Sophie B. Hawkins

Biography

Sophie Ballantine Hawkins (born November 1, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New York City, she attended the Manhattan School of Music for a year as a percussionist before leaving to pursue a music career. In the 1990s, she achieved critical and commercial success with her first two albums, producing a string of single hits including "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover×Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover7 May 1992 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover (radio edit)4:172Don’t Stop Swaying5:283Listen3:31", "Right Beside You×Right Beside You1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Right Beside You (album version)4:482Right Beside You (radio 7" mix)4:123Right Beside You (Classic club mix)5:574Right Beside You (Hard Floor mix)5:315The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty5:06", and "As I Lay Me Down×As I Lay Me Down1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1As I Lay Me Down4:102Before I Walk On Fire (Live Version)4:153Right Beside You (Demo Version)4:044Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover (Live Version)4:41". A dispute with her record label Sony Music over her third album, Timbre×Timbre20 July 1999 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Strange Thing3:532No Connection4:49332 Lines5:034Mmm My Best Friend4:415Bare the Weight of Me4:306Nocturne4:087The Darkest Childe5:548I Walk Alone4:139Your Tongue Like the Sun in My Mouth5:4410Lose Your Way4:0411Help Me Breathe5:4312The One You Have Not Seen6:10, led her to establish her own independent label, Trumpet Swan Productions, which has published her subsequent recordings.
Hawkins is a long-time supporter of animal rights and environmental causes. She is also a social and political activist, supporting events promoting women in music and LGBTQ rights.

Career

Hawkins's debut album, Tongues and Tails×Tongues and Tails7 April 1992 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover5:232California Here I Come4:393Mysteries We Understand4:414Saviour Child4:465Carry Me4:366I Want You5:207Before I Walk on Fire4:598We Are One Body4:509Listen3:3210Live and Let Love4:1311Don't Stop Swaying5:29, was released in 1992. It achieved both worldwide commercial success and critical acclaim, earning her a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist in 1993. The single "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover×Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover7 May 1992 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover (radio edit)4:172Don’t Stop Swaying5:283Listen3:31" went to number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the US and was also a Top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at number 14. Hawkins was asked to perform Bob Dylan's "I Want You×I Want You1992 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1I Want You4:232Live and Let Love4:163Carry Me4:36", which she had covered on Tongues and Tails, for the 1992 Madison Square Garden concert honoring Dylan's 30th anniversary as a musician; this was later released as The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration, but her performance was omitted.
Whaler, her second album, was released in 1994. Produced by Stephen Lipson, it also contained a US top 10 hit, "As I Lay Me Down×As I Lay Me Down1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1As I Lay Me Down4:102Before I Walk On Fire (Live Version)4:153Right Beside You (Demo Version)4:044Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover (Live Version)4:41", and was certified gold. Three singles from the album made the UK Top 40, including "Right Beside You×Right Beside You1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Right Beside You (album version)4:482Right Beside You (radio 7" mix)4:123Right Beside You (Classic club mix)5:574Right Beside You (Hard Floor mix)5:315The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty5:06", which peaked at number 13. The same year, Hawkins posed nude for Interview. As she explained to Ed Rampell in an interview for Q magazine, she met the photographer, Bruce Weber, and was asked if she would do a photoshoot with him. While she had provided her own clothes, Weber deliberately had her wear an unflattering dress as part of his plan to convince Hawkins to disrobe during the shoot.
A 1998 documentary by Gigi Gaston, The Cream Will Rise, followed Hawkins during one of her tours and captured her struggle to deal with past troubles with her family, including her mother and brother. Music by Hawkins was included throughout the film.
Also in 1998, Hawkins's record company, Sony Music, delayed the release of her third album. Its executives were unhappy with the finished product and wanted Hawkins to rework some of the material. In particular, they insisted that Hawkins remove a banjo track from one of the songs. Unwilling to compromise her artistic integrity, Hawkins refused to accommodate them. After a lengthy battle between Hawkins and the company, the album, Timbre×Timbre20 July 1999 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Strange Thing3:532No Connection4:49332 Lines5:034Mmm My Best Friend4:415Bare the Weight of Me4:306Nocturne4:087The Darkest Childe5:548I Walk Alone4:139Your Tongue Like the Sun in My Mouth5:4410Lose Your Way4:0411Help Me Breathe5:4312The One You Have Not Seen6:10, was eventually released in 1999, though Sony declined to promote it. Hawkins subsequently left the label and founded her own label, Trumpet Swan Productions. In 2001, Timbre was re-released on Hawkins's label, now as a two-disc set that contained new songs, demos, remixes, and videos. Her first independently recorded and released album, Wilderness×Wilderness2004 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Beautiful Girl3:412Open Up Your Eyes3:253Meet Me on a Rooftop3:374Walking on Thin Ice4:035Blue4:026Sweetsexywoman4:387Surfer Girl3:028Adrian3:229Soul Lover3:4110Angel of Darkness3:5611You Make Me High3:2512Feelin’ Good5:2313Soul Lover (Infinite Space mix)6:47, was released in 2004.
In 2012, Hawkins starred as Janis Joplin in the play, Room 105, which was written and directed by her longtime girlfriend and manager, Gigi Gaston. After another long hiatus, she released her fifth album of all-new material in 2012, titled The Crossing×The Crossing15 June 2012 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 17 tracks1Betchya Got a Cure for Me3:212Sinnerman3:033The Land the Sea and the Sky4:154Georgia3:585Missing3:066Heart and Soul of a Woman4:027Life Is a River4:408Miles Away3:009I Don't Need You5:2710Gone Baby6:0011A Child3:5112Dream St & Chance3:4713Red Bird4:3414Betchya Got a Cure for Me (long)4:1415Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover (acoustic)4:4016Missing (original demo)3:2617As I Lay Me Down (acoustic)3:30.
On April 4, 2013, Hawkins appeared as herself on the TV series Community in the episode "Herstory of Dance", performing "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" and "As I Lay Me Down" during the community college's "Sophie B. Hawkins Dance," so named because the character “Britta” confused her with Susan B. Anthony in an attempt to compete with a Sadie Hawkins Dance.
In 2019, Hawkins completed a sold-out tour around the U.S.; the same year she also appeared on the German TV show Night Grooves, singing several songs, discussing her past, and showing off her drumming talent.

