The Long Blondes singer goes solo

By Georgie Rogers 6 Music News Journalist

The Long Blondes scored two top 30 singles

Long Blondes singer Kate Jackson has revealed to 6 Music plans to record a solo album now the band have split.

The Sheffield quintet said on Monday that they were parting ways following guitarist Dorian Cox's stroke in June.

The musician is currently still in recovery and it is not known when he will be able to play the guitar again.

Jackson told 6 Music that Cox's condition was improving after physiotherapy but that the band members were now pursuing their own paths.

Cox's stroke at the start of the summer forced the Long Blondes to cancel a string of European dates and what would have been their second Glastonbury performance.

"It was actually two days after we got back from our American tour and we have no idea what caused that," Jackson told 6 Music.

"Obviously, it was a complete shock for all of us, something that we've had a bit of time now to come to terms with.

"It does mean that he's unable to play the guitar at the moment and we don't really know when he'll be able to do that again. Unfortunately we've had to take the decision to split up."

The quintet have released two albums and were critically praised for their latest offering, the Erol Alkan-produced Couples.

Jackson said that Cox, who wrote a lot of the music, was having daily physiotherapy and was is making "vast improvements".

"When it first happened he couldn't move his leg or his arm at all and we weren't sure how his speech, memory, or intelligence were going to be affected.

"Thankfully those things are completely unaffected. He's still the same Dorian, just lovely and hilariously funny. We haven't lost him at all, it's just the arm now that they're working on."

I'm just beginning but I think it will reflect my personal music taste a bit more than the Long Blondes, which was a collaborative thing Singer Kate Jackson on going solo

The singer didn't rule out the possibility of the band getting back together if Cox made a full recovery, but said the members would pursue their own projects for now.

Going solo

It's not all bad news for fans of the Long Blondes, as Jackson revealed she was working on her own solo album.

Guitarist Dorian Cox in the studio working on the album Couples

"It's the first time I've talked about it but that's my plan," she said. "I'm just beginning but I think it will reflect my personal music taste a bit more than the Long Blondes, which was a collaborative thing.

"I've only just started and a lot of the influences will overlap so hopefully fans of the Long Blondes will like what I do."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version