Sophie B. Hawkins | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Sophie Ballantine Hawkins |
Born | New York City, New York, U.S. | November 1, 1964
Genres | Rock, pop, pop rock |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, drums |
Years active | 1990–present |
Labels | |
Website | sophiebhawkins |
Sophie Ballantine Hawkins (born November 1, 1964) [1] is an American singer-songwriter, musician and painter. Born in New York City, she attended the Manhattan School of Music for a year as a percussionist before leaving to pursue a music career. [2] She achieved critical and commercial success with her first two albums, producing a string of single hits including "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover", "Right Beside You", and "As I Lay Me Down". A dispute with her record label Sony Music over her third album, Timbre , led her to establish her own independent label, Trumpet Swan Productions, which has published her subsequent recordings.
Hawkins is a long-time supporter of animal rights and environmental causes. She is also a social and political activist, supporting events promoting women in music and LGBT rights.
Hawkins's debut album, Tongues and Tails, was released in 1992. [3] It achieved both worldwide commercial success and critical acclaim, earning her a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist in 1993. The single "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" went to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the US and was also a Top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at #14. [3] Hawkins was asked to perform Bob Dylan's "I Want You", which she covered on Tongues and Tails, for the 1992 Madison Square Garden concert honoring Dylan's 30th anniversary as a musician; [4] this was later released as The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration , but her performance was omitted.
Whaler, her second album, was released in 1994. Produced by Stephen Lipson, it also contained a US top 10 hit, "As I Lay Me Down", [3] and was certified gold. Three singles from the album made the UK Top 40, including "Right Beside You", which peaked at #13. The same year, Hawkins posed nude for Interview . [5] As she explained to Ed Rampell in an interview for Q magazine, she met the photographer, Bruce Weber, and was asked if she would do a photoshoot with him. While she had provided her own clothes, Weber deliberately had her wear an unflattering dress as part of his plan to convince Hawkins to disrobe during the shoot. [6]
A 1998 documentary by Gigi Gaston, titled The Cream Will Rise, followed Hawkins during one of her tours and captured her struggle to deal with past troubles with her family, including her mother and brother. Music by Hawkins was included throughout the film.
Also in 1998, Hawkins's record company, Sony Music, delayed the release of her third album. Its executives were unhappy with the finished product and wanted Hawkins to rework some of the material. In particular, they insisted that Hawkins remove a banjo track from one of the songs. [7] Unwilling to compromise her artistic integrity, Hawkins refused to accommodate them. [2] After a lengthy battle between Hawkins and the company, the album, Timbre, was eventually released in 1999, [3] though Sony declined to promote it.[ citation needed ] Hawkins subsequently left the label and founded her own label, Trumpet Swan Productions. In 2001, Timbre was re-released on Hawkins's label, now as a two-disc set that contained new songs, demos, remixes, and videos. [8] Her first independently recorded and released album, Wilderness, was released in 2004.
In 2012, Hawkins starred as Janis Joplin in the play, Room 105, [9] which was written and directed by her longtime girlfriend and manager, Gigi Gaston. [10] After another long hiatus, she released her fifth album of all-new material in 2012, titled The Crossing .
On April 4, 2013, Hawkins appeared as herself on the TV series Community in the episode "Herstory of Dance", performing "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" and "As I Lay Me Down" during the community college's "Sophie B. Hawkins Dance," so named because Britta confused her with Susan B. Anthony in an attempt to compete with a Sadie Hawkins Dance. [11]
In 2019, Hawkins completed a sold-out tour around the U.S.; [12] the same year she also appeared on the German TV show Night Grooves, [13] singing several songs, discussing her past, and showing off her drumming talent.
Hawkins has two children, Dashiell (b. 2008) and Esther Ballantine (b. 2015). [14] Esther had been conceived 20 years earlier and frozen as an embryo. [15]
In an interview with Rock Cellar Magazine in 2012, Hawkins said that she identified as omnisexual. [16] Although there were rumors she had dated Martina Navratilova and Jodie Foster, she denied those, saying, "I've never met any of the women I'm supposed to have had affairs with." [6]
In 2012, Hawkins and Gigi Gaston shared a house in Venice, CA. [17]
In August 2007, Hawkins headlined the first Los Angeles Women's Music Festival in support of its dual agenda of supporting animal rescue groups and promoting and supporting female musicians. Hawkins is a long-time supporter of animal rights. [18]
In February 2008, Hawkins re-recorded her hit "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" as "Damn, We Wish You Were President" in support of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Hawkins also wrote in her blog, "Hillary Clinton's achievements come from her heart. She has initiated so much positive change for families, children, victims of crime and the environment in her struggle for the forward movement of America and the working people of this nation." [19]
In May 2010, Hawkins began supporting Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization of on-the-water advocates who patrol and protect more than 100,000 miles of rivers, streams and coastlines in North and South America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. She donated 100% of the proceeds of her single "The Land, the Sea, and the Sky" to the organization.
In February 2011, Hawkins performed at the Big Gay Party event staged by GOProud, an organization of gay conservatives, as part of the year's Conservative Political Action Conference festivities. In an after-show interview in the reason.tv documentary "Liberal in Bed, Conservative in the Head: Sophie B. Hawkins", Hawkins gave her views on issues such as gun ownership, the free market, limited government and identity politics. [20]
In 2017, Hawkins lent her voice in support of LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization The Trevor Project's 20th Anniversary celebration video campaign. [21]
Year | Awards | Work | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | Grammy Awards | Herself | Best New Artist | Nominated | [22] |
Q Awards | Best New Act | Nominated | [23] | ||
1995 | RSH Gold Awards | Kraftrille des Jahres | Won | [24] | |
1996 | ASCAP Pop Music Awards | "As I Lay Me Down" | Most Performed Song | Won | [25] |
APRA Music Awards | Most Performed Foreign Work | Nominated | [26] |
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most successful and widely known rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage presence.
Willie Mae Thornton, better known as Big Mama Thornton because of her height and weight, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's "Hound Dog", in 1952, which was written for her and became her biggest hit, staying seven weeks at number one on the Billboard R&B chart in 1953. According to Maureen Mahon, a music professor at New York University, "the song is seen as an important beginning of rock-and-roll, especially in its use of the guitar as the key instrument". Thornton's other recordings include the original version of "Ball and Chain", which she wrote.
Sass Jordan is a British-born Canadian rock singer from Montreal, Quebec. Her first single, "Tell Somebody," from her debut album of the same title won the Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1989. Since then, she has been nominated three more times for Juno Awards. Her album Rebel Moon Blues hit #5 on the Billboard Blues chart. Released April 28, 2023, her latest is a live album from 1994 when she toured with Taylor Hawkins on drums called Live in New York Ninety-Four.
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some initial personnel changes, the band became well known with the lineup of vocalist Janis Joplin, guitarists Sam Andrew and James Gurley, bassist Peter Albin, and drummer Dave Getz. Their second album Cheap Thrills, released in 1968, is considered one of the masterpieces of the psychedelic sound of San Francisco; it reached number one on the Billboard charts, and was ranked number 338 in Rolling Stone's the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album is also listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
"Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins. Released in March 1992 as the first single from her debut album, Tongues and Tails (1992), the song achieved success in many countries worldwide; in the United States, it reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached the top 10 in six other countries, including Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, and Norway. In the United Kingdom, the single peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Hawkins' second-most successful song on that chart after "Right Beside You", which reached number 13 in 1994. There were made two different versions of the music video for the song, after the first version was banned from MTV for its erotic content.
Tongues and Tails is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins, released in 1992 on Columbia records. It was produced by Rick Chertoff and Ralph Schuckett.
"As I Lay Me Down" is a song composed and performed by American singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins. It was released in February 1995 as the third single from her second album, Whaler (1994), and also appears on The Best of Sophie B. Hawkins (2002). The song is one of her two biggest hits, reaching number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for six weeks during 1995. Outside the United States, the song reached number six in Canada, number seven in Australia, number 19 in New Zealand, and number 24 in the United Kingdom. Its music video was directed by Sophie Muller.
"Piece of My Heart" is a romantic soul song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. Franklin's single peaked in December 1967 at number 10 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart in the United States.
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! is the debut solo and third studio album overall by American singer-songwriter Janis Joplin, released on September 11, 1969. It was the first album which Joplin recorded after leaving her former band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and the only solo album released during her lifetime.
"I Want You" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as a single in June 1966, and, later that month, on his seventh studio album, Blonde on Blonde. The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Bob Johnston. The song has been interpreted as a straightforward expression of lust, although critics have highlighted that the symbolism of the song is complex. It was the last song recorded for Blonde on Blonde, with several takes recorded in the early hours of March 10, 1966. It was included on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (1967). The song has received a largely positive critical reception, with a number of commentators highlighting Dylan's use of imagery, although some of the meanings are obscure.
Full Tilt Boogie Band was a Canadian rock band originally headed by guitarist John Till and then by Janis Joplin until her death in 1970. The band was composed of Till, pianist Richard Bell, bassist Brad Campbell, drummer Clark Pierson, and organist Ken Pearson.
Louise Christina Theodora "Gigi" Gaston is an American writer-director.
The Best of Sophie B. Hawkins is a 2003 compilation album by Sophie B. Hawkins. It was released exclusively in the United States, and contains much of the same tracks as the previous year's compilation of the same name, which was released internationally. Instead, this album replaces single "Don't Don't Tell Me No", "Let Me Love You Up" and "We Are One Body" from the previous album for Whaler track "Swing from Limb to Limb ", the Butcher mix of "As I Lay Me Down" and another single from Tongues and Tails, "Mysteries We Understand". This album has also been issued with the title Essential Sophie B. Hawkins.
The Best of Sophie B. Hawkins is a compilation album released in 2002 collecting songs by American singer Sophie B. Hawkins. It is her first compilation album, and was released 10 years after her first studio album, Tongues and Tails. It contains no songs from what was then her most recent album, Timbre, released in 1999; instead, besides Hawkins' main singles, it contains a variety of tracks from her first two albums that were not issued as singles, ending with an exclusive cover of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", originally by The Band. The album was only released internationally, and not in Hawkins' home country of the United States. An album of the same title, also released as Essential Sophie B. Hawkins, was issued the following year there.
The Crossing is a 2012 studio album by American singer Sophie B. Hawkins.
This is the discography of American rock singer Sophie B. Hawkins.
"Lose Your Way" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins, which was released in 1999 as the sole single from her third studio album Timbre. The song was written and produced by Hawkins. "Lose Your Way" peaked at No. 26 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
"California Here I Come" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins, which was released in 1992 as the second single from her debut studio album Tongues and Tails. The song was written by Hawkins and produced by Rick Chertoff and Ralph Schuckett. The song's music video was directed by Kevin Kerslake and produced by Line Postmyr and Tina Silvey.
"Don't Don't Tell Me No" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins, released in November 1994 as the second single from her second studio album, Whaler (1994). The song was written by Hawkins and produced by Stephen Lipson. "Don't Don't Tell Me No" peaked at No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for five weeks.
"Walking in My Blue Jeans" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins, which was released in 2001 as the second and final single from her third studio album Timbre. The song was written and produced by Hawkins. "Walking in My Blue Jeans" peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.