Billie Godfrey
Encyclopedia
Billie Godfrey is an English singer. She is the current principal female vocalist of the veteran British synthpop
group, Heaven 17
.
and Brighton
, Godfrey has a career which spans eight years as a vocalist for many artists and a vocalist in her own right. She started her career as a radio DJ, playing the kind of music she would later go on to record.
Godfrey is an accomplished keyboard player and writes much of her own material. Her stated influences include TLC
, Toni Braxton
and Aretha Franklin
.
She is the first western female vocalist to record an entire album in Japanese
on Number One
(2001) (JVC/Victor Entertainment Inc).
Since the mid-1990s Godfrey has been one of Heaven 17's resident female vocalists, both in the studio and on tour. She is featured on Heaven 17's latest studio album Naked as Advertised
. On 21 November 2008, she made her first TV appearance with the group, on ITV
's Now That’s What I Call 1983 show. She later completed the 2008 'Steel City Tour' where Heaven 17 supported The Human League
. Godfrey also frequently supports Beverley Knight
as a backing vocalist.
Godfrey is also a lecturer and vocal tutor at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music
.
national TV advertising campaign as part of Heaven 17.
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
group, Heaven 17
Heaven 17
Heaven 17 are an English synthpop band originating from Sheffield in the early 1980s. The trio comprises Martyn Ware , Ian Craig Marsh and Glenn Gregory...
.
Background
Based in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, Godfrey has a career which spans eight years as a vocalist for many artists and a vocalist in her own right. She started her career as a radio DJ, playing the kind of music she would later go on to record.
Godfrey is an accomplished keyboard player and writes much of her own material. Her stated influences include TLC
TLC (band)
TLC is an American musical trio whose repertoire spanned R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and new jack swing. Originally consisting of singer Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, rapper-singer Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas it found success in the 1990s while also enduring a series of spats...
, Toni Braxton
Toni Braxton
Toni Michelle Braxton is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Braxton has won six Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, and five Billboard Music Awards and has sold over 60 million records worldwide...
and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
.
She is the first western female vocalist to record an entire album in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
on Number One
Number One (Billie Godfrey album)
Number One is the first full-length studio album released by the British singer Billie Godfrey, in 2001. Godfrey sings entirely in Japanese despite not being a native Japanese speaker - something no other western artist has so far achieved.. It was released in Japan but also sold in the UK and US...
(2001) (JVC/Victor Entertainment Inc).
Since the mid-1990s Godfrey has been one of Heaven 17's resident female vocalists, both in the studio and on tour. She is featured on Heaven 17's latest studio album Naked as Advertised
Naked as Advertised
Naked as Advertised is the eighth full-length studio album released by the British Synthpop group Heaven 17, released in 2008. It is a new nine track album containing new versions of some of their biggest hits as well covers and two reworkings of early Human League songs...
. On 21 November 2008, she made her first TV appearance with the group, on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Now That’s What I Call 1983 show. She later completed the 2008 'Steel City Tour' where Heaven 17 supported The Human League
The Human League
The Human League are an English electronic New Wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. They achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s and have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success throughout the 1980s up to the present day.The only constant...
. Godfrey also frequently supports Beverley Knight
Beverley Knight
Beverley Knight MBE is a British soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer who released her debut album in 1995. Heavily influenced by soul greats such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, Knight has released six studio albums to date...
as a backing vocalist.
Godfrey is also a lecturer and vocal tutor at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music
Brighton Institute of Modern Music
BIMM Brighton & Bristol Institutes of Modern Music in England is an independent college of popular music based in the cities of Brighton & Hove and Bristol...
.
Current events
Billy Godfrey is currently appearing in Sheffield, UK-based broadband company Plusnet'sPlusnet
Plusnet is an Internet Service Provider based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Plusnet was floated on the Alternative Investment Market in July 2004, making them a Public limited company . It has been owned since 30 January 2007 by BT Group, but operates as a separate business...
national TV advertising campaign as part of Heaven 17.
Albums
- 2001 Number OneNumber One (Billie Godfrey album)Number One is the first full-length studio album released by the British singer Billie Godfrey, in 2001. Godfrey sings entirely in Japanese despite not being a native Japanese speaker - something no other western artist has so far achieved.. It was released in Japan but also sold in the UK and US...
(JVC/Victor) (solo - Japan only) - 2008 Naked as AdvertisedNaked as AdvertisedNaked as Advertised is the eighth full-length studio album released by the British Synthpop group Heaven 17, released in 2008. It is a new nine track album containing new versions of some of their biggest hits as well covers and two reworkings of early Human League songs...
(with Heaven 17)