Pop is a fickle industry to be in. Things that are “in” today are going to be “dated” tomorrow. Surviving in the pop scene is every popstar’s challenge.

Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (not many are familiar with the middle name), a British singer, songwriter and model, shot to fame in 2000 with “Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)”, her collaboration with Italian DJ Christiano Spiller. Her career as a musician began in the late nineties, when she fronted an indie rock band – “theaudience”. The group released four singles and an album and achieved moderate success and were just about to reach the pinnacle of glory when they began to face internal turbulence. Eventually, theaudience disbanded and Sophie went solo. But, her time with the band won her the accolade of being #1 among the ‘most sexy people in rock’, as elected by readers of Melody Maker, and, gave her an opportunity to record with one of the most celebrated bands of the nineties – the Manic Street Preachers.

Her background in music and her recent #1 with Groovejet got Sophie a record deal with Polydor Records (Universal) and she has since stayed with them for 10 years – an achievement in the pop industry where people get dropped quite often (Sophie is signed on Fascination since 2007, a sub-label of Polydor). Groovejet, her first song in pop reached #1 and later went on to become the most played song of the noughties. In fact, the first song ever to be played on an iPod was Groovejet. How’s that for popularity? The early noughties was a great time for Sophie – releasing hit after hit and two sensational albums which were certified Multi-Platinum (“Read My Lips”) and Gold (“Shoot From The Hip”). Among the various singles in her back catalogue, the most notable one was “Murder On The Dancefloor” which stayed on the charts for an astonishing 23 weeks (repeat: 23 weeks!!!) and went on to become the most played song in all of Europe in 2002. A string of top 10 singles including “Take Me Home”, “Get Over You”, “Mixed Up World” and “I Won’t Change You” made her a familiar name in pop.

Sophie had a full blown UK tour and later toured Europe after her first album. Soon after her second album, Sophie took a break from music to settle down in her personal life. She had a baby boy, Sonny, and got married to Richard Jones, the bassist of the popular pop-rock band “The Feeling” (Richard and Sophie knew each other – he played in her live band before The Feeling got signed). She took three years to record songs for her third album “Trip The Light Fantastic”, which, is regarded as her best album to-date and is undoubtedly one of the best pop albums of 2007. Sophie wrote and recorded more than 100 songs for the album and selected just the best ones to go on the album and singles. Prior to the album, Sophie collaborated with the then-upcoming DJ duo Busface on their single “Circles (Just My Good Time)” (she is credited as Mademoiselle E.B. on the release). In 2006, Sophie went on tour with George Michael, supporting his tour leg around UK and Ireland. Then, she released her third album, which had one top ten single and two others, and later went on tour with Take That, supporting their tour around UK and Ireland. Her third album found itself inside the top 10 and was also certified Gold much after its release.

Just before her third album, Ellis-Bextor was made the face of Monsoon, the clothing line. Modelling was not a new thing for Sophie, she did a couple of ramp-shows after theaudience disbanded. In fact, Sophie tried a lot of things before she got signed on Polydor – even writing a book! Sophie is convinced, however, that the book is rubbish and did not publish it. Towards the end of the noughties, Sophie became the new face of Rimmel London alongside the legend, Kate Moss. She filmed two adverts which are now being aired in Europe and US. Her association with Rimmel dates back to her first solo tour, when they were one of the sponsors. She also acted in the short musical film “The Town that Boars Me” by photographer Ben Charles Edwards, alongside Jodie Harsh, Kelly Osbourne and Zandra Rhodes amongst others. Now, Ellis-Bextor is now a household name. She is associated with PETA and several other charitable and social movements. You will find her DJ-ing around town, or inaugurating Boat Shows and pop-up hotel-cum-beauty parlour soirées.

Sophie began recording songs again soon after her third album but then found herself pregnant. Instead of going on hiatus again, Sophie decided to continue recording and modelling even during her pregnancy. Two years after the second album, Sophie released a single with the Freemasons called “Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)” which went on to become quite a popular song. The single was released a little after the birth of her second baby boy, Kit Valentine. “Heartbreak” was initially a part of her Greatest Hits package, but recording sessions for the Hits album proved fruitful and Sophie found herself with a 4th album instead…she called it “Straight To The Heart” She worked with the cream in the pop industry – Calvin Harris, Greg Kurstin (of The Bird And The Bee), Richard X, Armin Van Buuren (who is voted the #1 DJ of the world), Liam Howe (of Sneaker Pimps), Ed Harcourt and Metronomy, to name a few. Although, high profile collaborations like these are not a rarity for Sophie. She has worked with several famous names in the past, including, Moby, Alex James (of Blur), Fred Schneider (of B-52′s), Richard Barone (of Bongos – he has a new album coming out Sept 2010), Gregg Alexander (of New Radicals), Roger Sanchez and many others. Sophie missed the opportunity of working with the Pet Shop Boys and Kaiser Chiefs due to time constraints and recording commitments.

Early in 2010, Sophie released another single called “Can’t Fight This Feeling” with upcoming French DJ Junior Caldera. The song was released only in France but received a whole lot of airplay across many countries in Europe. Eventually, she released her first single from the 4th album in mid 2010. “Bittersweet” which is regarded as a perfect pop song received great reviews from one and all, but sadly didn’t make it to the top 20 on the charts. The song got labelled as the “pop injustice of the year” by several fans, who predicted this to be Sophie’s career defining single.

It has been more than a decade now, and Sophie has proved to herself and the world that she is here to stay. Nobody makes indie-influenced-disco-pop music better than Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Her fourth album, “Straight To The Heart” is out later this year and she will go on tour in December. Now, she has a new single out with Armin Van Buuren called “Not Giving Up On Love”. Download your copy from iTunes or pre-order the CD Maxi now.

Picture Courtesy of SophieEllisBextor.net