Neneh Cherry

Her father was from Sierra Leone and her mother from Sweden, but probably the greatest influence on Neneh Cherry's career as an eclectic and distinctively individual singer was her stepfather, the Afro-American jazz trumpeter Don Cherry. Neneh dropped out of school to move to London at 14, joining punk rock band The Cherries. She gained further experience with bands like Rip Rig And Panic, New Age Steppers and Float Up CP, and DJ'd on a pirate reggae radio station. She launched her solo career with the protest single Stop The War and made her debut album Raw Like Sushi in 1989, co-writing with her future husband Cameron McVey with contributions from members of Massive Attack. The big track, however, was Buffalo Stance, which reached Number 3 in the UK charts and established her as a star all over Europe and America too. Other hits followed, including Manchild, Kisses On The Wind and I've Got You Under My Skin. Second album Homebrew (1992) was less successful but she achieved a major international hit duetting with Youssou N'Dour on 7 Seconds from the 1996 album Man. A decade later she formed the band cirKus with husband McVey and their daughter Lolita Moon, releasing albums Laylow (2006) and Medicine (2009).