| Siobhán Donaghy | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Siobhán Emma Donaghy |
| Born | 14 June 1984 London, England |
| Genres | Pop, alternative, experimental |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | London, Parlophone, EMI |
| Associated acts | Sugababes |
| Website | siobhandonaghy.co.uk |
Siobhán Emma Donaghy[1] (born 14 June 1984) is an English singer-songwriter of Irish descent.[2] She was a founding member of girl group the Sugababes, although she left in August 2001 and was replaced by Heidi Range. Donaghy left the group after one album. Since her departure from the Sugababes, Donaghy has released five solo singles, two albums, and has appeared in a remixed version of the hit stage show Rent Remixed for its 2007–2008 run where she played Mimi alongside Denise Van Outen.
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Donaghy was born in London, England and has two sisters named Bevin and Róisín, who works as her make-up artist. She attended The Douay Martyrs School in Ickenham, in the London Borough of Hillingdon. She was discovered by former All Saints manager Ron Tom, who went on to manage Sugababes.
The group was created when Donaghy and Mutya Buena, while working together in a studio, hooked up with Buena's best friend Keisha Buchanan. Manager Ron Tom decided they were to be a trio, and came up with the name "the Sugababies". Within a year they were offered a record contract by London Records and started calling themselves the Sugababes.[3]
Their debut single, "Overload", was a top ten hit in the UK and was nominated for a BRIT Award for "Best Single". It was a top five hit in Germany and New Zealand. The group co-wrote most of the tracks on One Touch, with the help of All Saints producer Cameron McVey. One Touch produced three more top forty singles in the UK: "New Year", "Run for Cover" and "Soul Sound".
According to Donaghy, she left the group because she never got along with Keisha Buchanan, whom she described as a bully. Donaghy became depressed (eventually being diagnosed with clinical depression) and could no longer be a part of the Sugababes.[4] 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, Buena, saying she is always pleased to see her.[3]
In March 2010, it was reported that Donaghy's former bandmate, Mutya Buena, was pursuing legal rights to the Sugababes name. Buena was doing it by herself and only listed Donaghy and Buchanan's names on the documentation to register the Sugababes' name with the EU's trademark office OHIM.[5]
Donaghy started writing music with the help of former producer Cameron McVey to help overcome her depression, and began performing under the alias of "Shanghai Nobody", an anagram of "Siobhán Donaghy". In March 2003, Donaghy released the 7-inch vinyl single "Nothing but Song" under this title as she did not want to be known as "the girl who left the Sugababes". For the release of her first commercial single in June 2003, "Overrated" (co-written with McVey and Paul Simm), Donaghy reverted to her given name. "Overrated" peaked at number nineteen in the United Kingdom. It was followed by the single "Twist of Fate", which was released in September 2003 and charted at number thirty-seven.
Donaghy's debut album Revolution in Me was released by London Records in September 2003, and entered the UK Albums Chart at number 57. Working with her on the album were father-son producers and writers Cameron McVey and Marlon Roudette from Mattafix. Each of the twelve tracks on the album were co-written by Donaghy with McVey, Silvio Pacini, Preetesh Hirji, Matt Kent and others.
In 2005, Donaghy appeared as a backing vocalist on the Mattafix album Signs of a Struggle and on the Morcheeba album The Antidote.
Donaghy parted with London Records in a mutual decision with the company. She recorded a second album independently which was picked up by Parlophone, part of the EMI group, which also bought the rights to Revolution in Me. The album's title track, "Ghosts", was released in February 2007 as a 12-inch promotional two-track single with the song "Don't Give It Up". The latter song was given a wider release in April 2007 and peaked at number twenty-three on the UK Singles Chart. The second single, "So You Say", was released in June 2007 and peaked at number seventy-six. A remix of "Don't Give It Up" by Jerry Bouthier is featured on the Kitsune release BoomBox, released in November 2007.[6]
The album, Ghosts, was also released in June 2007 and peaked at number seventy-three. Donaghy had said of the release that she wanted commercial success only so that she could continue to make music. She told 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."[7] The album was recorded in a small studio near Barneville-Carteret, France with producer James Sanger; other producers/songwriters include Jony Rockstar, Carl McIntosh ("There's a Place"), Ben Ranyard ("12 Bar Acid Blues"), Charles Lucy of Lucy Tuning ("Sometimes"[8]) and Marius De Vries.
Donaghy 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 in October 2007 and ran until 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.[9] This was Donaghy's West End debut.[10]
In a January 2009 interview with the music site We7, Donaghy indicated that there will be no further solo albums released for the time being.[11] "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 June 2009, Donaghy was featured on the Square1 single "Styfling" produced by Silvio Pacini. Later in the year, she said in an interview with fashion site ponystep.com that she feels she had "had the break" she wanted from the industry and was currently working on new music but was unsure when it will be finished.[3]
Donaghy has been working with The Sound of Arrows, Saturday Night Gym Club, Magik Johnson, Max Tundra, Metronomy, and Ed Mcfarlane of Friendly Fires.
Donaghy has received wide acclaim for not only her songwriting ability but also her singing style, Amy Raphael of The Observer stated that her voice was 'Incredibly Soulful' and had a sense of 'Purity' to it, whilst Cameron McVey himself spoke of Donaghy saying 'She sings like someone from the late Fifties. Like one of Phil Spector's girls.'.[2]
Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian complimented Donaghy's vocal abilities calling her voice 'rich' and again stating its 'soulful' sound without becoming overbearing. Whist he also criticized her music for not being as established sounding as her voice, he did feel the music was genuine and lacked the usual 'cliches' of certain other themes.[12]
Also commenting on her voice was Nick Levine of Digital Spy adding that Siobhán has not only the ability to sing with great conviction but can also build up her voice to a bolder and more audacious sound all with apparent ease.[13]
| Year | Album details | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [14] |
EU [15] |
IRL [16] |
||
| 2003 | Revolution in Me
|
57 | — | 32 |
| 2007 | Ghosts
|
73 | 58 | 16 |
| Year | Song | Chart peak positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [14][17] |
IRE |
NED |
EU |
|||
| 2003 | "Nothing but Song" | — | — | — | — | Revolution In Me |
| "Overrated" | 19 | 33 | 75 | 86 | ||
| "Twist of Fate" | 52 | — | — | — | ||
| 2007 | "Don't Give It Up" | 45 | — | — | — | Ghosts |
| "So You Say" | 76 | — | — | — | ||
| Year | Song | Chart peak positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [14][17] |
IRE |
NED |
EU |
|||
| 2009 | "Styfling" (Square 1 featuring Siobhan Donaghy) |
— | — | — | — | |
| Year | Song | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Overrated" | Big TV! |
| "Twist of Fate" | Nick Wood | |
| 2007 | "Don't Give It Up" | Sophie Muller |
| "So You Say" | Jamie Thraves |
| Year | Production | Role | Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 / 2008 | Rent | Mimi | Duke of York's Theatre, London |
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