Sophie B. Hawkins is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress whose emotionally direct pop-rock helped define a distinctive strand of 1990s adult contemporary music. Her sound combines rock, pop, rhythm and blues, jazz, world music, and classical influences, while her songwriting often centers on desire, independence, vulnerability, and self-determination.
Born Sophie Ballantine Hawkins in New York City, she developed an early interest in percussion and African music. As a teenager, she studied with the influential Nigerian percussionist Babatunde Olatunji, later expanding her skills to drums, marimba, and vibraphone. She attended the Manhattan School of Music but left before completing her studies, choosing to pursue work as a professional musician. During this period, she played drums and percussion with several groups and briefly toured with Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry, providing percussion and backing vocals.
Hawkins signed with Columbia Records after a demo brought her to the attention of the label. Her debut album, Tongues and Tails, arrived in 1992 and introduced her as a singer with an unusually broad musical palette. The record's best-known track, "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover," became an international hit and reached the Top Five of the Billboard Hot 100. Its mix of insistent percussion, dramatic keyboards, and Hawkins' expressive vocal performance established the song as her signature recording. The album also included her interpretation of Bob Dylan's "I Want You," and Hawkins was invited to perform the song at the 1992 concert celebrating Dylan's 30th anniversary as a recording artist. She received a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist.
Her second album, Whaler, followed in 1994. Initially slow to gain momentum, it later produced one of her most enduring successes, "As I Lay Me Down," which reached the US Top Ten. The album also yielded "Right Beside You," another significant international hit. Hawkins' music videos from this period emphasized her theatrical presence and individual style, helping distinguish her from more conventional pop singers of the era.
For Timbre, Hawkins took greater control of the creative process, producing much of the material and playing a wider range of instruments. Disagreements with Columbia over the album's direction delayed its release until 1999. After leaving the label, she established Trumpet Swan Productions and issued an expanded edition of Timbre in 2001. Her independent albums Wilderness and The Crossing appeared in 2004 and 2012, respectively, while the live recording Bad Kitty Board Mix documented her concert work.
Hawkins has also worked in film, television, and theater, including appearances as herself and music-related acting roles. She played Janis Joplin in the stage production Room 105 and appeared on the television series Community, performing two of her best-known songs. In 2023, she released Free Myself, her first album of new material in more than a decade. The album continued her preference for emotionally candid songwriting and eclectic arrangements. A 2025 release, Whaler Re-Emerging, accompanied renewed attention to her second album and anniversary performances. Throughout her career, Hawkins has maintained an independent artistic identity while supporting animal rights, environmental causes, and LGBTQ advocacy.