Siobhan Fahey

{{Infobox musical artist

| image = Siobhan Fahey.jpg

| caption = Fahey performing with Bananarama in 2018

| birth_name = Siobhan Maire Deirdre Fahey

| alias =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1958|9|10}}

| birth_place = County Meath, Ireland{{cite news |url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-herald-1130/20100416/282011848557283 |title=Doing it for herself |last=Thomson |first=Graeme |work=The Herald (Glasgow) |date=16 April 2010 |access-date=5 June 2019}}

| origin = Ireland and England

| death_date =

| genre = {{flatlist|

}}

| occupation = {{flatlist|

Singer
songwriter

}}

| years_active = 1979–present

| current_member_of = Shakespears Sister

| past_member_of = Bananarama

| website =

}}

Siobhan Maire Deirdre Fahey{{cite web|url=https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/890248284 |title=A PERFECT WORLD |website=ASCAP |publisher=American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers |access-date=November 22, 2024}} ({{IPAc-en|ʃ|ə|ˈ|v|ɔ:|n|_|ˈ|f|a:|h|i}}; born 10 September 1958) is an Irish singer whose vocal range is a light contralto.{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/interview-siobhan-fahey-why-should-you-stop-if-you-re-still-inspired-1-788335 |title=Interview: Siobhan Fahey - 'Why should you stop if you're still inspired?' |newspaper=The Scotsman |date=21 January 2010 |access-date=30 March 2014}} She was a founding member of the British girl group Bananarama, who have had ten top-10 hits including the US number one hit single "Venus". She later formed the musical act Shakespears Sister, who had a UK number one hit with the 1992 single "Stay". Fahey joined the other original members of Bananarama for a 2017 UK tour, and, in 2018, a North America and Europe tour.

She is the first Irish-born woman to have written two number one singles on the Irish charts.{{Cite web|url=https://irishnumberones.com/2022/06/03/the-bluebells-young-at-heart/|title=The Bluebells – 'Young At Heart'|first=Aidan|last=Curran|website=Irishnumberones.com|date=3 June 2022|access-date=24 November 2023}}

Early life

Siobhan Maire Fahey[http://www.shakespearssister.co.uk/about.html About] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811232221/http://www.shakespearssister.co.uk/about.html |date=11 August 2013 }}. Shakespears Sister (16 April 2010). Retrieved on 15 September 2013. was born on 10 September 1958{{cite book |last=Larkin |first=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |publisher=Omnibus Press |year=2011 |page=2381}} in County Meath, Ireland. She has two younger sisters, Maire (who played Eileen in the video of the 1982 song "Come On Eileen", a hit for Dexys Midnight Runners) and Niamh, a producer and editor.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} Her parents, Helen and Joseph Fahey, both came from County Tipperary, Ireland.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} Fahey lived in Ireland for several years before her father joined the British Army and the family moved to England, then to Germany for several years, and back to England when Siobhan was nine years old.{{cite news | first=Miranda | last=Sawyer | title=She's Sold Millions of Records Over The Past 14 Years and She's Married to Another Pop Star, But She Never Gets Recognised in the Pub| date=19 May 1996 | work=The Observer | page = 18}} When she was 14, she and her family moved to Harpenden, Hertfordshire, and, two years later, she left home for London and became involved in the punk scene of the late 1970s.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Career

=Bananarama (1981–1988, 2017–2018)=

Fahey took a course in fashion journalism at the London College of Fashion, where she met Sara Dallin in 1980. Along with Keren Woodward, they founded Bananarama and recorded their first demo "Aie a Mwana" in 1981. Bananarama then worked with the male vocal trio Fun Boy Three, releasing two top-five singles with them in early 1982{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/apr/24/people-wet-knickers-bananarama-80s-trio-return|title='People wet their knickers when they find out I was in Bananarama': the 80s trio return|first=Rebecca|last=Nicholson|date=24 April 2017|website=The Guardian}} before having their own top-five hit with "Shy Boy" later that year. Fahey, with Dallin and Woodward, co-wrote many of the group's hits, including "Cruel Summer", "Robert De Niro's Waiting...", "I Heard a Rumour", and "Love in the First Degree".

