Joan Armatrading biography

Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE (born 9 December 1950) is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She also received an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contemporary Song Collection in 1996.

In 2003, "Save Me" from Armatrading's self-titled album appeared in Season 6, Episode 7 of the prison drama OZ during a capital punishment scene.

On 30 November 2010, "This Charming Life" was played on the season finale of Sons of Anarchy, the hit television show on FX.

In 2011, "It Could Have Been Better" was featured in the British film Kill List. In February 2012, the song was also played in the opening sequence of the Burberry Prosum Autumn/Winter 2012 fashion show which was organized in London.

Armatrading's music is considered to be mostly pop with forays into rock, folk, jazz, blues, soul and even reggae.

Personal life

Armatrading is reluctant to discuss her personal life in interviews. In a 2003 interview with David Thomas of The Daily Telegraph, she said:

In addition to her music career, in 2001, after five years of studying, Armatrading gained a BA (Hons) degree in History from the Open University, of which she is now a trustee.

In April 2011, it was reported that Armatrading and her girlfriend Maggie Butler were to enter a civil partnership on 2 May 2011, in the Shetland Isles.