sonia sarker hot videoBetween 1989 and 1993, she had 11 UK top 30 hits,[3] including “Listen to Your Heart” (1989), “Counting Every Minute” (1990) and “Only Fools (Never Fall in Love)” (1991). In 1994, she starred as Sandy in a West End revival of the musical Grease, while on television she appeared as Bunty in the 1998 BBC comedy series The Lily Savage Show.
Music career
Sonia was signed to Chrysalis Records after badgering Pete Waterman to listen to her sing outside his recording studio in Liverpool. Waterman called her bluff and asked her to sing live on his weekly radio show. Sonia’s debut single, “You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You”, composed and produced by the songwriting and music production trio Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman (Stock Aitken Waterman) was released in June 1989. “You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You” peaked at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks the following month.[3] At 18, Sonia became one of the youngest female British singers to achieve this feat. The single also topped the Irish chart[4] and reached the top 10 of the US dance chart.[5]
Sonia’s debut album, Everybody Knows, was released in April 1990.[6] The album peaked at number 7 in the UK,[3] and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry.[6] All five singles released from the album became top 20 hits in the UK,[3] making Sonia the first British solo female artist to achieve this. Sonia achieved a sixth top 20 hit in the UK in 1990 with “You’ve Got a Friend”,[3] recorded with the group Big Fun, and released as a charity single for Childline.
Sonia left her record label and released her second, self-titled album in 1991, produced by Nigel Wright. The first single released from it, “Only Fools (Never Fall in Love)” became Sonia’s third UK top 10 hit,[3] although the album was less successful than her debut. Sonia also contributed to two charity singles, Band Aid II’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in 1989 (peaked at number 1 in the UK[7]) and Gulf Aid’s “As Time Stood Still” in 1991.
In 1993, Sonia represented the United Kingdom in the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest, singing the Dean Collinson and Brian Teasdale composition “Better the Devil You Know”.[8] She was placed second in the contest.[9] Her third album, also titled Better the Devil You Know was released that year and reached number 32 in the UK.[3] Sonia performed the song again on Saturday, 13 May 2023, during the interval at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool, 30 years after her first appearance. The day before, she also appeared in Hollyoaks (see TV appearances below) performing her iconic Eurovision entry to the cast at an on-screen Eurovision party.
