Diane Charlemagne, whose list of collaborators include 52nd Street, Goldie, Moby, D:Ream, S.P.Y and was the lead vocalist for Urban Cookie Collective,has regrettably lost her battle with cancer today. Her vocal style was described as soulful and emotive and she brought life to every song she sang on.
Her twitter was quoted this morning as saying “So she went into the early morning… God rest her soul #diane what a gifted voice.”
Charlemagne provided the vocal for Goldie’s “Inner City Life” and performed vocals for Moby for many of his live shows. In 2007 she collaborated with High Contrast on his track ‘If We Ever’ for the album Tough Guys Don’t Dance. The following year she worked with D:Ream, who had recently re-formed, and in 2011, she collaborated with Aquasky on their dubstep track ‘Take Me There’. In 2012, she collaborated with Netsky on his track ‘Wanna Die For You’ for the album 2, and worked with S.P.Y on his drum and bass track ‘Hammer in My Heart’ for the album What the Future Holds.
Her latest work is set to be released on November 20th via Northern Quarter and features Andy Rourke of The Smiths fame and was a “First Listen” feature on Jammerzine on October 19th. The track was produced by Mike Bennett (The Fall, Ian Brown, The Specials and Kim Fowley), arranged and engineered by Pete Booker (The Kinks, Justin Timberlake and East 17) and has been remixed by Youth who has produced a powerful Drum and Bass version of the track.
Diane Charlemagne was 49 years old.
