1. Sadenia "Eddi" Reader MBE was born on 29 August 1959 and is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known for her work as the lead vocalist of the folk and soft rock band Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career.
24 Facts About Eddi Reader
1. 2.
However, Eddi Reader returned to Glasgow to finish her compulsory schooling.
3.
Eddi Reader began playing the guitar at the age of ten, and started her musical career busking, first in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street, then in the early 1980s in London and around Europe.
4.
In 1984, Eddi Reader returned to the UK from Paris, where she had been working as a singer for the Romanian composer Vladimir Cosma.
5.
In November 1989, after a break, during which Eddi Reader had her first child, Charlie, with her French-Algerian partner Milou, arguments arose within the group, and Nevin abandoned a recording session for their second studio album, which eventually led to the break-up of the band.
6.
Eddi Reader returned to Scotland, but before she embarked on her solo career she took a temporary detour into acting.
7.
Eddi Reader played Jolene Jowett, a singer and accordionist, in John Byrne's Your Cheatin' Heart, a comedy-drama series for BBC Television, set in the country music scene in Scotland.
8.
In 1993, Eddi Reader was the presenter of BBC Scotland's No Stilettos, a music performance programme recorded in Glasgow.
9.
Eddi Reader's other acting credits include playing the part of Joy 3 from the Michael Boyd production of Janice Galloway's The Trick Is to Keep Breathing.
10.
Eddi Reader met Geoff Travis who signed her to Warner Bros.
11.
Eddi Reader contributed backing vocals to one of Big Country's final singles before Stuart Adamson's death, "Fragile Thing".
12.
In 2004, Eddi Reader sang at the re-opening of the new Scottish Parliament building, where she was presented to Queen Elizabeth II.
13.
Eddi Reader spent April 2006 touring Australia with Boo Hewerdine and Alan Kelly, following the release of St Clare's Night Out: Live at The Basement, with Australian acts such as David Hosking invited to open the concerts.
14.
In spring 2008, Eddi Reader was a special guest at the Hotel Cafe Tour hosted by Tom McRae.
15.
Eddi Reader performed re-arranged 1930s standards, with Jools Holland, with whom she had previously collaborated on the single "Waiting Game".
16.
In 2009, Eddi Reader released her ninth studio album, Love Is the Way, which was self-produced.
17.
In early 2010, Eddi Reader appeared on the Irish language album Ceol '10 Suil Siar, singing an Irish language version of the Fairground Attraction song "Perfect" called "Foirfe".
18.
In 2013, Eddi Reader married John Douglas, a songwriter and member of Trashcan Sinatras alongside her brother Frank.
19.
Eddi Reader has been an advocate for the Yes Scotland movement, campaigning for a Yes vote in the referendum for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.
20.
Eddi Reader has said she is "an egalitarian who believes in the autonomy of small nations, it's unconscionable that those who call people 'nationalists' for wanting their country to manage its own wealth, do not recognise the 'nationalistic' choice of supporting a 'BRITISH nation'".
21.
Eddi Reader said that, in reprisal for her advocacy for Scottish independence, Lord Steel of Aikwood said in a debate on Scottish independence in the House of Lords that Eddi Reader's work on Robert Burns was "murdering Burns' simple melodies".
22.
Eddi Reader is writing a book for publication about her great-uncle Seamus Eddi Reader, based on his extensive diaries.
23.
Eddi Reader was head of the Scottish Brigade of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, when the Irish War of Independence broke out in 1919, later becoming a founder of the abortive Scottish Republican Army, which attempted to replicate the Irish struggle in Scotland between the wars.
24.
The Robert Burns project saw Eddi Reader awarded an MBE for outstanding contributions to the arts in the New Year's honours list of 2006.