Shakespear's Sister

Shakespear's Sister was a band consisting of Siobhan Fahey and Marcella Detroit. The band formed in 1988, the same year that Fahey left Bananarama, and are named after The Smiths song. Detroit exited the band in 1993, and Fahey admitted herself into a psychiatric unit with severe depression.

Related Topics:
Band - Siobhan Fahey - Marcella Detroit - 1988 - Bananarama - The Smiths - 1993 - Depression

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Detroit was tall, with a soprano voice, while Fahey was petite, with an alto voice; the opposite of what one might expect on seeing them, and it lent a novelty to their performances.

Related Topics:
Soprano - Alto

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It should be noted that the term "Shakespeare's Sister" predates the Smith's song. The name was first and foremost a section of the Virginia Woolf work, A Room of One's Own. This feminist essay explores the notion of whether a woman (say, for example, the sister of a famous playwright) has the same opportunities as a man to write and produce quality artistic work.

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The band's single "Stay" is Sister's best known work, achieving number one in both the UK (for eight weeks) and Ireland singles charts. It was their highest entry in the UK charts, being the only time they entered the top five. The single also became their biggest US hit, reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1992.

Related Topics:
UK - Ireland - Billboard Hot 100

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They released the albums Sacred Heart and Hormonally Yours, the latter recorded at Friar Park, in George Harrison's home studio.

Related Topics:
Album - Friar Park - George Harrison

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Fahey recorded #3 as a solo album, but under pressure from London Records, it was to be issued as the third Shakespears Sister album. After the first single "I Can Drive" barely scraped the UK Top 30, the album was shelved by the label. After years of legal wrangling, Fahey was eventually given the rights to the album, and in 2004 it was finally given a proper release, exclusively through Fahey's website (much to the pleasure of fans who had to settle for substandard bootleg copies of the recording for over a decade).

Related Topics:
London Records - 2004 - Bootleg

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A greatest hits CD/DVD retrospective was also released in 2004, containing all of the group's singles and videos, as well as tracks intended for the #3 album.

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