Rumer

Rumer's family lived there from 1977 to 1984 while her British father was contracted as Chief Engineer of the Tarbela Dam Project.

Her parents split and her Streatham-born mother moved back to England with Rumer and her siblings.

Sarah Joyce (born 3 June 1979), better known by her stage name, Rumer, is a Pakistan-born British singer-songwriter.

Rumer, the seventh of eight children, was born in 1979 in Tarbela Dam, Pakistan.

Rumer moved to Carlisle aged 11 and attended Newman Catholic School, where she won the school's annual talent show in 1994.

Rumer became fascinated with the work of Judy Garland at a young age, and sought solace from difficulties at home and school by listening to artists such as Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman.

She was encouraged by her musical family, who all played instruments and played in their local Catholic church.

This began her interest in becoming a performer.

Rumer later discovered her biological father was the family's Pakistani cook, with whom her mother had had an affair when living in Pakistan.

Under the name of Sarah Prentice, Sarah sang with a moderately successful London-based folk/indie band called La Honda between 2000 and 2001.

While her mother was dying of breast cancer in 2001, she asked Rumer to make the journey to Pakistan to search for her real father, with her mother reportedly saying "I want to leave this planet with my house in order".

She discovered on arriving he had only recently died in a freak accident.

Rumer briefly attended the drama course at Dartington College of Arts, in Devon before dropping out, moving to London at 18 and getting a job as a waitress.

In 2004, she formed the band Rumer & The Denials and released an early version of "Come To Me High" on 7" in 2007. Their Myspace page, now closed, included an acoustic recording of "Slow", which was included on the compilation album A Very Magistery Valentine. A collection of material was recorded in 2008 with Rory Moore under the name Stereo Venus. This was aimed at television and film and was originally distributed in Europe. An album was released in 2012 entitled Close to the Sun and the band played support for Saint Etienne. The material was also released under her real name, Sarah Joyce in South Korea in April 2010 as Coffee And Honey.

Her debut album, Seasons of My Soul, released in 2010, peaked on the UK Charts at #3, was certified platinum in 2013 having sold over one million copies, and was listed at #26 in the Official Top 40 Biggest Debut Albums of the Decade in 2019.

Rumer's voice has been described by The Guardian and many others as being reminiscent of Karen Carpenter.

Her stage name was inspired by the author Rumer Godden.

Rumer's debut album Seasons of My Soul was released on 1 November 2010, produced by her mentor, British composer Steve Brown.

Her debut single, "Slow", was featured on Smooth FM, and the single "Aretha" on BBC Radio 2's Record of the Week feature, and she is signed to Atlantic Records.

She supported Jools Holland on his UK tour in the Autumn of 2010 which included a performance at the Albert Hall in London.

Rumer received a personal note from Richard Carpenter regarding her debut album, "You not only sing beautifully," writes Carpenter, "but what you've created is actually musical, something that has been in short supply in recent years. The fact that the album is a sales success as well is reassuring to me, as I still firmly believe that if the public is exposed to music that is natural and of high quality, they will respond positively. Congratulations".

After Burt Bacharach invited Rumer to his California home to hear her sing, Atlantic Records released Rumer Sings Bacharach at Christmas on 13 December 2010.

It featured "Some Lovers" from the musical Gift of the Magi by Bacharach and Steven Sater.

A limited edition 7-inch vinyl version was also released with a cover personally designed by Rumer.

Supported by leading music industry figures including Burt Bacharach, Elton John, Carly Simon, and Jools Holland, Rumer was nominated for two Brit awards on 13 January 2011.

Rumer also contributed to a memorial concert to film composer, John Barry, which took place on 20 June 2011 at the Royal Albert Hall in London where the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Dame Shirley Bassey, David Arnold, Wynne Evans, trumpeter Derek Watkins and others performed Barry's music.

Rumer performed the John Barry/Hal David song "We Have All the Time in the World" accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Dodd.

She recorded the track "I Believe in You" for the end credits to Johnny English Reborn, released in October 2011.

Boys Don't Cry, released in 2012, peaked on the UK Charts at #3.

She has performed at several festivals such as Glastonbury Festival.

In January 2012 she started her first American tour in Los Angeles.

A multi-national Facebook fan group, "Rumer Worldwide Fans", was founded by a fan in San Francisco on 25 January 2012.

Rumer's second album Boys Don't Cry was released on 28 May 2012.

It contains a selection of songs by male artists and writers from the 70s and 80s period.

Covers of songs by artists such as Todd Rundgren, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Neil Young and Terry Reid were chosen to mirror the solace and anguish Rumer experienced since achieving success and fame (BBC Music review).

The majority of Boys Don't Cry was recorded at the same time as, or before Seasons of My Soul, but two weeks before the deadline Rumer and Steve Brown irreparably fell out.

Rumer sought urgent help to finish the record and enlisted family friend Jennie Muskett, a notable film and TV composer to step in and help realise her vision in Steve's absence.

Her album This Girl's in Love (A Bacharach & David Songbook) was released in November 2016.

Seasons of My Soul, peaked on the UK Charts at #3, was listed at #26 in the Official Top 40 Biggest Debut Albums of the Decade in 2019, and was certified platinum in 2013 having sold over one million copies.

In August 2020, she released her fifth album, Nashville Tears (The Songs of Hugh Prestwood).