Tinsel and Lights

Biography

Tracey Thorn (born September 26, 1962, in Brookmans Park, Hertfordshire) is an English pop singer and songwriter. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl. She grew up in Hatfield, Hertfordshire and studied English at the University of Hull, where she graduated in 1984 with First Class Honours. She lives with her EBTG partner Ben Watt in North London. The couple have twin daughters born in 1998, and a son born in 2001. Thorn began her musical career in the group M...

Tracey Thorn (born September 26, 1962, in Brookmans Park, Hertfordshire) is an English pop singer and songwriter. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl.

She grew up in Hatfield, Hertfordshire and studied English at the University of Hull, where she graduated in 1984 with First Class Honours. She lives with her EBTG partner Ben Watt in North London. The couple have twin daughters born in 1998, and a son born in 2001.

Thorn began her musical career in the group Marine Girls. The band released two albums (Beach Party in 1981 and Lazy Ways in 1982) and several singles. The group disbanded when Thorn decided to concentrate on Everything But The Girl.

Thorn's first solo work was a solo mini-album in 1982 entitled A Distant Shore. A re-recorded version of the track Plain Sailing was released as a single, and was included on the 'Pillows & Prayers' Cherry Red records compilation album.

Thorn and Ben Watt met at University when they were both signed separately, as solo artists, to Cherry Red Records. Their first album together was Eden, released in 1984. As a band, Everything But The Girl released a body of work that spanned two decades. Their biggest chart success came in 1995, when DJ Todd Terry remixed a song from their Amplified Heart album. Missing became a huge hit all over the world, especially in the U.S., where it reached number 2 in the Billboard Hot 100.

The duo has been on extended hiatus since 2002 while Watt has concentrated on his DJ work, and Thorn has been raising their children and writing and recording a solo album.

She collaborated with Massive Attack on several projects, including the soundtrack for the motion picture Batman Forever where she contributed with The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game. Their first project together was the song Protection from the album by Massive Attack of the same name. She also sings on the track Better Things.

Thorn has also contributed guest vocals and backing vocals for The Style Council, The Go-Betweens, Working Week, and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions.

Her first collaboration, after a lengthy singing hiatus, was on the song Damage by the band Tiefschwarz.

In March 2007, Tracey Thorn released her second solo album Out of the Woods on Virgin Records (Worldwide) and on Astralwerks (USA). It includes contributions from Cagedbaby, Ewan Pearson, Charles Webster, Sasse and Martin Wheeler.

In 2010, she released Love and Its Opposite on her husband's own label, Strange Feeling. Swedish singer Jens Lekman appears on Come On Home to Me.

Official website: www.traceythorn.com Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.