Sophie Ellis-Bextor on music, motherhood and lockdown discos: Most of my children are feral!
April 28, 2020The fiercely private pop star is in lockdown with her five kids and has turned her home into a weekly live-streamed party. Its a way to feel connected and lifted, she says, in a world turned upside-down
If there has been a small moment of joy in lockdown, it was the image of a silver-clad Sophie Ellis-Bextor, sequin-spattered kids in tow, performing her disco hits from her living room on a Friday night. The live-streamed party, during which she interrupted her hit song Take Me Home (the lyrics changed to stay at home) to tell one of her children: Dont step on the baby! has become a weekly event to look forward to.
Any kind of work at the moment is quite a challenge, I have to say, she says. On the second week, I really wasnt in the mood. I was feeling quite flat and a bit down. Then I found myself putting my rollers in, putting my makeup on, choosing the songs, putting my sequins on … and I felt lifted. Totally lifted.
Ellis-Bextor is somewhat harried today, speaking on Skype from the music studio in her west London home usually the domain of her husband, Richard Jones, the bassist in the Feeling. It is a cosy grotto, complemented by mic stands, neon lights and a guitar. It is, she says, the only place she can find respite from the strain of navigating lockdown with five children, four of whom were in school or nursery until a month ago, one of whom is trying to work on his GCSEs. I didnt set out to home-school my kids, she says. I dont find it comes particularly naturally.
She is much more accustomed to the glitz and chaos of showbusiness. She first spun into the music mainstream in 2000, with a feature spot on the song Groovejet (If This Aint Love) by Spiller, which remains a British radio staple, and she had a steady pop career with follow-up singles Murder on the Dancefloor and Music Gets the Best of Me, plus a run of seven albums. In 2013, she dazzled on Strictly Come Dancing, wowing the judges with, among other performances, a memorably bouncy whirl through the charleston. In the end, she lost out in the final to Abbey Clancy.
She was born into the world of entertainment: her mother, Janet Ellis, was a presenter on Blue Peter, while her father is the film producer Robin Bextor. She recalls a cosmopolitan childhood, filled with brunches and celebrity parties. It definitely shaped me, she says. She began performing in childhood, later moving into modelling. Before her chart success, she developed a cult following in the late 90s as the sultry singer of indie rock group Theaudience.
With her summer touring schedule wiped out due to lockdown, she is finding it hard adjusting to not performing. I miss it terribly, she says. I miss performing, I miss all the plans I had … but so does everybody.
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