Sam Obernik

A constant presence on the U.K. dance music scene, singer/songwriter Sam Obernik has been an in-demand guest vocalist for some of the genre's biggest names since the early noughties. Born and raised in Ireland, Obernik began her career performing <a href="spotify:artist:5a2EaR3hamoenG9rDuVn8j">Prince</a>, the <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">Rolling Stones</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5TnuP42pw475UrjjeabtwZ">the Waterboys</a>' songs on the streets of Dublin with <a href="spotify:artist:6lyku6lhbB3tLc3Dghs5CM">the Frames</a>' Oscar-winning vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:3Caot8EtHX6wLpNF2wRzS0">Glen Hansard</a>. After failing to land a role in Alan Parker's The Commitments, she moved to Los Angeles, where she auditioned for <a href="spotify:artist:7gcCQIlkkfbul5Mt0jBQkg">Dave Stewart</a>'s band and toured with <a href="spotify:artist:6xnvNmSzmeOE1bLKnYXKW3">the Specials</a>' <a href="spotify:artist:0b5EqFBUKekB0M1YRlmwUo">Terry Hall</a> before returning to the U.K. to start a family. In the late '90s she fronted her own eponymous vaudeville band, which gained a cult following in London venues like Water Rats and The Garage, and in 2002, she received her commercial breakthrough, providing guest vocals for <a href="spotify:artist:7mEVrXcsq3PjsKT3BXnhp0">Tim Deluxe</a>'s number 11 hit "It Just Won't Do." A solo deal with Warner East West Records followed, but the label folded just a month before her debut album, Stellify, was due to be released. Undeterred, she appeared on another Top 40 club anthem, <a href="spotify:artist:2Z2vCxBRifnTtywSciipHy">Linus Loves</a>' "Stand Back," and teamed up with <a href="spotify:artist:4RVnAU35WRWra6OZ3CbbMA">Kylie Minogue</a> producer <a href="spotify:artist:3Z4upWAYNbhzajBxPMsLJS">Tommy D</a> to record a collection of jazz-pop reworkings of dancefloor fillers, under the guise of Barefoot. In 2008, she scored her third chart entry with "Baditude," a collaboration with DJs <a href="spotify:artist:5PzvgD5FRnWpc5fGOLoNVO">Dave Spoon</a> and Paul Harris, and has since continued to appear on several other dance-pop singers' work, including <a href="spotify:artist:7vb7VLDqpLTlAy1ctTMR5d">Alex Gaudino</a>'s and <a href="spotify:artist:2hSWsXrlPQqshm4SFizxiU">Redroche</a>'s. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi