Neneh Cherry
{{short description|Swedish singer and songwriter (born 1964)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Neneh Cherry
| image = Neneh Cherry 2016 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Cherry in 2016
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name = Neneh Mariann Karlsson
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1964|3|10}}
| birth_place = Stockholm, Sweden
| origin = London, England
| genre = {{flatlist|
- Hip hop
- post-punk
- trip hop{{cite magazine|first= Chris |last= Martins |title= Neneh Cherry Shares Dance-Floor Brooders 'Everything' and 'Weightless' |date= 14 January 2014 |magazine=Spin |url= http://www.spin.com/2014/01/neneh-cherry-everything-remix-villalobos-weightless-video/ |access-date= 4 July 2015}}{{cite magazine|first= Sarah |last= Polonsky |title= Premiere: Loco Dice Remixes Neneh Cherry |magazine= DJ Magazine |url= http://usa.djmag.com/content/premiere-loco-dice-remixes-neneh-cherry |access-date= 4 July 2015}}
- dance
}}
| occupation = {{flatlist|
- Singer
- songwriter
- rapper
- disc jockey
- broadcaster
}}
| years_active = 1980–present
| label = {{flatlist|
| associated_acts = The Cherries, The Slits, New Age Steppers, Rip Rig + Panic, Float Up CP, CirKus, The Thing, Youssou N'Dour, Mabel, Tricky, Four Tet, RocketNumberNine
| website = {{URL|nenehcherry.com}} {{dead link|date=February 2020}}
}}
Neneh Mariann Karlsson ({{IPA|sv|ˈnɛ̂nːɛ marɪˈanː ˈkɑ̌ːɭsɔn}}; born 10 March 1964),{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gZIjT8PgJMEC&dq=neneh+cherry+1964&pg=PA91 | isbn=9781857431612 | title=The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002 | year=2002 | publisher=Psychology Press }} better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer, songwriter, rapper, occasional disc jockey, and broadcaster.{{cite book| first= Martin C| last= Strong| year= 2000| title= The Great Rock Discography| publisher= Mojo Books| page= 176| isbn= 1-84195-017-3}}{{cite news|last1=Greenstreet|first1=Rosanna|title=Q&A: Neneh Cherry|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jun/14/neneh-cherry-interview|access-date=10 January 2015|work=The Guardian|date=14 June 2014}} Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a number of punk and post-punk bands in her youth, including the Slits and Rip Rig + Panic.
Cherry has released six studio albums under her own name. Her first, Raw Like Sushi, was released in 1989 and peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart,{{Cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/25198/neneh-cherry/|title=NENEH CHERRY|date=10 December 1988|website=Official Charts|accessdate=3 February 2025}} thanks in large part to the worldwide hit single "Buffalo Stance". Her second studio album was 1992's Homebrew. Four years later she released Man, with her next studio album, Blank Project, coming in 2014. Her most recent album, The Versions, was released in 2022. In addition to releasing these studio albums, she formed the band cirKus in 2006 and has collaborated with the Thing, releasing an album entitled The Cherry Thing in 2012. Cherry has won two Brit Awards and an MTV Europe Music Award (with Youssou N'Dour). She has also been nominated for a Grammy Award.
Early life and family
Cherry was born Neneh Mariann Karlsson in Stockholm, Sweden, the daughter of Monika "Moki" Karlsson (1943–2009), a Swedish painter and textile artist, and the musician Ahmadu Jah (1936–1995). Jah was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, the son of a tribal chief, and went to Stockholm to study engineering at university.{{cite news |last= Mossman |first= Kate |title= Neneh Cherry, interview: 'People ask me where I've been for 18 years'|url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/23/neneh-cherry-blank-project-solo-album-interview |newspaper=The Guardian |date= 22 February 2014 |access-date=25 February 2014}}
Her parents separated soon after her birth and her mother married the American jazz musician Don Cherry, who helped raise Neneh. She took her stepfather's surname. Her half-brother, musician Eagle-Eye Cherry, was born when she was four. From stepfather Don Cherry's side, she has a stepsister, violinist Jan Cherry, and a stepbrother, jazz musician David Ornette Cherry. Through her father Ahmadu Jah's marriage to Maylen Jah (née Bergström), Cherry is the half-sister of singer Titiyo and record producer Cherno Jah.
