Geneviève Alison Jane Moyet was born in Billericay, Essex, in June 1961 and grew up in Basildon with a strict French father.
After leaving Basildon Nicholas Comprehensive School, she became involved in a number of punk and pub rock bands in the Essex area (including The Vandals, The Vicars, and The Screaming AbDabs) while trying her hand at a hairdressing apprenticeship, a stint in a Romford record shop, a course at the London College of Furniture, training as a piano restorer and a spell at Southend Tech studying music.
At the age of 20, Moyet joined with former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke to form synthpop duo Yazoo (known in the US as Yaz due to trademark issues with Yazoo Records).
Yazoo had several hits, including Only You (#2), Don’t Go (#3), The Other Side of Love (#13) and Nobody’s Diary (#3) – and recorded two albums, Upstairs at Eric’s and You and Me Both – before the pair broke up the partnership in 1983, with Clarke resurfacing in Erasure.
Moyet released her debut solo album Alf (titled after her punk-era nickname) in 1984.
The album was a hit in Britain, reaching #1 in the album chart and producing three hit singles: Love Resurrection (#10), Invisible (#21) and All Cried Out (#8).
She also released a cover of the standard That Ole Devil Called Love as a non-album single, which reached #2 on the UK Chart.
Another big UK hit came the following year with Is This Love? followed in 1987 by her second LP, Raindancing, which produced further hit singles, including Weak in the Presence of Beauty and Ordinary Girl. In 1987, she hit the #4 chart spot with the single Love Letters.
Hoodoo was released in 1991 and Moyet was nominated for a Grammy for the single It Won’t Be Long.
Spending much of the 1990s in legal wrangles with her then record company Sony, Moyet’s fortunes were subsequently buoyed by, of all things, the theatre. In 2001 she appeared in Chicago in London’s West End, and in 2006 she starred alongside Dawn French in the play Smaller.
Alison Moyet was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to music.
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