Personal life

Hawkins has two children, Dashiell (b. 2008) and Esther Ballantine (b. 2015). Esther had been conceived 20 years earlier and frozen as an embryo.
In an interview with Howard Stern, Hawkins said that she identified as omnisexual. Although there were rumors she had dated Martina Navratilova and Jodie Foster, she denied those, saying, "I've never met any of the women I'm supposed to have had affairs with."
In 2012, Hawkins and Gigi Gaston shared a house in Venice, California.

Politics

In August 2007, Hawkins headlined the first Los Angeles Women's Music Festival in support of its dual agenda of supporting animal rescue groups and promoting and supporting female musicians. Hawkins is a long-time supporter of animal rights.
In February 2008, Hawkins re-recorded her song "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover×Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover7 May 1992 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover (radio edit)4:172Don’t Stop Swaying5:283Listen3:31" as "Damn, We Wish You Were President" in support of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Hawkins also wrote in her blog, "Hillary Clinton's achievements come from her heart. She has initiated so much positive change for families, children, victims of crime and the environment in her struggle for the forward movement of America and the working people of this nation."
In May 2010, Hawkins began supporting Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization of on-the-water advocates who patrol and protect more than 100,000 miles of rivers, streams and coastlines in North and South America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. She donated all of the proceeds of her single "The Land, the Sea, and the Sky" to the organization.
In February 2011, Hawkins performed at the Big Gay Party event staged by GOProud, an organization of gay conservatives, as part of the year's Conservative Political Action Conference festivities. In an after-show interview in the reason.tv documentary "Liberal in Bed, Conservative in the Head: Sophie B. Hawkins", Hawkins gave her views on issues such as gun ownership, the free market, limited government and identity politics.
In 2017, Hawkins lent her voice in support of LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization The Trevor Project's 20th Anniversary celebration video campaign.