Neneh Cherry

Neneh Cherry

Neneh Cherry is a Swedish singer-songwriter and rapper from Stockholm, born in 1964. She also works as an occasional DJ and broadcaster. Her music combines hip hop with other styles, and she is associated with contemporary R&B, dance, electronic, hip hop, pop and pop rap.

Early life and background

Cherry is born Neneh Marianne Karlsson in Stockholm. She has Swedish and Sierra Leonean parentage and spends much of her formative years in Europe and North America. Her stepfather is trumpeter Don Cherry, and she is the half-sister of singer Eagle-Eye Cherry.

Career

She begins her career in groups before becoming a solo artist. Early on, she is a member of Rip Rig & Panic and New Age Steppers, and she is also linked with The Slits, Float Up CP, The The and Cherries. In 2006, she announces the formation of cirKus, a band that includes her husband Burt Ford, also known as boogabear and Cameron McVey. The group releases Laylow in 2006.

As a solo performer, Cherry releases albums in the late 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, including Raw Like Sushi (1989), Homebrew (1992) and Man (1996). These records bring her both critical and commercial attention. She also appears as a guest vocalist on Groove Armada’s Lovebox in 2002 and on Gorillaz’s Demon Days in 2005.

Awards and recognition

Cherry is nominated for two Grammy Awards. Her first nomination comes in 1990 in the Best New Artist category after the success of “Buffalo Stance”, and her second follows in 1994 for “7 Seconds”, her duet with Youssou N’Dour. She wins the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song for “7 Seconds” in 1995.