Early life Linda Fredericks was born in
Custom House, Newham, in 1950. Her father was of
Jamaican descent, and her mother was
Guyanese. Her parents divorced when she was three, so she was raised primarily by her mother, who was also a singer. She attended St Angela’s Ursuline school for girls in Forest Gate, London E7. and was regularly cast in non-speaking television and film roles such as
A Taste of Honey (1961); she appeared as a screaming fan in the first Beatles film, ''
A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and also sang to the public. She joined The Q Set, a British band who performed
ska and
blue beat, Jamaican-style music. Polydor worried that her name, Linda Fredericks, would be confused with Linda Kendrick, who was also signed to Polydor. Fredericks used the name Linda Lewis in honour of singer
Barbara Lewis. The surname would also be used professionally by her sisters, Dee Lewis and Shirley Lewis, and her mother.
1970s London, Lewis's former home, commemorated by a
blue plaque During 1967, Linda Lewis formed White Rabbit with
Junior Kerr moving on to replace
Marsha Hunt in the soul rock band
The Ferris Wheel in 1970 and touring Europe with them. She also recorded the album
Ferris Wheel (1970) and the single "Can't Stop Now" with them before the band broke up the same year. Her first hit single "Rock-a-Doodle-Doo" reached No. 15 in the
UK Singles Chart in the summer of 1973, and it was followed by the album
Fathoms Deep, This album established her as one of Britain's most promising young female singer-songwriters and was critically acclaimed, On 5 July 1975, Lewis opened the
Knebworth Festival, being followed by
Roy Harper,
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, the
Steve Miller Band and
Pink Floyd. She sings on the
Go Too album, released in 1977, with
Jess Roden. Three more albums followed over the next few years. In 1986 and 1987, she recorded with her sisters Dee and Shirley as Lewis, then as Lewis Sisters.
Later years During the next decade, Lewis retreated from public life and moved to
Los Angeles although, in 1984, she again appeared at the Glastonbury Festival, as well as recording for Electricity Records. In 1992 she worked on the
Joan Armatrading album
Square the Circle as a backing vocalist, along with her sister Shirley and
Sylvia Mason-James. She then returned to record
Second Nature (1995), She appeared again at the 2011 Festival. Along with such musicians as
Clem Curtis,
Roy Phillips, and
Glenn Tilbrook, Lewis collaborated with
Lord Large, recording the song "Work it Out", which appeared on the 2007 album ''
The Lord's First XI''. Her song "Old Smokey" was used by the rapper
Common, on his single "
Go!" (2005), which appeared on his album
Be (2005). This was produced by
Kanye West and reached No. 1 on the United States
R&B and Hip Hop charts. which featured a portrait by Lewis's former husband
Jim Cregan In 2007, she toured with the Soul Britannia All Stars in the United Kingdom, and on 3 February 2007,
BBC Four featured performances by Lewis, in a sixty-minute recording of a
Barbican show with the Soul Britannia All Stars. In June of the same year, she collaborated with
Basement Jaxx on "Close Your Eyes", which featured in the Japanese
anime film Vexille. In 2023, Lewis collaborated with UK folk-funk band The Paracosmos. Their single "Earthling" featured additional vocals by Lewis. The single was released in March 2023 and was debuted on
Gilles Peterson's BBC 6 Music show where he proclaimed "Linda Lewis is back". The single would be her last release during her lifetime. ==Critical reception==