Fahey was born in Dunshaughlin, County Meath, Ireland, where she lived for about two years, before moving to Germany where her father was posted as a soldier in the British Army. The family subsequently moved to England, living in various areas, while Fahey was sent to a convent school in Edinburgh. When she was fourteen she and her family moved to Hertfordshire, and two years later she left home for London. There she took a course in fashion journalism where she met Sarah Dallin and Keren Woodward, and with the help of Sex Pistols member Paul Cook, the trio formed Bananarama. She helped to co-write many of the group’s international hits, including “Cruel Summer”, “Robert DeNiro’s Waiting”, “I Heard a Rumour”, and “Love in the First Degree”. Throughout her time with Bananarama, she contributed to the group’s style and image, and frequently changed her hair styles and colours. Fahey married Dave Stewart of Eurythmics in 1987. The couple had two sons, Sam and Django, before splitting up in 1996. In 1988, Fahey left Bananarama, and formed the critically-acclaimed Shakespears Sister. The band was nominated for numerous awards and showed a darker side to Fahey, who appeared in the band’s music videos and on-stage as a vampish glam figure. In the wake of the hugely successful second album Hormonally Yours, in 1993 Fahey admitted herself into a psychiatric unit with severe depression. This was just after The Bluebells had a UK number one hit with a re-release of their 1983 recording of “Young at Heart”, a song Fahey co-wrote and recorded with then boyfriend, Robert Hodgens (aka Bobby Bluebell). In 1994 Fahey portrayed a fan-dancer in the art-house made-for-television film Jiggery Pokery directed by videographer/photographer Sophie Muller. In 1996 Fahey released the first single from Shakespears Sister’s third album, recorded more or less as a Fahey solo venture. London Records refused to release the album due to management changes and disappointing single sales and Fahey left the label rather than make the album palatable. After a lengthy battle with the label, Fahey finally released Shakespears Sister [album artist=Shakespears Sister]#3 independently through her website and later also through regular distribution channels. In 1997 Fahey appeared opposite Martin Dunne in the Irish short film Pinned. She also briefly re-joined Bananarama in 1998 to record “Waterloo” for the Channel 4 Eurovision special A Song for Eurotrash. The song proved popular, winning the public vote for best song at the conclusion of the program. She again joined Bananarama in 2002 for a “last ever” reunion at the band’s twentieth anniversary concert at G-A-Y in London. In front of 3000 fans she joined Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin to perform “Venus” and “Waterloo”. Fahey currently records, performs live and DJ’s as a solo artist. Her recent output is also self-released. She has a website where she frequently posts messages to fans, and answers fans questions. Her most recent single, “Bad Blood”, was released on 17 October 2005. Fahey’s track “Bitter Pill” was partially covered by pop band The Pussycat Dolls in their 2005 debut album PCD. The verses (which were slightly altered) and the overall sound of the song are from “Bitter Pill”, but added in was the chorus of Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff”. The song was renamed “Hot Stuff (I Want You Back)”. According to her website, Fahey is writing with former Sugababe, Siobhan Donaghy, on her forthcoming second album, which is tentatively due for release in early 2007. |
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