Sonia (singer)

Career

Music breakthrough

Sonia was signed to Chrysalis Records after badgering Pete Waterman to listen to her sing outside his recording studio in Liverpool. Sonia's debut single, "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You", composed and produced by the songwriting and music production trio Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman (Stock Aitken Waterman) was released in June 1989. "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You" peaked at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks the following month. At 18, Sonia became one of the youngest female British singers to achieve this feat. The single also topped the Irish chart and reached the top 10 of the US dance chart.

Sonia's debut album, Everybody Knows, was released in April 1990. The album peaked at number 7 in the UK, and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry. All five singles released from the album became top 20 hits in the UK, making Sonia the first British solo female artist to achieve this. Sonia achieved a sixth top 20 hit in the UK in 1990 with "You've Got a Friend", recorded with the group Big Fun, and released as a charity single for Childline.

Sonia left her record label and released her second, self-titled album in 1991, produced by Nigel Wright. The first single released from it, "Only Fools (Never Fall in Love)" became Sonia's third UK top 10 hit,) and Gulf Aid's "As Time Stood Still" in 1991.

In 1993, Sonia represented the United Kingdom in the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest, singing the Dean Collinson and Brian Teasdale composition "Better the Devil You Know". She was placed second in the contest. Her third album, also titled Better the Devil You Know was released that year and reached number 32 in the UK.

Theatre and acting

Prior to her music career, around 1988, Evans appeared as an extra in Channel 4's soap opera Brookside, and also appeared in an episode of the BBC1 situation comedy Bread, where she played Ellia, a short-term girlfriend of Adrian Boswell, in episode 11 of series 4. In 1990, Sonia co-hosted children's game show The Wetter the Better as a scoreboard person with main quizmaster Ross King, which was part of the Saturday morning children's magazine show 8:15 from Manchester.

In 1993, Sonia made her theatre debut in the musical Slice of Saturday Night, alongside Dennis Waterman. The following year she replaced singer Debbie Gibson as Sandy in a West End revival of Grease, where she stayed for a year. A cover of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was released as a tie-in single, but it only peaked at number 61 in the UK.

In 1997, she returned to the stage on the musical What A Feeling!, which also included fellow 1980s stars Luke Goss and Sinitta. An accompanying soundtrack album was released.

She has also played alongside Lily Savage as her wayward daughter Bunty Savage, both on the BBC series The Lily Savage Show and live shows.

In 2003, Sonia appeared in the ITV1 reality show Reborn in the USA, where former pop stars including Leee John from the band Imagination, Michelle Gayle, Gina G, Elkie Brooks and pop duo Dollar performed American hits. The show saw the artists touring America and each week one artist was eliminated from the show. Sonia came sixth out of the nine participants.

In January 2007, she starred in the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk as Jack in Horsham, West Sussex, alongside Mark Curry. Sonia also starred in the pantomime Cinderella in December 2010 / January 2011 as the Wicked Queen Edwina at the Stiwt Theatre in Wrexham, North Wales, alongside Big Brother star Dale Howard.

Recent career

In 2008, Sonia recorded a cover of the Beatles' "She Loves You" for the Liverpool – The Number Ones Album. On 1 June 2009, Sonia released her first single in 14 years, "Fool for Love".

On 21 December 2012, Sonia performed at the Stock Aitken Waterman "Hit Factory Live" reunion concert at The O2 in London, along with many other former SAW acts, including Kylie Minogue. In summer 2018, in conjunction with her appearance in the Channel 5 program Celebrity 5 Go Caravanning, Sonia's recording of "Dancing in the Driver's Seat", written by Barry Upton and Gordon Pogoda, was released. Another song recorded with Upton and Pogoda in 2007, "Your Heart or Mine", was released in 2018 as its follow-up. Sonia signed a new record deal with Energise Records in 2019, and a new single, "A Night That's Never Ending", was released.

She appeared on series 5 of Hacker Time. In 2018, Sonia appeared alongside Todd Carty, Tony Blackburn, Colin Baker and Sherrie Hewson in Channel 5's Celebrity 5 Go Caravanning. Sonia made a guest appearance as herself in Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, in 2023.

Sonia was a prominent advocate and supporter for Liverpool's bid to host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. The city was announced as the winner in October 2022, beating the largest city in Scotland, Glasgow, who finished runner up. Ahead of the 2023 contest, Sonia was a prominent feature in the promotion of the contest being held in Liverpool, including a "Spot Sonia" competition held throughout the city, giving the public a chance to win tickets to the contest. During the Grand Final, Sonia performed her 1993 UK Eurovision entry "Better the Devil You Know" as the interval act.

In 2024, it was announced that Sonia was cast as a special guest in the musical theatre production Now! That's What I Call a Musical which was directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood. She featured as the sole special guest star on the Scottish dates of the production at the King's Theatre in Glasgow between 18–22 February 2025. Sonia did not feature as the guest in some of the dates, instead, singer Sinitta was cast as the special guest for some performances.

Personal life

Sonia married Mark Moses in 1998 and the couple have a daughter, who was born in 2010.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations

Box sets

Singles

References

References

1. "biography". Soniaontheweb.com.
2. "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 55: We Should Be Dancing to Use It Up And Wear It Out on Apple Podcasts".
3. "BPI > Certified Awards > Search results for Sonia". [[British Phonographic Industry]].
4. "Official Charts > Band Aid II". Official Charts Company.
5. "Better the Devil You Know". Esctoday.com.
6. Miles, Tina. (16 May 2009). "Eurovision was wonderful for me, says Liverpool singer Sonia". [[Liverpool Echo]].
7. (22 December 2012). "Cheers and groans as Kylie and Jason put in a shift at reopened Hit Factory". The Guardian.
8. "BBC iPlayer – Channel Schedule – CBBC – Saturday 6 January 2018".
9. (7 October 2022). "Eurovision 2023: Liverpool beats Glasgow to be song contest host city".
10. (5 May 2023). "Sonia is Spot On for Eurovision!".
11. "Sonia - Liverpool Songbook {{!}} Grand Final {{!}} Eurovision 2023 #UnitedByMusic 🇺🇦🇬🇧".
12. (17 June 2024). "Sonia".
13. "NOW That's What I Call A Musical".
14. "Sonia Joins The Cast Of NOW That's What I Call A Musical At The Kings, Glasgow".
15. (5 September 2024). "Craig Revel Horwood, Sinitta, Sonia, Carol Decker and more take us back to the ’80s with NOW That’s What I Call A Musical".
16. "Sonia Interview 2013". Sonia on the web.
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20. "irishcharts.ie > Search results for 'Sonia' (from irishcharts.ie)". Fireball Media, via Imgur.com.
21. "dutchcharts.nl > Sonia in Dutch Charts". Hung Medien.
22. "norwegiancharts.com > Sonia in Norwegian Charts". Hung Medien.
23. "charts.nz > Sonia in New Zealand Charts". Hung Medien.
24. "hitparade.ch > Suchen nach: Sonia (Songs)". Hung Medien.
25. "Billboard > Sonia Chart History > Dance Club Songs".