Kirsty Hawkshaw

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Kirsty Hawkshaw

Background information
Born	October 1969 (London)
Genre(s)	Electronic music
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, producer
Instrument(s)	Singing
Years active	1991–
Label(s)	Coalition/EastWest, Mainline/EMI, Nettwerk
Associated acts	Opus III, Pulusha, Warm
Website	official website

Kirsty Hawkshaw (born October 1969) is a British female dance/electronica/house artist and songwriter who is known for her signature angelic vocals. Hawkshaw was born in London, England in 1969 and is the daughter of British disco producer Alan Hawkshaw. Her father and her love for dance music inspired Hawkshaw to pursue a career in music.

At a rave event in 1991 she was noticed by producers Ian Munro, Kevin Dobbs and Nigel Walton, who at the time were known as A.S.K. It was through this meeting that they would form a dance act called Opus III. Their first single, "It's A Fine Day" from their debut album Mind Fruit was an international success and Top 10 hit on UK Singles Chart, and hit #1 on Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1992. An inverted sample of Hawkshaw's singing from this track was used in the Orbital track "Halcyon + On + On," the music video for which featured Hawkshaw. Opus III also had another US #1 hit on the same chart in 1994 with "When You Made The Mountain" from their second and last album Guru Mother.

After the group broke up in 1994, Hawkshaw pursued a solo career and since then has been in demand by other acts in the dance, house, Eurodance, trance, and electronica community, ranging from DJ Tiësto to Delerium.

In addition to dance music, Hawkshaw has also recorded an ambient, ethereal album, Enlightenment, which remains unreleased. She appears on Solar Quest's ambient and acid trance tracks, including Kirsty Cried (1993), named after her.

On October 10, 2005 she released Meta-Message, a collection of older and newer songs after a growing interest in her out-of print album O.U.T.. In early 2006 she appeared on the Fragma single "Radio Waves".

The versatile Hawkshaw also contributed a track titled Telephone Song to the children's album For the Kids Too!, released in 2004.