In 1970, Cherry's parents, Moki and Don Cherry, bought and converted an old Swedish schoolhouse in rural Tågarp in Hässleholm.{{Cite web |date=2009-08-04 |title=Hemma för att ladda batterierna |url=https://www.nsk.se/familj/hemma-for-att-ladda-batterierna/ |access-date=2023-07-26 |website=Norra Skåne |language=sv}} In the early 1970s, the family moved to the United States, when Don Cherry taught at Dartmouth College. In 1977, the family bought a loft in New York City in the same building as Talking Heads members Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, whom they befriended.
Cherry dropped out of school at the age of 14 and moved to London, England.{{cite magazine |last= Jones |first= Terry |title= 200 for 2000 |url= http://www.smartsecondskin.com/download/id.pdf| magazine= ID Magazine| via= smartsecondskin.com| access-date=25 February 2014| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185754/http://www.smartsecondskin.com/download/id.pdf|archive-date=29 October 2013| number= 200 |year= 2000}} At the age of 16, she was raped by a teenager while walking home at night.Daily Mirror, 30 December 1988, p. 11.
Music career
= Early career =
Cherry moved to the United Kingdom when she was 15, in the midst of the punk era, and she remembers finding "her people" there. Cherry had met Tessa Pollitt, Viv Albertine and Ari Up from the Slits earlier as her stepfather, Don Cherry, was touring with them and took the 15-year-old Neneh along.{{cite web|last=Whitfield|first=Gregory Mario|title=Gregory Mario Whitfield interviews Tessa Pollitt of The Slits|url=http://www.3ammagazine.com/musicarchives/2003/nov/interview_tessa_pollitt.html|work=3 AM Magazine|access-date=25 February 2014|date=November 2003}} She and Ari lived in a squat in Battersea. She felt at home, after ending up there because The Slits invited Don Cherry to go on tour with them with Prince Hammer and Creation Rebel.
In London, Cherry joined the punk rock band The Cherries. She moved through several bands, including the Slits, New Age Steppers, Rip Rig + Panic, and Float Up CP. She also DJ'd, playing early rap music on the reggae pirate Dread Broadcasting Corporation.{{cite web | last = Vague | first = Tom | title = Counter Culture Portobello Psychogeographical History | url = http://www.portobellofilmfestival.com/talkpics/talk-vague04.html | work = Portobello Film Festival | year = 2006}} Cherry has stated that she found her voice singing along with Poly Styrene from X-Ray Spex. She grew up in a musical family; she remembers singing with her father at the piano.{{cite web|last=Hobbs|first=Mary Anne|title=Neneh Cherry: How I Found My Voice|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/527c65d1-9fdb-4482-8796-dde2980bd63a|work=BBC 6 Music|access-date=25 February 2014}}
= Albums =
== ''Raw Like Sushi'' ==
{{Main|Raw Like Sushi}}
Cherry began a solo career in 1982 with "Stop the War", a protest song about the Falklands War. She worked with Jonny Dollar, The The and Cameron McVey (aka Booga Bear), who co-wrote most of her 1989 debut album Raw Like Sushi, and whom she later married. She was intimately involved in the Bristol Urban Culture scene, working as an arranger on Massive Attack's Blue Lines album, through which she met Dollar. Both Robert Del Naja and Andrew Vowles of Massive Attack contributed to Raw Like Sushi.
The single "Buffalo Stance" eventually peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100, and number 1 on the US Dance chart. More singles released between 1988 and 1990 included "Manchild", "Kisses on the Wind", "Heart", and "Inna City Mama". She also found success with "I've Got You Under My Skin", a reworking of the Cole Porter song, which appeared on the Red Hot + Blue AIDS fundraising album. The single reached number 25 in the UK. Cherry was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1990 in the Best New Artist category (but lost to Milli Vanilli who eventually had their award revoked). She won a Brit Award in 1990 for Raw Like Sushi.
Cherry caused a press furore when she performed "Buffalo Stance" on Top of the Pops while pregnant (with her second child, Tyson).
== ''Homebrew'' ==
{{Main|Homebrew (Neneh Cherry album)}}
Cherry's second album was 1992's Homebrew. Homebrew was not as commercially successful as its predecessor. The album had some success on various Billboard charts with songs "Buddy X" and "Trout".
"Buddy X" reached number 4 on the Billboard Dance Club Music Charts where it spent a total of 11 weeks. The track also spent some time on Billboard′s Pop Songs Charts as well as the Hot 100 Charts, where it peaked at number 22 during its 8-week run and peaked at number 43 in its 12-week run, respectively.
The music video for "Buddy X" earned Neneh Cherry an MTV VMA nomination at the ceremony in 1993 for the Best Female Video category, alongside Janet Jackson, Annie Lennox, and k.d. lang, with lang winning the moonman.
