Labi Siffre

Labi Siffre
Siffre in 2017
Siffre in 2017
Background information
Birth nameClaudius Afolabi Siffre
Born (1945-06-25) 25 June 1945 (age 79)
Hammersmith, London, England[1]
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • poet
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • keyboards
Years active1970–present
Labels
Websitewww.intothelight.info

Claudius Afolabi Siffre[2] (born 25 June 1945),[1] better known as Labi Siffre (/ˈlæ.bi sɪfri/ LAB-ee SIF-ree),[3] is a British singer, songwriter and poet. Siffre released six albums from 1970 to 1975 and four from 1988 to 1998. His compositions include "It Must Be Love", which reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart in 1971 (and later covered by the band Madness),[1] "Crying Laughing Loving Lying", and "(Something Inside) So Strong"—an anti-apartheid song inspired by a television documentary in which white soldiers in South Africa were filmed shooting at black civilians in the street—which hit number 4 on the UK chart. The latter song won Siffre the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and it has been used in Amnesty International campaigns.

Siffre has published essays, the stage and television play Deathwrite and three volumes of poetry: Nigger, Blood on the Page, and Monument.[4] In 2022, his life and work was explored in the series Imagine, under the title, Labi Siffre: This Is My Song.

  1. ^ a b c Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 1218. ISBN 9780195313734.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Independent was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ TEDxBrayfordPool (5 December 2017). "Disturbing Definitions: Labi Siffre". Retrieved 1 February 2023 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ "Labi Siffre Page". Soulwalking.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2022.