Shirlie Holliman
Encyclopedia
Shirlie Holliman is an English
former pop singer
, who found fame in the 1980s with Wham!
and as part of the duo Pepsi & Shirlie
.
One of five children born and raised on a council estate in Bushey
, near Watford
, Hertfordshire
, Holliman intended to train as a horse riding instructor. However, after she developed hay fever
at aged 18 and with nothing else to do, her then boyfriend Andrew Ridgeley
suggested she come and dance while he and his friend George Michael
's band did a local gig.
Holliman was never a band member of what became Wham!
, but, like her friend Dee C. Lee
, was paid on a per performance basis as backing singers, and continued to live with her parents. After Lee left to marry Paul Weller, she was replaced by "Pepsi" Demacque, and this duo performed on all the Wham! songs and concerts. As George Michael desired to create music targeted to a more sophisticated audience than Wham!'s primarily teenage fan base, the announcement of Wham!'s break-up was made in the spring of 1986, with a grand finale concert at Wembley Stadium on 28 June 1986, called The Final.
During their Wham! career, Holliman and Demacque decided to form their own act, named Pepsi & Shirlie
. Created immediately after the Wembley concert as an upbeat and more pop genre sound, they had two UK
Top Ten hits: "Heartache", which was produced by Phil Fearon
and Tambi Fernando, reaching #2 in the UK Singles Chart
behind the #1 hit of George Michael and Aretha Franklin
's I knew you were waiting, and "Goodbye Stranger", produced by Tambi Fernando and Pete Hammond, reached #9.
The hits dried up from 1988, and, as Holliman married Spandau Ballet
bassist and singer Martin Kemp, the duo naturally came to an end after the birth of her daughter. Holliman had met Kemp through mutual friends in the theatre
in 1980, and the pair married in St. Lucia in 1988. They have two children: daughter Harley Moon Kemp (born August 1989), and son Roman Kemp (born January 1993). Holliman and daughter Harley had brief roles together in the Spice Girls
video Mama
.
After Holliman took time out to care for her husband through his illness with brain tumours, she was declared bankrupt in September 1996, and the family moved from Hampstead Heath
to Muswell Hill
to allow Kemp to recover. This enabled Pepsi & Shirlie to return briefly in 2000 to record their backing vocals on the UK number one Geri Halliwell
hit Bag It Up
.
No longer active in pop music performance, Holliman now manages a business associated with music and entertainment production, Aegean.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
former pop singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, who found fame in the 1980s with Wham!
WHAM!
Wham! were a short-lived British musical duo formed by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in the early 1980s. They were briefly known in the United States as Wham! UK due to a naming conflict with an American band....
and as part of the duo Pepsi & Shirlie
Pepsi & Shirlie
Pepsi & Shirlie were a British pop duo who released two albums, All Right Now in 1987 and Change in 1991.-Career:The act comprised Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque and Shirlie Holliman , who had been Wham! backing vocalists. Holliman's original singing partner, Dee C...
.
One of five children born and raised on a council estate in Bushey
Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow.-History:...
, near Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, Holliman intended to train as a horse riding instructor. However, after she developed hay fever
Hay Fever
Hay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
at aged 18 and with nothing else to do, her then boyfriend Andrew Ridgeley
Andrew Ridgeley
Andrew John Ridgeley is an English former pop singer-songwriter, guitarist and environmentalist. Andrew was a member of the 1980s pop music duo Wham!.-Early life:...
suggested she come and dance while he and his friend George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
's band did a local gig.
Holliman was never a band member of what became Wham!
WHAM!
Wham! were a short-lived British musical duo formed by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in the early 1980s. They were briefly known in the United States as Wham! UK due to a naming conflict with an American band....
, but, like her friend Dee C. Lee
Dee C. Lee
Dee C. Lee is an English pop singer.-Career:Lee was a backing vocalist for the pop group Wham! in the early 1980s, but she left the group to work as a solo artist and also to join Paul Weller's band, The Style Council...
, was paid on a per performance basis as backing singers, and continued to live with her parents. After Lee left to marry Paul Weller, she was replaced by "Pepsi" Demacque, and this duo performed on all the Wham! songs and concerts. As George Michael desired to create music targeted to a more sophisticated audience than Wham!'s primarily teenage fan base, the announcement of Wham!'s break-up was made in the spring of 1986, with a grand finale concert at Wembley Stadium on 28 June 1986, called The Final.
During their Wham! career, Holliman and Demacque decided to form their own act, named Pepsi & Shirlie
Pepsi & Shirlie
Pepsi & Shirlie were a British pop duo who released two albums, All Right Now in 1987 and Change in 1991.-Career:The act comprised Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque and Shirlie Holliman , who had been Wham! backing vocalists. Holliman's original singing partner, Dee C...
. Created immediately after the Wembley concert as an upbeat and more pop genre sound, they had two UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Top Ten hits: "Heartache", which was produced by Phil Fearon
Phil Fearon
Phil Fearon is a British record producer. He was the lead singer, songwriter and keyboardist for the 1980s band Galaxy.-Career:...
and Tambi Fernando, reaching #2 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
behind the #1 hit of George Michael and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
's I knew you were waiting, and "Goodbye Stranger", produced by Tambi Fernando and Pete Hammond, reached #9.
The hits dried up from 1988, and, as Holliman married Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet are a British band formed in London in the late 1970s. Initially inspired by, and an integral part of, the New Romantic fashion, their music has featured a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synthpop. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s, achieving ten Top Ten singles...
bassist and singer Martin Kemp, the duo naturally came to an end after the birth of her daughter. Holliman had met Kemp through mutual friends in the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
in 1980, and the pair married in St. Lucia in 1988. They have two children: daughter Harley Moon Kemp (born August 1989), and son Roman Kemp (born January 1993). Holliman and daughter Harley had brief roles together in the Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
video Mama
Mama (Spice Girls song)
"Mama" is a song by British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the Spice Girls, Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, and produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album Spice, released in November 1996...
.
After Holliman took time out to care for her husband through his illness with brain tumours, she was declared bankrupt in September 1996, and the family moved from Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath is a large, ancient London park, covering . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London clay...
to Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated about north of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. Muswell Hill is in the N10 postal district and mostly in the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency.- History :The...
to allow Kemp to recover. This enabled Pepsi & Shirlie to return briefly in 2000 to record their backing vocals on the UK number one Geri Halliwell
Geri Halliwell
Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell is an English pop singer-songwriter, author and actress. After coming to international prominence in the late 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, Halliwell launched her solo career in 1998 and released her album Schizophonic...
hit Bag It Up
Bag It Up
"Bag It Up" is a pop–dance song recorded by Geri Halliwell. It was released on 13 March 2000 as the fourth and final single from Halliwell's debut solo album Schizophonic . It became Halliwell's third solo number one single in the United Kingdom selling 255,516 copies in total being certified Silver...
.
No longer active in pop music performance, Holliman now manages a business associated with music and entertainment production, Aegean.