"Trout" features additional vocals by R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe who helped to co-write the track along with Cherry, McVey, and Jonathan Sharp and contains samples of a guitar riff from Steppenwolf as well as drums by John Bonham. With airplay on college radio and increased popularity, "Trout" spent a total of 14 weeks on Billboard′s Alternative Music Charts where it reached number 2.
Homebrew also included the work of Geoff Barrow (on "Somedays"), who later became part of Portishead.
Additional recognition was attributed to remixes of track "Buddy X". First was the 1993 remix by The Notorious BIG, which is considered by some{{who|date=February 2020}} to be "one of the great Biggie rarities in the world." Cherry stated that she and McVey picked up Biggie for the studio where they remained for the session. The song was completed in one take. "Buddy X" found success yet again in the 1999 UK garage remix by Dreem Teem.
"Move with Me" was co-written by Cherry, McVey and Lenny Kravitz.Album booklet.
== ''Man'' ==
{{Main|Man (Neneh Cherry album)}}
File:Neneh Cherry-live cropped.jpg in 1996]]
1996's Man is a solo record produced by McVey, Jonny Dollar and Christian Falk. The lead track is "Woman", her take on James Brown's 1966 track "It's a Man's Man's Man's World." It featured the worldwide hit single, "7 Seconds", featuring Youssou N'Dour; and "Trouble Man" a cover of a Marvin Gaye track. Another track, "Together Now", featured Tricky.
In France, "7 Seconds" made number one for a record 16 weeks in 1994.{{cite web |url=http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Youssou+N%27Dour+%26+Neneh+Cherry&titel=7+Seconds&cat=s |work=lescharts.com > |title=Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry – 7 Seconds (chanson) |language=fr |publisher=Hung Medien |access-date=20 May 2016}} The song earned Cherry her second Grammy nomination and an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song. Remixes, a French remix album of Man songs, was released in 1997.
== ''Blank Project'' ==
{{Main|Blank Project}}
Blank Project was written by Cherry and her husband McVey. Paul Simm co-wrote six tracks on the record. The record was deeply influenced by the death of her mother.{{cite news|last=McNulty|first=Bernadette|title=Neneh Cherry: welcome return for a unique talent|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/10657796/Neneh-Cherry-welcome-return-for-a-unique-talent.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/10657796/Neneh-Cherry-welcome-return-for-a-unique-talent.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=26 February 2014|work=The Telegraph|date=24 February 2014}}{{cbignore}} {{subscription required}}
To promote the album, she toured Europe in February and March 2014.{{cite web|title=New album Blank Project out 24th February 2014/25th February in the US on Smalltown|url=https://soundcloud.com/smalltownsupersound/neneh-cherry-everything-4|via=SoundCloud|access-date=29 January 2014}} In January 2015, Cherry performed as a solo artist in New York City.{{cite news|last1=Coscarelli|first1=Joe|title=Neneh Cherry Will Get an Overdue New York Debut|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/arts/music/neneh-cherry-will-get-an-overdue-new-york-debut.html|access-date=10 January 2015|work=The New York Times|date=8 January 2015}} {{registration required}}{{cite news|last1=Randall|first1=Mac|title=Neneh Cherry Plays Her First-Ever New York Concert Friday|url=http://observer.com/2015/01/neneh-cherry-plays-her-first-ever-new-york-concert-friday/|access-date=10 January 2015|work=New York Observer|date=9 January 2015}} Cherry is very connected to New York, as she has visited or lived there off and on since 1966.{{cite news|title=Neneh Cherry finally plays a New York City solo show|url=http://www.amny.com/entertainment/neneh-cherry-finally-plays-a-new-york-city-solo-show-1.9779382|access-date=17 January 2015|work=AM New York|date=6 January 2015|first=Robert|last=Spuhler}}
== ''Broken Politics'' ==
{{Main|Broken Politics}}
Broken Politics, her second album to be produced by Four Tet,{{cite web|url=http://www.factmag.com/2018/08/30/neneh-cherry-returns-broken-politics/|title=Neneh Cherry returns with Four Tet-produced LP Broken Politics|work=Fact|last=Bruce-Jones|first=Henry|date=30 August 2018|access-date=31 August 2018}} was released on 19 October 2018, and has been called "quieter and more reflective" than Blank Project by Cherry. The lead single, "Kong", was released earlier in August. Writing in The Guardian, Laura Snapes labeled the album "revelatory" and gave it a 5-star review.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/19/neneh-cherry-broken-politics-review-smalltown-supersound|title=Neneh Cherry: Broken Politics review – raw-silk empathy in a shattered world|last=Snapes|first=Laura|date=19 October 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=13 February 2019|issn=0261-3077}}
