Tanita Tikaram

Tikaram was born in Münster, Germany, the daughter of a Malaysian mother, Fatimah Rohani, and an Indo-Fijian father, Pramod Tikaram. Her father's military career meant that she spent her early life in Germany before moving to Basingstoke, Hampshire, England when she was in her early teens. She is the younger sister of the actor Ramon Tikaram and the great-niece of Sir Moti Tikaram, who was the first Lord Chief Justice of an independent Fiji and the world's longest-serving national ombudsman. She studied A-level politics, sociology and English at Queen Mary's College, Basingstoke: her final grades were AAB. She had a place at Manchester University to study English and American literature but left in order to follow her musical career. Tikaram started singing in nightclubs while she was still a teenager and came to the attention of WEA Records. Her debut album, Ancient Heart, produced by Rod Argent and Peter Van Hooke, was released in September 1988 when she was 19 years old. The album peaked at Number 3 in the United Kingdom, where it was certified Double Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. It also became an international hit and led to a world concert tour. The singles "Good Tradition" and "Twist In My Sobriety" were Top 10 hits in Europe, the latter accompanied by an award-winning sepia coloured video set in a rural village in the Bolivian Altiplano and directed by Gerard de Thame. The track was covered by Liza Minnelli for her 1989 album Results, produced by the Pet Shop Boys. Tikaram's second album, The Sweet Keeper, was released in 1990. While it also peaked at Number 3 in the UK, it was less successful than her debut, earning just a Gold disc. No singles from the album were Top 40 hits. Everybody's Angel followed in 1991, with Jennifer Warnes providing vocals on two tracks, including the lead single "Only The Ones We Love". On this album, Tikaram also co-produced for the first time. The album was less successful than her previous releases, peaking at Number 19 in the UK. 1992 saw the release of Eleven Kinds Of Loneliness. On this album she ceased collaborating with Argent and Van Hooke and produced the album entirely by herself. It was her worst seller yet, not charting at all in the UK. In 1995, she released Lovers in the City, which she co-produced with Thomas Newman. Again, the album was a commercial failure and in 1996 her contract with WEA was ended with the release of a best of compilation. She then signed to Mother Records. In 1998 she released The Cappuccino Songs, which was produced by Marco Sabiu. Again, commercial success eluded her, despite one of the singles off the album, "I Don't Wanna Lose At Love", being remixed by the Asian Dub Foundation. She then retired from the music scene for several years. In 2005, Tikaram released Sentimental. The album, which features two collaborations with Nick Lowe, was released on the French label, Naïve Records. Tikaram began recording her eighth studio album in 2010 in Los Angeles, California and released two "teasers" from the album on her website in June 2011. She played some "acoustic sessions" live dates in Europe from September to November 2011, her first tour in 10 years. Tikaram's eighth studio album, Can't Go Back, was released in September 2012. The first single, "Dust On My Shoes", was released digitally on 11 May 2012.