Labi Siffre

Claudius Afolabi "Labi" Siffre born 25 June 1945) is a British singer, songwriter and poet.

Siffre released six albums from 1970 to 1975 and four from 1988 to 1998. His compositions include "It Must Be Love", which reached Number 14 on the UK singles chart in 1971 (and was later covered by the band Madness), In 2022, his life and work was explored in the series Imagine, under the title, Labi Siffre: This Is My Song.

Early life and education

Claudius Afolabi Siffre was born in Hammersmith, London in 1945 as the fourth of five brothers to a Yoruba Nigerian father and a mother of Belgian and Bajan descent . Siffre was brought up in Bayswater and Hampstead and educated at a Catholic independent day school, St Benedict's School, in Ealing, West London.

Siffre studied music at the Eric Gilder School of Music in Wardour Street, Soho, London. Gilder is remembered with gratitude in Siffre's poem "education education education".

Career

After leaving school, Siffre worked as a taxi driver and a deliveryman, before deciding to concentrate on music. for which Siffre himself appeared in the video); "Crying Laughing Loving Lying" (No. 11, 1972); and "Watch Me" (No. 29, 1972). In 1978, Siffre took part in the heats to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest. He performed "Solid Love", co-written with Tom Shapiro, which placed fifth of the 12 songs up for consideration at the A Song for Europe contest. Additionally, he co-wrote the song "We Got It Bad", performed by Bob James, which came in 10th.

Siffre came out of self-imposed retirement from music in 1985, when he saw a television film from Apartheid South Africa showing a white soldier shooting at black children. He wrote "(Something Inside) So Strong" (No. 4, 1987), His music was also used in the 2020s on the soundtracks of Better Call Saul, Hacks, Sentimental Value and other popular television and film soundtracks. Siffre also has a large social media following. In February 2026, Siffre released "Far Away", the lead single from his album Unfinished Business, his first album in 27 years which is set to release later in the year.

Legacy

Multiple parts of Siffre's 1975 track "I Got The..." were sampled in popular hip hop songs in the 1990s, most notably in the 1999 Eminem single "My Name Is". As a result of the song's newfound fame, it was finally released as a single in 2003. The track was also featured in the Better Call Saul episode "Bagman".

Siffre's 1972 track "My Song", from his album Crying Laughing Loving Lying, was sampled by rapper Kanye West on the song "I Wonder" on his 2007 album Graduation.

In February 2022, the BBC broadcast Labi Siffre: This Is My Song, as part of the Imagine series, in which Alan Yentob presented a film exploring Siffre's life and work.

His song "Cannock Chase" is used as the closing credits song of the 2025 Norwegian film Sentimental Value, directed by Joachim Trier.

Personal life

Siffre met his partner Peter Lloyd in July 1964 and they were together for 48 years. They entered into a civil partnership in 2005, as soon as it was legally possible in the UK. As of 2022, Siffre lives in Spain. Siffre is an atheist.

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable"

! Year

! Album

! style="width:35px;"|UK

! style="width:35px;"|AUS

! style="width:35px;"|AUT

! style="width:35px;"|BE (FLA)

! style="width:35px;"|IRE

! style="width:35px;"|NL 40

! style="width:35px;"|NL 100

! style="width:35px;"|US R&B

| rowspan="2" |1970

| "Too Late"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "A Little More Line" (Germany-only release)

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| rowspan="3" |1971

| "Thank Your Lucky Star"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "Get to the Country"

| style="text-align:center;" | 53

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "It Must Be Love"

| style="text-align:center;" | 14

| style="text-align:center;" | 46

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| style="text-align:center;" | 21

| style="text-align:center;" | 25

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| rowspan="2" |1972

| "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying"

| style="text-align:center;" | 11

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "Watch Me"

| style="text-align:center;" | 29

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| style="text-align:center;" | 7

| style="text-align:center;" | 16

| style="text-align:center;" | 14

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| rowspan="3" |1973

| "Give Love"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "If You Have Faith"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "(Just) A Little More Line" (Netherlands-only release)

| style="text-align:center;" | —

|1974

| "Dreamer"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| rowspan="3" |1975

| "Another Year

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "Love-a-Love-a-Love-a-Love-a-Love"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "Second Time Around"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| rowspan="3" |1976

| "Staride to Nowhere"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "You've Got a Hold on Me"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "Doctor Doctor" (France and Italy-only release)

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| 1977

| "Do the Best You Can"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| 1978

| "Solid Love"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| 1980

| "One World Song" (with Jackie)

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| 1981

| "Run to Him"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| 1982

| "Nightmare"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| rowspan="2" |1987

| "(Something Inside) So Strong"

| style="text-align:center;" | 4

| style="text-align:center;" | 76

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| style="text-align:center;" | 14

| style="text-align:center;" | 2

| style="text-align:center;" | 3

| style="text-align:center;" | 4

| style="text-align:center;" | 49

BPI: Silver

| "Nothin's Gonna Change"

| style="text-align:center;" | 52

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| style="text-align:center;" | 8

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| style="text-align:center;" | 21

| style="text-align:center;" | 24

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| 1988

| "Listen to the Voices"

| style="text-align:center;" | 81

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| style="text-align:center;" | 5

| style="text-align:center;" | 25

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| style="text-align:center;" | 23

| style="text-align:center;" | 22

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| rowspan="2" |1989

| "I Will Always Love You"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "And the Wind Blows"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| rowspan="3" |1991

| "Most People Sleep Alone"

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "A Matter of Love

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| "City of Dreams" (promo only)

| style="text-align:center;" | —

| 2003

| "I Got The..."

| style="text-align:center;" | —

|2026

|"Far Away"

| style="text-align: center;" |—

| colspan="11" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%;"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Notes

Notable cover versions and samples of Siffre's songs

"It Must Be Love" was covered by Madness in 1981. The song reached Number 4 in the UK chart, Siffre also made a cameo appearance in the music video.
"(Something Inside) So Strong" was covered by singer Michael Ball in 1996, reaching Number 40 in the UK. Rik Waller also covered the song while a contestant on Pop Idol, hitting Number 25 in the UK Singles Chart in 2002.
"I Got The..." was sampled by producer Dr. Dre for rapper Eminem's 1999 breakout single, "My Name Is" from the album The Slim Shady LP. Siffre initially denied the duo permission to use the sample, based on his objection to homophobic and misogynistic lyrical content in the song, but ultimately agreed to let them release the record having heard only the song's clean version.

Early life and education

Career

Legacy

Personal life

Discography

Studio albums

Notable cover versions and samples of Siffre's songs

Bibliography

Poetry

Plays

Essays

References

External links