To support the album, Cherry toured across North America, Australia and Europe in late 2018 and early 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.songkick.com/artists/56536-neneh-cherry|title=Neneh Cherry|work=Songkick|access-date=13 February 2019}}
== ''The Versions'' ==
On June 10, 2022, Cherry released her next studio album, The Versions. The album features reworked and reimagined versions of her previous singles. It features vocals from Robyn and Sia.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jun/09/neneh-cherry-the-versions-review-robyn-sia-seinabo-sey-sudan-archives|title=Neneh Cherry: The Versions review – all-star covers album can't touch a true original|website=The Guardian|last=Petridis|first=Alexis|date=9 June 2022|access-date=9 June 2022}}
= Bands/collaborations =
== CirKus ==
File:Tauron Nowa Muzyka 2014 - Neneh Cherry (06).jpg, Poland|alt=Neneh Cherry at Tauron Nowa Muzyka in 2014 in Katowice, Poland]]
In 2006, Cherry formed a new band, cirKus, with Cameron McVey, Lolita Moon (Neneh and Cameron's daughter) and Karmil. CirKus toured Europe, with a single North American performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival in July 2006 plus a few dates in Brazil in 2008. The band's first album, Laylow, was released in France in 2006. A remixed/recorded version was released in 2007. A second CirKus album, Medicine, was released in France in March 2009.
== ''The Cherry Thing'' ==
In March 2011, Cherry collaborated with the experimental jazz group The Thing, to release the record The Cherry Thing.{{cite web|last=Doran|first=John|title=Keep Those Dreams Burning Forever: Neneh Cherry Interviewed|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/08673-neneh-cherry-the-thing-interview|work=The Quietus|access-date=26 February 2014|date=2 May 2012}} The Thing is a Norwegian/Swedish jazz trio, consisting of Mats Gustafsson (saxophones), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (double bass), and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums). The Thing took their name from the third track on stepfather Don Cherry's album Where Is Brooklyn?.{{cite web|title=Neneh Cherry: 'Jazz can be the way you make love'|first=Jude|last=Rogers |work=The Guardian|date=22 May 2012|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/may/22/neneh-cherry}} The album The Cherry Thing was released in June 2012 and was recorded at Harder Sound Studios in London, England and Atlantis Studios in Stockholm, Sweden.{{cite web|title=Neneh Cherry & Thing, The (2) – The Cherry Thing |url=http://www.discogs.com/Neneh-Cherry-Thing-The-Cherry-Thing/release/3670086|work=Discogs|date=18 June 2012 |access-date=25 February 2014}}
During a 1 June 2012 interview with Kirsty Lang, broadcast as part of the BBC Radio 4's Front Row daily podcast, Cherry discussed the jazz-inspired album, saying that The Thing were inspired by Cherry's stepfather's work, but that the band makes this inspiration their own. "I think that we're taking it on, to another place. I think that's really important," Cherry said. One of the songs from the album, "Golden Heart", was written by Don Cherry; Christer Bothén, a musician who played with Don Cherry, was invited to play on the album, and brought the song to their attention.
The album includes tracks originally performed by an eclectic mix of artists, including hip-hop artist MF Doom, Martina Topley-Bird Suicide, and The Stooges.{{cite web |last=Lang|first=Kirsty|title=Neneh Cherry interviewed; the Transit of Venus in art |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01j6wsv|work=Front Row|publisher=BBC Radio 4|access-date=25 February 2014|format=radio podcast|date=1 June 2012}} Most of the tracks were recorded together live.
= Other music projects =
Although Cherry has released only a handful of albums, she has frequently collaborated with other artists.{{cite web|last=Gieben|first=Bram E|title=Neneh Cherry – Blank Project (5 Stars)|url=http://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/records/306950-neneh_cherry_blank_project|work=The Skinny|publisher=Radge Media|access-date=26 February 2014|date=11 February 2014}}
In 1987, she was featured on the song "Slow Train to Dawn" by The The, in a duet with Matt Johnson. She also appeared in the music video.
In 2005, she collaborated with Gorillaz on the track "Kids with Guns" from the album Demon Days.
