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Ruth-Ann Boyle

Ruth-Ann Boyle (born April 26, 1970 in Sunderland) is an English pop singer who became famous during the 1990s. Together with producers Tim Kellett and Robin Taylor-Firth, she formed the British band Olive. The band became world famous with "You're Not Alone" in 1996.

In 1999 she sang lead vocals on the track "Gravity of Love" on Enigma's album The Screen Behind the Mirror, which was also released as a single. She also performed guest-vocals for their 2003 album Voyageur.

In 2004 Boyle finished work on her first solo album, produced by Michael Cretu of Enigma.

Influenced by singers like Rickie Lee Jones and Joni Mitchell,^[1]Boyle joined various bands from age 17-19,^[2][3] but these turned out to be unpleasant experiences ("folk bands, Rickie Lee Jones and stuff like that, all the angst").^[4] In the intervening time, she performed assembly-line work in factories before ending up managing a pub in Sheffield.^[2] Meanwhile, she also recorded vocal samples for The Durutti Column, the Manchester-based musical project headed by Vini Reilly.

However, Boyle was considering a career in nursing by the time Kellett, who had heard the vocal samples pre-recorded onto a keyboard while playing live with The Durutti Column, contacted her about singing for the group he had formed with Taylor-Firth.^[5] After auditioning, Boyle found in the band an ideal musical collaboration. Olive produced two albums from its inception in 1995 to 2000, after which the band ceased to work together.

1. ^ Jung, Fred. A Fireside Chat with Olive. Jazz Weekly. Retrieved on August 17, 2006.
2. ^ ^{a b} Weisblott, Marc (October 9, 1997). Pimentos and Olive. Eye Weekly. Retrieved on August 17, 2006.
3. ^ Drew Live: 5 Minutes with... Olive. Dr. Drew. Retrieved on August 17, 2006.
4. ^ Moayeri, Lily. Olive's Shopping Music. irREVernce. Retrieved on August 17, 2006.
5. ^ Olive branches out with 'Extra Virgin'. Pause and Play (November 13, 1997). Retrieved on August 17, 2006.

• EnigmaCretu.Com Fan site (Polish)
• EnigmaFanClub Fan Site (English) (Italian)
• EnigmaMusic.Com Fan site