ice, to which Torvill and Dean skated.
Interests
Rumer has an interest in musicals and the work of Judy Garland.[2]
Personal life
In 2010 Rumer met Sam Winwood, the son of Muff Winwood, an English songwriter and record producer.[20] The couple live in London and Rumer has said they are "in for the long haul".[7]
Discography
Studio albums
| Album Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [21] |
AUS [22] |
BEL (FLA) [23] |
BEL (WAL) [24] |
FRA [25] |
IRL [26] |
NOR [27] |
NZ [28] |
NL [29] |
SWE [30] |
SWI [31] | |||
| Seasons of My Soul |
|
3 | 35 | 6 | 11 | 34 | 13 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 13 | 15 | |
EPs
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| UK [21] | ||
| 2010 | "Sings Bacharach At Christmas" | 78 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [21] |
BEL (FLA) [23] |
BEL (WAL) [24] |
IRL [26] |
NL [29] | |||
| 2010 | "Slow" | 16 | 58 | 41 | 33 | 61 | Seasons of My Soul |
| "Aretha" | 72 | — | — | — | 47 | ||
Other charted songs
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (FLA) [23] |
BEL (WAL) [24] | |||
| 2011 | "Am I Forgiven"[33] | 78 | 59 | Seasons of My Soul |
| "Goodbye Girl"[34] | — | — | ||
References
- ^ "Twitter". Retrieved 3 June 2011.
- ^ a b c Jon O'Brien. "Rumer". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Killian Fox (29 August 2010). "Rumer: 'If Burt Bacharach says you're good, it's time to start believing in yourself'". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
- ^ Paul Lester (21 July 2010). "Rumer (No 830)". The Guardian.
- ^ "Rumer scores two BRIT nominations". Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ^ a b c d Lester, Paul (2 November 2010). "Interview: Rumer, singer". The Scotsman. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ a b Gordon, Jane. "Rumer: Meet the rising singer-songwriter whose lyrics draw from her poignant life story". Mail Online. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ^ a b Reid, Graham. "Rumer Interviewed (2011): Thankful, and slowing it right down". Elsewhere. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
- ^ "London - Radio - Rumer And The Denials". BBC. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
- ^ "A Very Magistery Valentine: Various Artists: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
- ^ "Coffee and Honey". maniadb.com. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
- ^ Rumer interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' October 2010
- ^ McClounie, Pam (24 September 2010). "Cumbria singer-songwriter Rumer sparkles with Jools Holland". Cumberland News. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ Neil McCormick (4 August 2010). "New face: Rumer". Telegraph Media Group Limited.
- ^ "A holiday gift from Burt and Rumer". 21 December 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "Rumer Sings Bacharach At Christmas". Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "The Lebara Mobile UK Asian Music Awards 2011... and the nominees are..." ethnicnow.com. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ Jas Sembhi (10 March 2011). "2011 UK Asian Music Awards Winners". desiblitz.com. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ "Kylie, Susan Boyle, Adele, Jamie Cullum, Rumer, Paloma Faith and Ray Davies join line-up for Royal Variety Performance 2010". BBC Press Release. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ "Biography by Steve Kurutz". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- ^ a b c "UK Charts > Rumer". Chart Stats.
- ^ "Australian Charts > Rumer". australian-charts.com/.
- ^ a b c "Belgium (Flanders) Charts > Rumer". www.ultratop.be/nl/.
- ^ a b c "Belgium (Wallonia) Charts > Rumer". www.ultratop.be/fr/.
- ^ "French Charts > Rumer". lescharts.com/.
- ^ a b "Irish Charts > Rumer". irish-charts.com/.
- ^ "Norwegian Charts > Rumer". norwegiancharts.com/.
- ^ "New Zealand Charts > Rumer". charts.org.nz/.
- ^ a b "Dutch Charts > Rumer". dutchcharts.nl/.
- ^ "Swedish Charts > Rumer". swedishcharts.com/.
- ^ "Swiss Charts > Rumer". hitparade.ch/.
- ^ "BPI Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
- ^ Rumer unveils new music video - Music News - Digital Spy
- ^ Partisan PR - Rumer releases ‘Goodbye Girl’, and sells out UK tour
External links