== RocketNumberNine ==
In 2013, Cherry collaborated with London duo RocketNumberNine (named after a Sun Ra track), aka the Page Brothers – Ben and Tom Page – to record an album called MeYouWeYou. She also joined them to perform the entire album live at the Manchester International Festival in July 2013.{{cite web|title=Neneh Cherry and RocketNumberNine|url=http://www.mif.co.uk/event/neneh-cherry|work=Manchester International Festival|access-date=25 February 2014|year=2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102192117/http://www.mif.co.uk/event/neneh-cherry|archive-date=2 January 2014|url-status=dead}} The record is an album of 10 tracks that Cherry wrote with McVey, which they took with only vocals to RocketNumberNine, who then did their musical interpretation to all the tracks. They recorded the album live in Woodstock, New York, with Vortex. The 10 tracks were recorded in five days. Cherry calls it fearless and hardcore.{{cite web|last=Radcliffe|first=Mark|title=Neneh Cherry Talks To Radcliffe And Maconie|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/527c65d1-9fdb-4482-8796-dde2980bd63a#p01cfhll|work=BBC Radio 6 Music|access-date=25 February 2014|date=7 July 2013}}
Musical style
Cherry said she has never really thought of herself as a rapper. She sees herself as a "singer that does a bit of rapping."
Breaking into the U.S. music industry was not a positive experience for Cherry. She said that while "Buffalo Stance" gave her a mainstream crossover moment in the U.S., she found the American music industry stiflingly attached to labels and genre identities.{{cite web|last=Zoladz|first=Lindsay|title=Neneh Cherry|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/update/9287-neneh-cherry/|work=Pitchfork|access-date=26 February 2014|date=10 January 2014}}
Other work
In the early 1980s, Cherry was a DJ on DBC radio, Dread Broadcasting Corporation, a pirate radio station.{{cite web|last=Kenner|first=Rob|title=Neneh Cherry Talks "Blank Project," "Buffalo Stance," and Biggie |url= http://www.complex.com/music/2014/02/neneh-cherry-interview-blank-project-buffalo-stance-and-biggie| publisher=Complex Media| access-date=26 February 2014|date=18 February 2014}}
Cherry appeared in a non-singing capacity in Big Audio Dynamite's videos for "Medicine Show" (1985), and "C'mon Every Beatbox" (1986), dancing onstage with others during the band's performance. In the late 1980s, she helped bankroll the band Massive Attack{{cite web|last=Bui|first=Paul|title=Life is just a bowl of Neneh Cherry's|url=https://i-d.co/article/life-is-just-a-bowl-of-neneh-cherrys/|work=ID Magazine|access-date=26 February 2014|date=24 February 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428035400/http://i-d.vice.com/en_gb/read/interviews/1822/life-is-just-a-bowl-of-neneh-cherrys|archive-date=28 April 2014}}
In early 2004, Cherry presented Neneh Cherry's World of Music, a six-part series broadcast on BBC Radio 2. In April 2007, she presented a six-part cookery show Neneh and Andi – Dish It Up with her friend Andrea Oliver for BBC Two. Neneh and Andi appeared on Gordon Ramsay's The F-Word as part of the amateur brigade.
In November 2013, Cherry contributed to the art project/audio book Ällp written by Lars Yngve. Singer Peps Persson contributed music, while Cherry, Björn Ranelid and a few other celebrities, all with their roots in Sweden's most southern county Scania, recorded the book in Skånska/Scanian dialect (not "standard Swedish", aka Rikssvenska){{cite news|last1=Grahn|first1=Sindra|title=Österlenmål at Stureplan|url=http://www.svt.se/kultur/lars-yngves-landsbygdsaction-i-slowmotion-blir-ljudbok|access-date=10 January 2015|work=Sveriges Television (SVT)|date=20 December 2013 |language=sv |trans-title=Österlen meal on Stureplan}}{{cite news|title=Lars Yngve – Nils-Ude...|url=http://www.trelleborg.se/sv/aktuellt/nyheter/2013/november/nils-yngve-eller-nils-ude/|access-date=10 January 2015 |work= Trelleborg Municipality|date=14 November 2013|language=sv|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150110033907/http://www.trelleborg.se/sv/aktuellt/nyheter/2013/november/nils-yngve-eller-nils-ude/ |archive-date=10 January 2015|url-status=dead}}
