Charlotte Hatherley

Charlotte Hatherley
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Indie, Pop
Years active	1997–2006 (As a member of Ash) 2004-present (Solo)
Label(s)	Double Dragon Music 2004-2006 Little Sister Records 2007-present
Associated acts	Ash Nightnurse
Website	Official Site Official MySpace

Charlotte Hatherley (born Charlotte Franklin Hatherley, 20 June 1979, London) is an English singer, guitarist and sometime bassist and pianist. She is best known as being the former guitarist for Ash and has since found success as a solo artist.

Biography

Hatherley was brought up in West London and attended Chiswick Community School. Her music career began aged sixteen, when she played in obscure British punk band Nightnurse. Nightnurse was formed by Ellyot Dragon after her former band Sister George broke up - Hatherley later said that Dragon taught her how to be a rock star. Ash frontman Tim Wheeler was present at a Nightnurse gig and thought Hatherley would be a welcome addition to Ash. Her first appearance with Ash was at the Limelight club in Belfast in the summer of 1997, making her recording debut with the band later that year on the single "A Life Less Ordinary" and then on 1998's album Nu-Clear Sounds. Hatherley was credited with writing for a handful of Ash's songs, the most notable being "Grey Will Fade", a B-side on the single "There's a Star". The song was a cult favourite among fans, and eventually would become the title track for Hatherley's debut solo album. It was during the period of recording the album Meltdown with Ash that Hatherley began to record her own album Grey Will Fade simultaneously, fully encouraged by the rest of the band. From the album she has released the singles "Bastardo", "Kim Wilde" and "Summer", which all, as well as the album itself, have received high praise from critics. On 20 January 2006, it was announced that Hatherley would be leaving Ash in an amicable breakup. This decision was likely to be based on Hatherley's intention to pursue her solo career further^[1], although it is likely that she was asked to leave by the remaining three members ^[2].

Charlotte Hatherley, supporting Blondie, Thetford Forrest, UK

Charlotte's second album, The Deep Blue was released on 5 March 2007. It was preceded by two singles, firstly the "Behave" EP in December (which was available as a download and on limited 7". It contains four tracks, the title track and its remix, and two new songs, "Mr. Ed" and "Cousteau"). The second single "I Want You To Know" was released in February, along with an accompanying UK and Ireland tour. Since then she has released two more singles, "Siberia" and "Again" which failed to chart as highly as their predecessors. In 2007, Hatherley also toured with Blondie in the UK, played guitar for Bryan Ferry, as well as temporarily joined Client in November as bass player on their European tour. With Client she is known as Client C.

Personal Life

Hatherley is the ex-girlfriend of film director Edgar Wright, who is best known for Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. He directed videos for two of her singles: "Summer" and "Bastardo". Her mother Patricia Franklin, also appeared in Shaun of the Dead as the woman referred to as the "cockocidal maniac" by Nick Frost's character Ed. Hatherley's sister is Beatrice Hatherley, bassist for Zoot Woman.

Solo discography

Albums

Singles

Trivia

• She is credited on the UK DVD of Shaun of the Dead in the bonus features for taking photographs of the crew.
• She appears in the much hyped film Slashed as herself being hunted by an axe-wielding demon.

Notes and references

1. ^ NME.com: Charlotte Hatherley quits Ash
2. ^ http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/videos/article/1157148104807?packedargs=suffix%3DSubSectionArticle])

External links

• Charlotte Hatherley's home page
• Charlotte's Official Myspace