{{short description|Irish singer, songwriter, and musician (born 1963)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{More footnotes needed|date=April 2021}}{{Infobox musical artist <!-- For individuals; see Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians --> | name = Suzanne Rhatigan | image = | alt = | caption = | image_size = | background = solo_singer | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1963}} | birth_place = Dublin, Ireland | death_date = | origin = | instrument = | genre = | occupation = {{hlist|Singer|songwriter}} | years_active = | label = Stock, Aitken and Waterman | associated_acts = Rhatigan | website = {{URL|suzannerhatigan.com}} }}

'''Suzanne Rhatigan''' (born 1963) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician.

==Career== Born and raised in Dublin<ref name="Strong">Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Suzanne Rhatigan", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate Books, {{ISBN|1-84195-335-0}}</ref> where she learned to sing and play the guitar, Rhatigan began her career as a teenager playing with several Irish bands before moving to London in the early 1980s. During that period, she found steady work as a session singer with Stock, Aitken and Waterman Records, learned the piano, and began working on her own material. As 'Kerri Wells' she sang in the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985, placing 7th.

In 1990, she began dating Craig Charles and had a guest appearance alongside him in a Series Four episode of the sci-fi TV series ''Red Dwarf'' (Season 4, Episode 1: "Camille") which was first broadcast in February 1991.

===Solo album=== Later in 1991, she signed a contract with Imago records to record a solo album. Entitled ''To Hell With Love'', the album consisted of twelve tracks, mostly written by Rhatigan and Charles with some contribution from other writers. The album was produced by Fred Maher, who also played percussion, and the backing band included Matthew Sweet (bass), Robert Quine (guitar), Bernie Worrell (keyboards), Matt Backer (guitar), and Drew Vogelman (drums), among others. The title track was released as a single, complete with music video, early in 1992 and Rhatigan performed it live on an episode of ''Later... With Jools Holland''. The full album was released later that year, followed by a second single, ''Open Up''. In 1993 a third single ''Indian Summer'' was released, but Imago records ceased trading shortly afterwards, stalling her career. Her relationship with Charles ended soon after.

===Rhatigan=== She re-emerged in 1995 as the lead singer and guitarist of the punk pop trio ''Rhatigan'', alongside John Morrison (who also played in Hefner) on bass guitar and Brynn Burrows (later replaced by Paul Murphy) on drums. The band had a four-year residency at London's 12 Bar Club on Denmark Street, and Suzanne Rhatigan's night attracted many small bands early in their development, such as Kings of Convenience, the Clientele, Hefner, and Turin Brakes. In 1996, the band released a twelve track album entitled ''Late Developer''. In 1998, the band recorded a seven track mini-album entitled ''Big Stick'' which had no commercial release and was sold directly to fans at performances.

In 2012, their song ''Me'' was covered by former collaborator Antony Harding for the Audio Antihero charity album "Some.Alternate.Universe. for FSID".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://audioantihero.bandcamp.com/album/audio-antihero-presents-some-alternate-universe-for-fsid |title=Audio Antihero Presents: 'Some.Alternate.Universe' for The Lullaby Trust (FSID) |publisher=Audio Antihero |date= |accessdate=2019-04-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.antpop.com/biography.htm |title=The complete discography of Antony Harding |access-date=3 October 2016 |archive-date=6 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906113702/http://www.antpop.com/biography.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Albums==== * ''Late Developer'' (1996) Org * ''Big Stick'' mini-album (1998) Cushy Productions

====Singles, EPs==== * Split EP with Pura Vida (1996) Org * "Happy" (1996) Org * ''DIY CD'' EP (1999) Cushy Productions

===2010s=== In early 2013, Suzanne guested on the "Sisters of St. Anthony" single by Jack Hayter (ex-Hefner), released on Audio Antihero.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://audioantihero.bandcamp.com/track/sisters-of-st-anthony-feat-suzanne-rhatigan |title=Sisters of St. Anthony (feat. Suzanne Rhatigan) |publisher=Audio Antihero |date= |accessdate=2019-04-29}}</ref> To mark her 50th birthday Suzanne started her [http://www.suzannerhatigan.com/blog/ 50 Greatest Misses Blog] uploading songs and stories of her adventures and misadventures in the music industry. Between 2012 and 2014, she uploaded much of her previously released work to music sharing site [https://suzannerhatigan.bandcamp.com/ bandcamp.]

==Solo discography== * "To Hell With Love" Imago (1992, MC single) * "Open Up" Imago (1992, CD single) ("Open Up"/"Daddy"/"Finally Come Around") * ''To Hell With Love'' Imago (1992, CD album) * "Indian Summer" Imago (1993, CD single) ("Indian Summer" ''(Radio Edit)''/"Learning to Cry"/"Crosstown Traffic" ''(J.Hendrix) (2 meter session)'') * "Sisters of St. Anthony" with Jack Hayter Audio Antihero (2013, Digital Single) *"Before and After* Bandcamp (2013 CD single) (2 track Christmas Single) ("Time To Put Things Right"/"Spinner Of Years Acoustic Version")

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== * {{cite magazine|title=Album Reviews – To Hell with Love by Suzanne Rhatigan|last1=Newman|first1=Melinda|last2=Morris|first2=Chris|last3=Morris|first3=Edward|magazine=Billboard|date=Jun 6, 1992|volume=104|issue=23|page=45|quote=...compelling debut with wide ranging release...}} * {{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/15/arts/reviews-rock-singer-working-the-territory-of-irish-soul.html|title=Reviews/Rock; Singer Working The Territory Of Irish Soul|date=July 15, 1992|work=The New York Times|page=C14|first=Jon|last=Pareles}} Reviews a performance by Rhatigan in New York City at Tilt. * {{cite news|title=Quick Fixes—To Hell with Love by Suzanne Rhatigan|work=Stereo Review|date=Sep 1992|volume=57|issue=9|page=86}}

==External links== * {{official website|http://www.suzannerhatigan.com/}} * [http://www.cushyproductions.com/ Official website of Cushy Productions] * [https://suzannerhatigan.bandcamp.com/ Bandcamp page]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhatigan, Suzanne}} Category:Living people Category:Irish pop singers Category:Irish women pop singers Category:Irish women singer-songwriters Category:Irish singer-songwriters Category:1963 births