In 2016 she starred in ‘’Stockholm, My Love’’ a drama film and musical film Set in Stockholm,[http://www.heyuguys.com/stockholm-my-love-review/ "Stockholm, My Love Review"]. www.heyuguys.com.[http://www.cine-vue.com/2017/06/film-review-stockholm-my-love.html "Film Review: Stockholm, My Love"]. cine-vue.com. it features music by the likes of Benny Andersson from ABBA.Anzanpour, Arman. [http://www.stockholmmylove.com/ "Stockholm My Love"]. www.stockholmmylove.com.Hans, Simran (18 June 2017). [https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jun/18/stockholm-my-love-review-neneh-cherry-mark-cousins "Stockholm My Love review – quiet reflections on the city and the soul"] – via The Guardian.Bradshaw, Peter (16 June 2017). [https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jun/16/stockholm-my-love-review-mark-cousins-neneh-cherry "Stockholm, My Love review – a cerebral city-symphony film from Mark Cousins"] – via The Guardian.{{Cite web|url=http://www.empireonline.com/movies/stockholm-love/review/|title = Stockholm My Love| date=6 July 2017 }}
Cherry, a short documentary about Neneh Cherry, was released by The Face magazine on YouTube on 23 March 2022.{{Cite web |title=Watch The Face's Neneh Cherry documentary |url=https://theface.com/music/neneh-cherry-documentary-the-face-magazine-buffalo-stance-raw-like-sushi| website= theface.com| date= 23 March 2022 |access-date=30 March 2022 |language=en-gb}}
In 2024 Cherry published an autobiography, A Thousand Threads.Neneh Cherry, A Thousand Threads, Fern Press, London, England, 2024, {{ISBN|9781911717003}}. The book was shortlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction.{{cite web |last1=Schaub |first1=Michael |title=Women's Prize for Non-Fiction Shortlist Revealed |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/womens-prize-for-non-fiction-shortlist-revealed/ |website=Kirkus Reviews |access-date=13 April 2025}}
Personal life
In 1983, Cherry married drummer Bruce Smith{{cite web|title=Neneh M Karlsson – mentioned in the record of Smith and Neneh M Karlsson|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVX8-SBLG|work=FamilySearch|access-date=10 January 2015}} {{registration required}} and had a daughter, Naima.{{cite web| last= Eliezer| first= Christie| title= Neneh Cherry |url= http://www.buddyx.com/NenehCherry/articles/beatmagazine.htm |work= Australian Beat Magazine|access-date=25 February 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120425130255/http://www.buddyx.com/NenehCherry/articles/beatmagazine.htm|archive-date=25 April 2012 |date= 23 June 2004}}{{cite web|last=Chapman|first=Anna|title=Interview with Neneh Cherry |url= http://www.buddyx.com/NenehCherry/articles/pachainterview.htm|work=Pacha Magazine|access-date=25 February 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120206001843/http://www.buddyx.com/NenehCherry/articles/pachainterview.htm|archive-date=6 February 2012 |date= July 2003}} They divorced in 1984. Naima is a London photographer, who had a son named Louis Clyde Flynn Love (who goes by Flynn){{cite web|last=Keens|first=Oliver|title=Five things you didn't know about Neneh Cherry| url= http://www.timeout.com/london/music/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-neneh-cherry|work=Time Out London|access-date=26 February 2014| date= 25 February 2014}} in 2004.
In 1986, Cherry met producer and Morgan-McVey{{Cite web|url=https://www.stockaitkenwaterman.co.uk/morgan-mcvey|title=Morgan McVey|website=StockAitkenWaterman.co.uk|access-date=20 January 2022}} member Cameron "Booga Bear" McVey at Heathrow Airport. Cherry and McVey were en route to Japan as fashion models as part of London designer Ray Petri's Buffalo Posse. Cherry proposed, and the couple married in 1990.{{cite web|title=Neneh M Karlsson – mentioned in the record of Mcvey and Neneh M Karlsson|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVXG-P2CQ|work=FamilySearch|access-date=10 January 2015}} {{registration required}} Cherry and McVey have two daughters: singers Tyson,{{Cite news |url= http://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/may/01/one-to-watch-tyson-pisces-problems-neneh-cherry-ladies-music-pub|title=One to watch: Tyson |date=1 May 2021|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=20 January 2022}}{{Cite web| url= https://www.clashmusic.com/news/tyson-drops-superb-new-single-tuesday|title=TYSON Drops Superb New Single 'Tuesday' |website= Clashmusic.com|date=9 April 2021 |access-date=20 January 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://outnowmagazine.com/tyson-tuesday-official-video/ |title=Watch Now: TYSON Reveals a Stunning New Official Video For "Tuesday"|website=Outnowmagazine.com|date=12 April 2021| access-date=20 January 2022}} born in 1989 (also known as Lolita Moon), and Mabel, born in 1996. The former (who releases singles with her name stylised as TYSON){{Cite web| url= https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/tyson-mabel-ep-new-music|title=Singer TYSON On Regaining Her Voice & Being A Typical Pisces |website= Bustle.com|date=15 May 2021 |access-date=20 January 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://theface.com/music/tyson-mcvey-interview-red-handed-ep-neneh-cherry-four-tet-ladies-music-pub|title=An interview with TYSON on her new EP, health and her family| website= theface.com|date=2 April 2021 |access-date=20 January 2022}} was the daughter whom Cherry was pregnant with on Top of the Pops{{Cite web |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51324091|title=Neneh Cherry revisits Raw Like Sushi: 'I sound like a little kid!'