Helen DeMacque

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Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque
Pepsi DeMacque performing as part of Pepsi & Shirlie at the Liverpool Echo Arena on 25 June 2011.
Pepsi DeMacque performing as part of Pepsi & Shirlie at the Liverpool Echo Arena on 25 June 2011.
Background information
Also known asPepsi
Born (1958-12-10) 10 December 1958 (age 62)
Paddington, London, England
GenresPop
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1981–present
Labels
Associated actsWham!, Pepsi & Shirlie, Mike Oldfield

Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque-Crockett (born 10 December 1958) is a British pop singer, best known as a member of the Pepsi & Shirlie duo in the 1980s.

Early years[]

Helen ‘Pepsi’ DeMacque was born in London after her parents emigrated to Britain in the 1950s from St Lucia.[1]

Music career[]

Pepsi and Shirlie at the Liverpool Echo Arena, 2011

DeMacque became one of two singers/dancers for the group Wham! in 1983. She replaced Dee C. Lee, (who left to join The Style Council) and performed alongside Shirlie Holliman,[2] first appearing in the music video for "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go".

When their work with Wham! ended, Holliman and DeMacque formed their own act, named Pepsi & Shirlie. Created immediately after Wham!'s final Wembley concert, the duo had a more upbeat and pop sound. The group had two UK Top 10 hits: "", produced by Phil Fearon and Tambi Fernando, reaching #2 in the UK Singles Chart,[3] and "Goodbye Stranger", produced by Tambi Fernando and Pete Hammond, which reached #9.

Pepsi & Shirlie went on hiatus in 1989, but briefly returned in 2000 to record backing vocals on the UK number one Geri Halliwell hit "Bag It Up".[3] The duo also reunited to perform for the Here and Now 10th Anniversary tour which kicked off on 24 June 2011.[4]

In 1998 and 1999, DeMacque collaborated with Mike Oldfield, participating in his tour Then & Now in 1998 and two events, the premiere of Tubular Bells III in London and the concert Art in Heaven/Millennium Bell for the transition to the year 2000 in Tiergarten in Berlin. Pepsi also performed on a song from the album The Millennium Bell.[5]

In 2011, she sang with Forthright, a group of producers and mixers in London.[2]

Film career[]

DeMacque has also worked as a film and TV actor, including a portrayal of Josephine Baker.[2] As a stage actor, she appeared in James Rado, Gerome Ragni and Galt MacDermot's musical, Hair, at the Old Vic Theatre in London with Michael Bogdanov directing.

Personal life[]

DeMacque resided in Wellington, New Zealand, for a number of years, working at a gift shop on Lambton Quay. For a while she lived in Norwich, England with her husband James Crockett before moving to St Lucia, where she and her husband operate a charter sailing business.[1] Her nephew was the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest contestant Cesár Sampson.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "About Jussail". Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Jury, Louise (22 October 2011). "How we met: Pepsi and Shirlie". The Independent. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Interview with Shirlie Holliman". yogworld.com. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
  4. ^ "Here and Now: The very best of the 80s". Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  5. ^ Lemieux, Patrick (2014). The Mike Oldfield Chronology. Across the Board. ISBN 9780991984060. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  6. ^ ESCunited (9 April 2018), Eurovision Song Contest 2018 – Austria – Cesar Simpson – Interview in London 2018, retrieved 19 April 2018

External links[]

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