Neneh Cherry

Neneh Cherry is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, and occasional DJ and broadcaster. Blending hip hop with other influences, Cherry experienced mainstream success with several of her recordings.

In London, Cherry joined the punk rock band The Cherries. She moved through several bands, including New Age Steppers, Rip Rig + Panic, and Float Up CP. She also DJ'd, playing early rap music on the reggae pirate Dread Broadcasting Corporation.

She began a solo career with "Stop the War", a protest song about the Falkland Islands. She also worked with The The and musician Cameron McVey (a.k.a. Booga Bear), who co-wrote most of her debut album Raw Like Sushi.

The single "Buffalo Stance" was an international blockbuster. "Buffalo Stance" eventually peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, and the US Billboard Hot 100, and number 1 on the US Dance chart. More singles released between 1988 and 1990 included "Manchild", "Kisses on the Wind" "Heart" and "Inna City Mama".

She also found success with "I've Got You Under My Skin" which appeared on the Red Hot + Blue AIDS fundraising album. The single reached number 25 in the UK. Cherry was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1990 in the Best New Artist Category; she lost out to Milli Vanilli, who later had their Grammy revoked when it was discovered that they had not performed on their recording. She won a Brit Award in 1990 for Raw Like Sushi.

Cherry's second album was Homebrew and had some success on the dance charts with songs "Buddy X" and "Trout."

Her most recent solo album, Man, was released in 1996 and featured the track "Woman", her take on James Brown's 1966 track "It's a Man's Man's Man's World." Also, it featured the worldwide hit single, "7 Seconds", featuring Youssou N'Dour; and "Trouble Man" a cover of a Marvin Gaye track. Cherry received her second Grammy nomination in 1994 for "7 Seconds". In the MTV Europe Music Awards in 1994, "7 Seconds" won the Best Song title.

In 2006, Cherry announced the formation of a new band, cirKus. CirKus has toured Europe, with a single North American performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival in July 2006 plus a few dates in Brazil in 2008. The band's first album, Laylow, was released in France in 2006. A remixed/recorded version was released in 2007. A second CirKus album, Medicine, was released in France in March 2009.

She has frequently collaborated with other artist including a duet with Matt Johnson of The The, Edward Kowalczyk, the lead singer of the band Live, with "Walk into this Room" for the soundtrack to the movie Playing by Heart. In 1999, "Twisted Mess", a collaboration with Craig Armstrong, was recorded for the soundtrack of the film Best Laid Plans. It was also included on the soundtrack to The Dancer in 2000.

She contributed vocals to Gorillaz's "Kids With Guns". She contributed vocals to the Groove Armada tracks, "The Groove Is On" and "Think Twice", featured on the band's album Love Box. In 2006, she was featured in the song "Yours to Keep", by the Stockholm outfit Teddybears on their album Soft Machine. In 2007, she again duetted with Youssou N'Dour on one track, "Wake Up Africa", released on his 2007 album Rokku Mi Rokka.