| date= 2 February 2020|access-date=20 January 2022|website= bbc.co.uk}} in 1988 and is featured in the "Manchild" video, while the latter is the singer who has collaborated on singles with Clean Bandit, Tiësto and Joel Corry.{{Cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/52386/mabel/|title=Mabel | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company|website=Officialcharts.com|access-date=20 January 2022}}
Cherry and Cameron McVey have a collaborative work relationship: McVey produced and co-wrote Raw Like Sushi.{{cite news| first= Sam |last= Wolfson |date=23 February 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/13/neneh-cherry-on-buffalo-stance-family-ties-and-coke-for-radio-plays| title=Neneh Cherry on Buffalo Stance, family ties and 'coke' for radio plays|work=The Guardian| access-date=18 January 2020}} Together they have supported a variety of British acts and they were in the group cirKus together, with Cameron McVey known as Burt Ford{{Cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/cirkus-laylower-2496156366.html |title= Cirkus: Laylower| website= PopMatters.com| first= Mike |last= Schiller |date=11 May 2008|access-date=20 January 2022}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.alamy.com/burt-ford-of-cirkus-performing-at-the-womad-festival-uk-2472009-image338936731.html| title=Burt Ford of CirKus performing at the Womad Festival, UK, 24/7/2009 Stock Photo |website=Alamy.com|access-date=20 January 2022}} and Tyson as Lolita Moon during this time. Cherry has a stepson, Marlon Roudette (former frontman of Mattafix), via McVey's prior relationship with Vonnie Roudette.{{cite news|first=Gavin|last=Martin|date=23 December 2011| url= https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/marlon-roudette-is-huge-in-germany-98496|title=Marlon Roudette is huge in Germany| work= Mirror Online|access-date=18 January 2020}}
File:Neneh Cherry.jpg, February 2013]]
The family has a country house near Birmingham and Wolverhampton, apartments in London and Stockholm, plus the family home in the old schoolhouse in Skåne County that she and her half-brother inherited when their mother died in 2009. In 2014, Cherry said she was commuting between London and Stockholm.{{cite web| last= Gehr| first=Richard|title=Neneh Cherry Talks Her Weird Punk-Pop-Jazz Trajectory, and the New 'Blank Project' |url= https://www.spin.com/2014/02/neneh-cherry-interview-blank-project/|work=Spin|publisher=SpinMedia|access-date=25 February 2014|date=24 February 2014}}
= Style =
Since the late 1980s, Cherry has frequently worked with the stylist and jewelry designer Judy Blame.{{cite web |last=Van Meter| first=William |title=Neneh Cherry's Back On Top|url=http://www.wmagazine.com/culture/2014/01/neneh-cherry/| work=W Magazine |publisher=Condé Nast|access-date=25 February 2014|date=30 January 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140303044914/http://www.wmagazine.com/culture/2014/01/neneh-cherry/|archive-date=3 March 2014|url-status=dead}}
On her street style, Cherry cites LL Cool J as an influence, as well as the photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Judy Blame, and designer Ray Petri.{{cite news|last=Iannacci|first=Elio|title=What I Wear: Neneh Cherry talks stances and street style|url=http://life.nationalpost.com/2014/02/14/what-i-wear-neneh-cherry-talks-stances-and-street-style/|access-date=26 February 2014|work=National Post|date=14 February 2014|archive-url= https://archive.today/20140226044554/http://life.nationalpost.com/2014/02/14/what-i-wear-neneh-cherry-talks-stances-and-street-style/|archive-date=26 February 2014|url-status=dead}}{{cite news| last1= Cochrane| first1= Lauren |title= Neneh Cherry's street style hits: 'I looked like the female Muhammad Ali'| url= https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/nov/11/neneh-cherry-street-style-hits-pictures-look|access-date=10 January 2015| newspaper= The Guardian |date=11 November 2014}}
Neneh Cherry speaks English and Swedish fluently.
