Sandy Denny -

Sandy Denny — aka Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny (Jan. 6, 1947 — April 21, 1978) — was an English singer/songwriter from London who initially recorded for Saga Records in 1967, appearing on split-albums with folkies Alex Campbell and Johnny Silvo. In 1968, she passed through a formative lineup of the Strawbs before joining Fairport Convention, which she co-fronted on three 1969 albums: What We Did on Our Holidays, Unhalfbricking, and Liege & Lief. At year’s end, Denny teamed with guitarist and future-husband Trevor Lucas, formerly of Eclection, in the folk-rock five-piece Fotheringay, which yielded a 1970 self-titled album and recorded a followup that was released nearly four decades after the fact.

In 1971, Denny began her solo-career proper on Island Records with The North Star Grassman and the Ravens, followed by three further albums between 1972 and 1977. During this time, she guested on albums by fellow Fairport alumni Richard Thompson and Ian Matthews. Most famously, she dueted with Robert Plant on the Jimmy Page composition “The Battle of Evermore,” which appeared on Led Zeppelin‘s untitled 1971 fourth album, colloquially known as Zoso. Her brief time in the Strawbs was documented on the 1973 Hallmark Records release All Our Own Work.

Sandy Denny died from a cerebral haemorrhage, incurred from a fall down the staircase in her Byfield home on April 21, 1978.

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