=Shakespears Sister (1988–1996)=

In 1988, frustrated with the direction she felt Bananarama was heading, Fahey left the group and formed Shakespears Sister.[http://www.reocities.com/djohnl_2000/Interviews/1992_July_TheFace.html]{{dead link|date=September 2013}} Initially, Fahey effectively was Shakespears Sister, though American singer/songwriter Marcella Detroit later became an official member,{{cite web|url=http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article/5481/Shakespears-Sister|title=Shakespears Sister - Interview|website=Pennyblackmusic.co.uk|access-date=29 April 2017|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612211744/https://pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article/5481/Shakespears-Sister|url-status=dead}} making the outfit a duo. Their 1992 single "Stay" spent eight weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart and won the 1993 Brit Award for Best British Video.{{cite web |url=http://www.brits.co.uk/history/shows/1993 |work=The Brit Awards |title=The Brits 1993 |access-date=12 May 2017 |archive-date=30 June 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630155731/http://www.brits.co.uk/history/shows/1993 |url-status=dead }} At the 1993 Ivor Novello Awards, Fahey, Detroit, and Dave Stewart received the award for Outstanding Contemporary Song Collection.{{cite web |url=http://www.theivors.com/archive/1990-1999/the-ivors-1993/ |work=The Ivor Novello Awards |title=1993 winners |access-date=12 May 2017 |archive-date=7 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707171544/http://theivors.com/archive/1990-1999/the-ivors-1993/ |url-status=dead }} Fahey often appeared in the band's music videos and on-stage as a vampish glam figure. After two successful albums, tensions began to rise between Fahey and Detroit and they split up in 1993. That year, Fahey admitted herself into a psychiatric unit with severe depression.

In 1996, Fahey continued as Shakespears Sister by herself and released the single "I Can Drive". Intended as the first single from Shakespears Sister's third album and her first record since her split with Marcella Detroit, the single performed disappointingly (UK number 30), which prompted London Records not to release the album.{{cite web|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/03994-shakespears-sister-songs-from-the-red-room-album-review|title=The Quietus - Reviews - Shakespears Sister|website=Thquietus.com|date=30 March 2010 }} Following this, Fahey left the label and, after a lengthy battle, she finally obtained the rights to release the album (entitled #3) independently through her own website in 2004.

=Since 1997=

Fahey briefly re-joined Bananarama in 1998 to record a cover version of ABBA's "Waterloo" for the Channel 4 Eurovision special A Song for Eurotrash. Fahey reteamed with Bananarama again in 2002 for a "last ever" reunion at the band's 20th-anniversary concert at G-A-Y in London. The trio performed "Venus" and "Waterloo".{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

Fahey continued to make music into the new millennium. In 2005, Fahey independently released The MGA Sessions, an album recorded with frequent collaborator Sophie Muller in the mid-1990s. Fahey's most recent single (under her own name), "Bad Blood", was released on 17 October 2005.{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/Siobhan-Fahey-Bad-Blood/master/90994 | title= Discogs.com| website= Discogs|access-date= 15 June 2018}}{{Better source needed|reason=The content on Discogs is user-generated, and the site is therefore considered unreliable.|date=January 2019}}

Fahey's track "Bitter Pill" was partially covered by the pop band The Pussycat Dolls on their 2005 debut album PCD. The verses (which were slightly altered) and the overall sound of the song are from "Bitter Pill", but added in was the chorus of Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff". The song was renamed "Hot Stuff (I Want You Back)" and a remix was included as a B-side to their hit single "Beep".

In 2008, Fahey appeared in the Chris Ward-written and directed short film What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor (based on the life of artist/model Nina Hamnett, self-styled "Queen of Bohemia"), with Fahey playing the role of Hamnett opposite actor Clive Arrindel, Donny Tourette (frontman with punk band Towers of London) and Honey Bane (former vocalist of the punk band Fatal Microbes).[http://www.kulone.com/GB/Event/2306004-'WHAT-SHALL-WE-DO-WITH-THE-DRUNKEN-SAILOR'-Chris-Ward-2008 'WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THE DRUNKEN SAILOR' (Chris Ward 2008)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521150430/http://www.kulone.com/GB/Event/2306004-%27WHAT-SHALL-WE-DO-WITH-THE-DRUNKEN-SAILOR%27-Chris-Ward-2008 |date=21 May 2014 }}. kulone.com. Retrieved on 15 September 2013.