Discography
{{Main|Neneh Cherry discography}}
- Raw Like Sushi (1989)
- Homebrew (1992)
- Man (1996)
- Blank Project (2014)
- Broken Politics (2018)
- The Versions (2022)
Awards
{{BLP unsourced section|date=February 2020}}
= AIM Independent Music Awards =
{{award table}}
!Ref.
|-
| 2024
| Herself
| Innovator Award
| {{won}}
| https://www.aimawards.co.uk/2024-nominees/
{{end}}
= Brit Awards =
{{awards table}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"|1990
| rowspan="2" | Herself
| Best International Breakthrough
| rowspan="2" {{won}}
|-
| Best International Solo Artist
|-
| "Manchild"
| Best Video
| rowspan="3" {{nom}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1991
| rowspan="2" | Herself
| rowspan="2" | Best International Female
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1997
{{end}}
= D&AD Awards =
{{award table}}
!Ref.
|-
| rowspan=2|1991
| rowspan=2|"I've Got You Under My Skin"
| Direction
| {{won|place=Bronze|Wood Pencil}}
|-
| Photography
| {{won|place=Bronze|Wood Pencil}}
{{end}}
= Danish Music Awards =
{{awards table}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1995
| "7 Seconds"
| Best International Single
|{{won}}
{{end}}
= Grammy Awards =
{{awards table}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1990
| Herself
| Best New Artist
|{{nom}}
{{end}}
= Grammis =
{{awards table}}
|-
| 1990
| rowspan=2|Herself
| Best Female Pop/Rock Artist
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1993
| Best Modern Dance
| {{nom}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2013
| Jazz Recording of the Year
|{{won}}
|-
| 2019
| Best Electronic/Dance
| {{won}}
{{end}}
= Ivor Novello Awards =
{{awards table}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1990
| "Buffalo Stance"
| International Hit of the Year
|{{nom}}
|-
| 1995
| "7 Seconds"
| International Hit of the Year
|{{nom}}
{{end}}
= MTV Europe Music Awards =
{{awards table}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|1994
| "7 Seconds"
|{{won}}
|-
| rowspan="2"|Herself
| rowspan="2"| Best Female
|{{nom}}
|-
| 1996
|{{nom}}
{{end}}
= MTV Video Music Awards =
{{awards table}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1989
| "Buffalo Stance"
| Best New Artist
|{{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1991
| rowspan="2" | "I've Got You Under My Skin"
| Best Special Effects
|{{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2" | Best Female Video
|{{nom}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1993
| "Buddy X"
|{{nom}}
{{end}}
= Music & Media Year-End Awards =
{{award table}}
!Ref.
|-
| 1989
| Debut Album of the Year
| {{draw|3rd place}}
{{end}}
= NME Awards =
= Nordic Music Prize =
{{awards table}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|2014
| Album of the Year
|{{nom}}
{{end}}
= Rober Awards Music poll =
{{award table}}
|-
| 2012
| "Dream Baby Dream" (with The Thing)
| Best Cover Version
| {{nom}}
|-
| 2014
| Herself
| Best R&B
| {{nom}}
{{end}}
= Silver Clef Awards =
{{award table}}
!Ref.
|-
| 2023
| Herself
| Outstanding Achievement Award
| {{won}}
{{end}}
= Smash Hits Poll Winners Party =
{{award table}}
|-
| 1989
| Herself
| Most Promising New Solo Artist
| {{nom}}
{{end}}
= UK Video Music Awards =
{{award table}}
|-
| rowspan="2"|2018
| rowspan="2"|"Kong"
| Best Styling in a Video
| {{nom}}
|-
| Best Color Grading in a Video
| {{nom}}
{{end}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Wikiquote}}
- {{Twitter|name=@misscherrylala}}
{{Neneh Cherry}}
{{Rip Rig + Panic}}
{{Brit International Artist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry, Neneh}}
Category:Singers from Stockholm
Category:Swedish people of Sierra Leonean descent
Category:English-language singers from Sweden
Category:Swedish women musicians
Category:Swedish hip-hop musicians
Category:Swedish women rappers
Category:Swedish singer-songwriters
Category:MTV Europe Music Award winners
Category:Virgin Records artists
Category:Swedish emigrants to the United Kingdom
Category:Rip Rig + Panic members
Category:20th-century Swedish women singers
Category:21st-century Swedish women singers
Category:Swedish electronic dance music DJs
Category:People from Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Category:Swedish women in electronic music
Category:20th-century women rappers
Category:21st-century women rappers
Category:Women hip-hop musicians
Category:Women hip-hop singers