Sophie Zelmani (born 12 February 1972), later raised with the surname Edkvist, is a Swedish singer-songwriter who released her first single in 1995, called "Always You".
Sophie Zelmani | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Sophie Edkvist |
| Born | 12 February 1972 |
| Origin | Sweden |
| Genres | Adult alternative, folk |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Website | www |
Early life
editZelmani was born in the suburbs of Stockholm in 1972. Her father bought the family a guitar when Zelmani was 14.[1] Despite no professional music training,[1] Zelmani became a songwriter and recorded some songs at a local studio. After she mailed the demos to three record companies, Zelmani was offered a record deal by Sony Music Sweden.
Career
editSophie Zelmani[1] recorded her debut, eponymous album with Sony in 1995. The album was produced and arranged by Lars Halapi[2] and co-produced by Patrik Sventelius. She described the process of making the album: "In the beginning Lars and I spent a few months in the studio. We had fun and then picked the musicians. We recorded in two weeks but the whole thing took half a year."[3] By 1997, Zelmani's debut album had sold 200,000 copies in Europe and Asia Pacific, before moving to the US market, distributed by Columbia Records.[4] Zelmani said, "I had no ambitions to go abroad. I knew I wanted to make a record. That's all I wanted."[3] Columbia's marketing campaign included CD sampler giveaways, consumer press, and rotation on Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flights between Scandinavia and the US.[5]
Zelmani has continued to record albums while making only a small number of public appearances due to shyness.[1] She won a best newcomer award in Sweden's Grammy awards in 1996.[6]
In popular culture
editZelmani has also contributed music to the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson's Creek. Her cover of Bob Dylan's "Most of the Time" appears on the soundtrack to Masked and Anonymous.[7]
Her song "Stand By" appeared in the film Independence Day (1996). Her song "Always You" appeared in the film My Best Friend's Wedding (1997).
Zelmani's "Going Home" from Sing and Dance was covered in Mandarin Chinese as "乘客" (Passenger) and Cantonese as "花事了" (Withered Flower) by 王菲 (Faye Wong) in a 2003 album 将爱 (To Love).
Discography
editAlbums
edit| Year | Album | Peak positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [8] |
BEL (Fl) [9] |
BEL (Wa) [10] |
FR [11] |
GER | SWI [12] | ||
| 1995 | Sophie Zelmani | 4 | 27 | 27 | 48 | — | — |
| 1998 | Precious Burden | 11 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1999 | Time to Kill | 11 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2002 | Sing and Dance | 3 | — | — | — | — | 88 |
| 2003 | Love Affair | 2 | — | — | — | — | 33 |
| 2005 | A Decade of Dreams 1995-2005 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 65 |
| 2007 | Memory Loves You | 2 | — | — | — | 90 | 9 |
| 2008 | The Ocean and Me | 1 | — | — | — | — | 13 |
| 2010 | I'm the Rain | 3 | — | — | — | — | 21 |
| 2011 | Soul | 12 | — | — | — | — | 69 |
| 2014 | Going Home | 13 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2014 | Everywhere | 12 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2015 | Bright Eyes [EP] | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2017 | My Song | 8 [13] |
— | — | — | — | 54 |
| 2019 | Sunrise | 23 [14] |
— | — | — | — | — |
| 2022 | The World Ain't Pretty | 40 [15] |
— | — | — | — | — |
Singles
edit| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [8] | |||
| 1996 | "So Good" | 53 |
References
edit- ^ a b c d Scott, Matthew (11 February 2007). "Sophie Zelmani – Memory Loves You". South China Morning Post (retrieved from Factiva).
- ^ Sinclair, David (7 June 1996). "Gentle on my mind". The Times (retrieved from Factiva).
- ^ a b Jansen, Ara (22 August 1996). "Curtain up for Swede in search of a hobby". The West Australian (retrieved from Factiva).
- ^ "Global success begins at home". Music Business International (retrieved from Factiva). 1 February 1997.
- ^ Reece, Doug (14 December 1996). "New wave of Nordic bands looks to U.S. (Swedish bands)". Billboard (retrieved from Factiva).
- ^ Bream, Jon (15 November 1996). "Music: Sophie Zelmani". Star-Tribune Newspaper of the Twin Cities Mpls.-St. Paul.
- ^ Neff, Andrew (7 February 2004). "Oddball Dylan collection has curious flair". Bangor Daily News (retrieved from Factiva).
- ^ a b "Ola discography". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
- ^ "Ola discography". ultratop.be/nl/. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
- ^ "Ola discography". ultratop.be/fr/. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
- ^ "Ola discography". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
- ^ "Ola discography". hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
- ^ "Sverigetopplistan – Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 11 March 2017. Click on "Veckans albumlista".
- ^ "Sverigetopplistan – Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 23 March 2019. Click on "Veckans albumlista".
- ^ "Veckolista Album, vecka 39". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
External links
edit
- Official website
- For track listings (song titles are almost all in English) see Swedish Wikipedia