In 2009, Fahey decided to resurrect the Shakespears Sister name and released a new album. Entitled Songs from the Red Room, it was released on her own record label, SF Records[http://www.spoonfed.co.uk/spooners/gina-louise-5191/shakespears-sister-1662/ Shakespear's Sister on Spoonfed – Things to do in London] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227065341/http://www.spoonfed.co.uk/spooners/gina-louise-5191/shakespears-sister-1662/ |date=27 February 2012 }}. Spoonfed.co.uk. Retrieved on 15 September 2013. and included various singles she had released under her own name in recent years. Fahey performed her first live show in almost 15 years as Shakespears Sister in Hoxton, London on 20 November 2009.[http://www.digitalspy.com/music/news/a186516/shakespears-sister-confirm-album-concert.html Shakespears Sister confirm album, concert – Music News] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210215341/http://www.digitalspy.com/music/news/a186516/shakespears-sister-confirm-album-concert.html |date=10 December 2014 }}. Digital Spy (12 November 2009). Retrieved on 15 September 2013.[http://www.style.com/stylefile/2009/11/siobhan-faheys-back-and-better-than-ever Siobhan Fahey's Back And Better Than Ever: style file: daily fashion, party, and model news] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130206052208/http://www.style.com/stylefile/2009/11/siobhan-faheys-back-and-better-than-ever |date=6 February 2013 }}. Style.com (24 November 2009). Retrieved on 15 September 2013. In 2014 she joined the line-up of Dexys Midnight Runners for some shows, including at Glastonbury Festival.{{cite web |url=http://www.dexysonline.com/view-7-39 |title=Dexys News |publisher=Dexysonline.com |access-date=31 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714202515/http://www.dexysonline.com/view-7-39 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |df=dmy-all }}

In 2017, it was announced that Fahey had joined her former Bananarama bandmates for an upcoming UK tour. This was the first live tour Fahey has done as a member of Bananarama.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/apr/24/people-wet-knickers-bananarama-80s-trio-return|title='People wet their knickers when they find out I was in Bananarama': the 80s trio return|work=The Guardian|date=24 April 2017|access-date=24 April 2017}}{{update inline|date=January 2019}}

In 2019, Fahey reunited with Marcella Detroit for Shakespears Sister dates, commencing with an appearance on BBC1's The Graham Norton Show on 10 May 2019.

Personal life

Fahey married Dave Stewart of Eurythmics in 1987; the couple divorced in 1996. They have two sons, Samuel (born 26 November 1987) and Django James (born 1991).{{cite web | url = http://www.superiorpics.com/dave_stewart/ | title = Fearless Innovator | publisher = SuperiorPics.com | year = 2007 | access-date = 12 October 2007 | archive-date = 29 June 2012 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120629182513/http://www.superiorpics.com/dave_stewart/ | url-status = dead }}{{cite news | url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/siobhan-fahey-returns-from-the-dark-side-of-pop-vrggxlkp50f | work=The Times | location=London | title=Siobhan Fahey returns from the dark side of pop | first=Fleur | last=Britten | date=22 November 2009 | access-date=23 May 2010 | archive-date=26 April 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426182124/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/siobhan-fahey-returns-from-the-dark-side-of-pop-vrggxlkp50f | url-status=live }} The two brothers formed a musical band called Nightmare and the Cat.[http://perusheksindiemovies.wordpress.com/tag/django-stewart/ An article on "Nightmare & The Cat"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315125442/http://perusheksindiemovies.wordpress.com/tag/django-stewart/ |date=15 March 2016 }}. Perusheksindiemovies.wordpress.com (20 September 2011). Retrieved on 15 September 2013. As an infant, Samuel Stewart appeared in early Shakespears Sister videos for "Heroine" and "You're History". Django Stewart is also an actor.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2763930/|title=Django Stewart|work=IMDb|access-date=11 May 2019}} Samuel is currently the guitarist for the American indie rock band Lo Moon.{{cite web |last1=Aswad |first1=Jem |title=Album Review: Lo Moon's Self-Titled Debut |url=https://variety.com/2018/music/reviews/album-review-lo-moon-self-titled-debut-1202708661/ |website=Variety |access-date=17 June 2020 |language=en |date=23 February 2018}}

Prior to her marriage to Stewart, Fahey was romantically involved with Jim Reilly, the drummer for the Northern Irish punk rock band Stiff Little Fingers and Scottish singer Bobby Bluebell of the Bluebells, with whom she co-wrote the UK No. 1 "Young at Heart".{{cite news | url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article182591.ece | title=Violinist wins fight for royalties after musical interlude in the High Court – Crime, UK – Independent.co.uk | access-date=10 January 2010 | work=The Independent | location=London | first=Chris | last=Gray | date=3 July 2002 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930190919/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article182591.ece | archive-date=30 September 2007 | df=dmy-all }}

Discography

=Studio albums=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
scope="col" style="width:14em;"\| Title ! scope="col" style="width:16em;"\| Album details
scope="row" \| The MGA Sessions \| Released: 2005 Formats: CD, digital download Label: SF

