Kate Rusby

From the Poozies to Pure Records

Kate Anna Rusby was born on December 4, 1973 in Penistone and nicknamed the Barnsley Nightingale; she sings and plays guitar, piano and fiddle, and runs her own label Pure Records with her management. Early on she was in the all-female Celtic folk band the Poozies, as lead vocalist, and in Equation, whose early line-up included Kathryn Roberts and Seth and Sean Lakeman. Her albums include Intuition (1993), Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts (1995), Hourglass (March 1, 1997, though a discography table says 1998) and Sleepless (1999), which was nominated for the 1999 Mercury Prize. At the 2000 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards she won Folk Singer of the Year and Best Album for Sleepless.

Little Lights (June 4, 2001) was her first UK top 100 entry, and the 2002 Folk Awards gave Best Original Song to "Who Will Sing Me Lullabies". The multi-instrumentalist John McCusker produced most of her records up to The Girl Who Couldn't Fly (2005). "All Over Again", a duet with Ronan Keating, reached 6 in the UK in June 2006, and she won Best Live Act at the 2006 Folk Awards. Awkward Annie came in 2007, annual Christmas records and tours from 2008, 20 (2012) reached 22, her highest, Hand Me Down (2020) reached 12, and When They All Looked Up came in 2025. She received the BASCA Gold Badge in 2014. Her 2026 Christmas tour includes the Royal Albert Hall on December 2, sold out. The Guardian called her a superstar of the British acoustic scene in 2001, and the BBC the first lady of young folkies in 2007.