Tracey Thorn
Tracey Thorn publicity photo taken by Frederike Helwig , c. 2007
Background information
Born	September 26, 1962 (1962-09-26) (age 44) Brookmans Park, Hertfordshire
Origin	Hull, England
Genre(s)	Pop Folk Electronic House
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocalist
Years active	1982 - Present
Label(s)	Virgin Records
Associated acts	Everything But the Girl Marine Girls
Website	http://www.traceythorn.com
Notable instrument(s)
Vocals Guitar

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.

Career

Marine Girls (1980-1983)

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.

Everything but the Girl (1982-2002)

Thorn met Ben Watt at the University of Hull where they were both students, and both signed 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 1994, 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 two in the Billboard Hot 100.

Everything But The Girl has been on extended hiatus since 2002. Ben Watt has concentrated on his DJ work, and Thorn has been raising their children and, most recently, writing and recording her solo album.

Solo career and collaborations

Thorn's first solo work was a mini-album entitled A Distant Shore (1982). 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.

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".

In the 1980s, Thorn also contributed guest vocals and backing vocals for The Style Council, The Go-Betweens, Working Week, and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. Her most recent 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. Thorn's MySpace page includes several mixes of the single and the music video. The 1st single from her 2007 album, it's "It's All True", which was released in February 7th and the second single, "Raise the Roof" was released on June 18.

Discography

• A Distant Shore 1982
• Out of the Woods 2007

External links

• Official Tracey Thorn website
• Official Everything But The Girl website
• Tracey Thorn Official Myspace
• 20 Questions with Tracey Thorn: The Line Of Best Fit
• Ewan Pearson On Thorn's New Album