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

scope="col" style="width:14em;"| Title

! scope="col" style="width:16em;"| Album details

scope="row" | The MGA Sessions

Released: 2005
Formats: CD, digital download
Label: SF

==With Bananarama==

Deep Sea Skiving (1983)
Bananarama (1984)
True Confessions (1986)
Wow! (1987)

==With Shakespears Sister==

Sacred Heart (1989)
Hormonally Yours (1992)
#3 (2004)
Songs from the Red Room (2009)

=Singles=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
scope="col" rowspan="2"\| Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2"\| Year ! scope="col" colspan="2"\| Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"\| Album
scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"\| UK {{cite web\|url=http://zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_F.HTM\|title=Chart Log UK (1994–2010): Adam F – FYA\|publisher=zobbel.de\|access-date=11 December 2014}} ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"\| UK Indie{{cite web \| url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/12690/siobhan-fahey/ \| title=Siobhan Fahey \| website=Official Charts }}
scope="row" \| "Bitter Pill"{{ref\|redroom\|[a]}} \| 2002 \| 108 \| 27 \|rowspan="3"\| Songs from the Red Room
scope="row" \| "Pulsatron"{{ref\|redroom\|[a]}} \|rowspan="2"\| 2005 \| 95 \| 25
scope="row" \| "Bad Blood"{{ref\|redroom\|[a]}} \| — \| —
colspan="5" style="font-size:90%"\| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year

! scope="col" colspan="2"| Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album

scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| UK
{{cite web|url=http://zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_F.HTM|title=Chart Log UK (1994–2010): Adam F – FYA|publisher=zobbel.de|access-date=11 December 2014}}

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| UK Indie{{cite web | url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/12690/siobhan-fahey/ | title=Siobhan Fahey | website=Official Charts }}

scope="row" | "Bitter Pill"{{ref|redroom|[a]}}

| 2002

| 108

| 27

|rowspan="3"| Songs from the Red Room

scope="row" | "Pulsatron"{{ref|redroom|[a]}}

|rowspan="2"| 2005

| 95

| 25

scope="row" | "Bad Blood"{{ref|redroom|[a]}}

| —

colspan="5" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

==As featured artist==

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:14em;"\| Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2"\| Year ! scope="col"\| Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"\| Album
scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"\| UK
scope="row" \| "Walk into the Wind" (Vegas featuring Siobhan Fahey) \| 1993 \| 65{{cite web\|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/28089/vegas/\|title=Official Charts > Vegas\|publisher=The Official UK Charts Company\|access-date=25 May 2016}} \| Vegas
scope="row" \| "Fear Is Real" (Psychonauts featuring Siobhan Fahey) \| 2003 \| 194{{cite web\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018123326/http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_P.HTM\|title=Chart Log UK 1994–2010 > Rodney P. – The Pussycat Dolls\|url=http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_P.HTM\|archive-date=18 October 2015\|access-date=21 October 2015\|publisher=Dipl.-Bibl.(FH) Tobias Zywietz}} \| Songs for Creatures
scope="row" \| "She's Lost Control" (Erreur Fatale featuring Siobhan Fahey) \| 2004 \| — \| Peep Show
colspan="4" style="font-size:90%"\| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:14em;"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year

! scope="col"| Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album

scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| UK

scope="row" | "Walk into the Wind"
(Vegas featuring Siobhan Fahey)

| 1993

| 65{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/28089/vegas/|title=Official Charts > Vegas|publisher=The Official UK Charts Company|access-date=25 May 2016}}

| Vegas

scope="row" | "Fear Is Real"
(Psychonauts featuring Siobhan Fahey)

| 2003

| 194{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018123326/http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_P.HTM|title=Chart Log UK 1994–2010 > Rodney P. – The Pussycat Dolls|url=http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_P.HTM|archive-date=18 October 2015|access-date=21 October 2015|publisher=Dipl.-Bibl.(FH) Tobias Zywietz}}

| Songs for Creatures

scope="row" | "She's Lost Control"
(Erreur Fatale featuring Siobhan Fahey)

| 2004

| —

| Peep Show

colspan="4" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

=Promotional singles=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
style="width:14em;"\| Title ! Year ! Album
scope="row" \| "Cold"{{ref\|redroom\|[a]}} \| 2004 \| Songs from the Red Room

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

style="width:14em;"| Title

! Year

! Album

scope="row" | "Cold"{{ref|redroom|[a]}}

| 2004

| Songs from the Red Room

Notes

{{note|redroom|}} a Since their inclusion on Songs from the Red Room, an album by Fahey's solo project Shakespears Sister, these songs are now usually credited as 'Shakespears Sister' rather than 'Siobhan Fahey'.