A Thousand Threads

**Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction 2025** The joyous and electric memoir from beloved music icon Neneh Cherry. A SUNDAY TIMES , GUARDIAN , NEW STATESMAN , EVENING STANDARD , UNCUT AND ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 ‘Intoxicating . . . Seductive’ SUNDAY TIMES 'Inspiring' ANNIE MACMANUS ‘Fabulous’ VOGUE Top of the Pops , December 1988. The world sat up as a young woman made her debut: gold bra, gold bomber jacket and proudly, gloriously, seven months pregnant. This was no ordinary artist. This was Neneh Cherry. Cherry has always been a creative force to be reckoned with. She spent some of her childhood at the iconic Chelsea Hotel; performed with all-girl punk band the Slits as a teenager; was among the pioneers of nineties pop music; and has inspired wave after wave of musicians and artists. In this joyous and electric memoir, Cherry remembers the collaborations, the highs and lows, the friendships and loves, and the addictions and traumas that have shaped her. At the heart of it, always, is family: the extraordinary three generations of artists and musicians that are her inheritance and her legacy. ' I loved it' ZADIE SMITH 'Enthralling' BERNARDINE EVARISTO 'Thrums with life' GUARDIAN 'A living testament to artistic invention' OBSERVER

**Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction 2025** The joyous and electric memoir from beloved music icon Neneh Cherry. A SUNDAY TIMES , GUARDIAN , NEW STATESMAN , EVENING STANDARD , UNCUT AND ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 ‘Intoxicating . . . Seductive’ SUNDAY TIMES 'Inspiring' ANNIE MACMANUS ‘Fabulous’ VOGUE Top of the Pops , December 1988. The world sat up as a young woman made her debut: gold bra, gold bomber jacket and proudly, gloriously, seven months pregnant. This was no ordinary artist. This was Neneh Cherry. Cherry has always been a creative force to be reckoned with. She spent some of her childhood at the iconic Chelsea Hotel; performed with all-girl punk band the Slits as a teenager; was among the pioneers of nineties pop music; and has inspired wave after wave of musicians and artists. In this joyous and electric memoir, Cherry remembers the collaborations, the highs and lows, the friendships and loves, and the addictions and traumas that have shaped her. At the heart of it, always, is family: the extraordinary three generations of artists and musicians that are her inheritance and her legacy. ' I loved it' ZADIE SMITH 'Enthralling' BERNARDINE EVARISTO 'Thrums with life' GUARDIAN 'A living testament to artistic invention' OBSERVER

*A GUARDIAN MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024* *A BBC CULTURE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024* A vibrant memoir from Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Neneh Cherry who shares an inside look at her fascinating career and globe-traversing journeys in a life of love and music. Born in Sweden in 1964, Neneh Cherry's father Ahmadu was a musician from Sierra Leone. Her mother, Moki, was a twenty-one-year-old Swedish textile artist. Her parents split up just after Neneh was born, and not long afterwards Moki met and fell in love with acclaimed jazz musician Don Cherry. Eventually, the strong pull New York City in the 1970s drew him them there, but they made a home wherever they traveled. Neneh and her brother Eagle-Eye experienced a life of creativity, freedom, and, of course, music. In A Thousand Threads , Neneh takes readers from the charming old schoolhouse in the woods of Sweden where she grew up, to the village in Sierra Leone that was birthplace of her biological father, to the early punk scene in London and New York, to finding her identity with her stepfather's family in Watts, California. Neneh has lived an extraordinary life of connectivity and creativity and she recounts in intimate detail how she burst onto the scene as a teenager in the punk band The Slits, and went on to release her first album in 1989 with a worldwide hit single "Buffalo Stance." Neneh's inspiring and deeply compelling memoir both celebrates female empowerment and shines a light on the global music scene--and is perfect for anyone interested in the artistic life in all its forms.

*A GUARDIAN MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024* *A BBC CULTURE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024* A vibrant memoir from Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Neneh Cherry who shares an inside look at her fascinating career and globe-traversing journeys in a life of love and music. Born in Sweden in 1964, Neneh Cherry's father Ahmadu was a musician from Sierra Leone. Her mother, Moki, was a twenty-one-year-old Swedish textile artist. Her parents split up just after Neneh was born, and not long afterwards Moki met and fell in love with acclaimed jazz musician Don Cherry. Eventually, the strong pull New York City in the 1970s drew him them there, but they made a home wherever they traveled. Neneh and her brother Eagle-Eye experienced a life of creativity, freedom, and, of course, music. In A Thousand Threads , Neneh takes readers from the charming old schoolhouse in the woods of Sweden where she grew up, to the village in Sierra Leone that was birthplace of her biological father, to the early punk scene in London and New York, to finding her identity with her stepfather's family in Watts, California. Neneh has lived an extraordinary life of connectivity and creativity and she recounts in intimate detail how she burst onto the scene as a teenager in the punk band The Slits, and went on to release her first album in 1989 with a worldwide hit single "Buffalo Stance." Neneh's inspiring and deeply compelling memoir both celebrates female empowerment and shines a light on the global music scene--and is perfect for anyone interested in the artistic life in all its forms.

**Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction 2025** The joyous and electric memoir from beloved music icon Neneh Cherry A SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, NEW STATESMAN, EVENING STANDARD, UNCUT AND ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 'Intoxicating . . . Seductive' SUNDAY TIMES 'Fabulous' VOGUE Top of the Pops, December 1988. The world sat up as a young woman made her debut: gold bra, gold bomber jacket, and proudly, gloriously, seven months pregnant. This was no ordinary artist. This was Neneh Cherry. But navigating fame and family wasn't always simple. In this beautiful and deeply personal memoir, Cherry remembers the collaborations, the highs and lows, the friendships and loves, and the addictions and traumas that have shaped her as a woman and an artist. At the heart of it, always, is family: the extraordinary three generations of artists and musicians that are her inheritance and her legacy. Musician. Songwriter. Collaborator. Activist. Mother. Daughter. Lover. Friend. Icon. This is her story. 'I loved it' ZADIE SMITH 'Enthralling' BERNARDINE EVARISTO 'Thrums with life' GUARDIAN 'A living testament to artistic invention' OBSERVER

**Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction 2025** The joyous and electric memoir from beloved music icon Neneh Cherry A SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, NEW STATESMAN, EVENING STANDARD, UNCUT AND ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 'Intoxicating . . . Seductive' SUNDAY TIMES 'Fabulous' VOGUE Top of the Pops, December 1988. The world sat up as a young woman made her debut: gold bra, gold bomber jacket, and proudly, gloriously, seven months pregnant. This was no ordinary artist. This was Neneh Cherry. But navigating fame and family wasn't always simple. In this beautiful and deeply personal memoir, Cherry remembers the collaborations, the highs and lows, the friendships and loves, and the addictions and traumas that have shaped her as a woman and an artist. At the heart of it, always, is family: the extraordinary three generations of artists and musicians that are her inheritance and her legacy. Musician. Songwriter. Collaborator. Activist. Mother. Daughter. Lover. Friend. Icon. This is her story. 'I loved it' ZADIE SMITH 'Enthralling' BERNARDINE EVARISTO 'Thrums with life' GUARDIAN 'A living testament to artistic invention' OBSERVER