Kirsty MacColl
| Kirsty MacColl | |
|---|---|
Kirsty MacColl at the Double Door in Chicago
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| Background information | |
| Born |
10 October 1959 Croydon, Surrey, England |
| Died | 18 December 2000 (aged 41) Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1979–2000 |
| Labels | |
| Website | kirstymaccoll |
Kirsty Anna MacColl (10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was an English singer and songwriter. She recorded several pop hits between the early 1980s and the 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" and cover versions of Billy Bragg's "A New England" and The Kinks' "Days". She also sang on recordings produced by her husband Steve Lillywhite, most notably "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues.
At the age of 41, MacColl died after being hit by a powerboat in Mexico.
Kirsty MacColl was the daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl and dancer Jean Newlove. She and her brother, Hamish MacColl, grew up with their mother in Croydon, where Kirsty attended Park Hill Primary School, Monks Hill High School and John Newnham High School, making appearances in school plays. At the time of her birth, her father had been in a relationship with folk singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Peggy Seeger since 1956 (a relationship that would continue until his death in 1989), and already had a son with her.
She came to notice when Chiswick Records released an EP by local punk rock band the Drug Addix with MacColl on backing vocals under the pseudonym Mandy Doubt (1978). Stiff Records executives were not impressed with the band, but liked her and subsequently signed her to a solo deal.
Her debut solo single "They Don't Know", released in 1979, peaked at number two on the Music Week airplay chart. However, a distributors' strike prevented copies of the single getting into record stores, and the single consequently failed to appear on the UK Singles Chart.
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