Long after its debut, the film Saltburn sent Murder on the Dancefloor back up the charts
Sophie Ellis-Bextor's biggest hit first peaked at number two on the UK singles chart in the early 2000s and was Europe's most played song of 2002. Then the 2023 film Saltburn featured it, and the track climbed all the way back to that very same position, reviving interest in a singer who began in indie rock.
Born in Isleworth, London, on 10 April 1979, she is the daughter of Janet Ellis, a Blue Peter presenter, and the film producer Robin Bextor, who separated when she was four; she occasionally appeared on the programme beside her mother. At 13 she was singing with the W11 Opera for children, a company she now supports as patron. She once said that not seeing herself as good-looking meant she never relied on looks.
Her career started in 1996 fronting the indie group theaudience, which scored two UK Top 40 singles and a 1998 album before Mercury Records rejected demos for a second record and dropped them in 1999. The next year she sang on Italian DJ Spiller's Groovejet (If This Ain't Love), which entered at number one, narrowly beating Victoria Beckham's first solo single, and by 2015 was Britain's best-selling vinyl single of the millennium.
The 2001 solo debut Read My Lips reached number two, went double platinum and sold 1.5 million copies worldwide, with a Cher cover and her signature disco song both reaching number two. Later records followed at intervals: Shoot from the Hip in 2003, Trip the Light Fantastic in 2007, and Make a Scene in 2011 after she left Universal to set up her own label, EBGBs. She also toured as a guest with Take That and supported George Michael and Pet Shop Boys.
With producer Ed Harcourt she then made a trilogy with distinct flavours: the folk-tinged Wanderlust, which topped the independent albums chart in 2014, the Latin-leaning Familia and the Japanese-inspired Hana. Her eighth album, Perimenopop, arrived on Decca in September 2025 to strong reviews.
Source: Sophie Ellis-Bextor
