PJ Harvey

Polly Jean Harvey formed her original three-piece band in 1991 in Somerset and by the autumn of that year the group had released their debut single, ‘Dress’. A second single, ‘Sheela-Na-Gig’ was released in February 1992 followed by an album release the next month.

The album ‘Dry’ received critical acclaim in the UK and worldwide, especially in the United States where Rolling Stone named Harvey Best Songwriter and Best New Female Singer.

In 1993, PJ Harvey signed a deal with Island Records. The band recorded the album, ‘Rid Of Me’ which was released in early 1993.

However, by the end of the following world tour PJ went solo and recorded ‘4-Track Demos’ in the autumn of ‘93. The album ‘To Bring You My Love’ followed in 1995 on which Harvey played guitar, vibes, percussion and keyboards.

She was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and two Grammys and received ‘1995 Artist Of The Year’ awards from Rolling Stone and Spin.

Harvey then spent time working on a variety of collaborations, including contributions to records by Pascal Comelade, Nick Cave and Tricky.

Her fifth album, ‘Is This Desire?’ was released in September 1998 and featured 12 new tracks. PJ received her third Grammy and Brit Award nominations and became the first artist to be nominated three times for the Mercury Music Prize.

The sixth PJ Harvey album ‘Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea’ was released in October 2000.

Harvey has made contributions to film soundtracks including a version of ‘Is That All There Is?’ for Basquiat and ‘Nickel Under The Foot’ for the Tim Robbins’ movie ‘Cradle Will Rock.’

Harvey made her acting debut as Mary Magdalene in the film ‘The Book Of Life’ and has had sculpture exhibited in galleries and her poetry published.