Finding My Voice

My Autobiography

Blessed with one of the richest and most distinctive voices in the music business, Elkie Brooks has been entertaining people around the world since the age of fifteen - and even longer, if you count the weddings and bar mitzvahs at which she was asked to perform in her native Manchester as a young girl! It was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne and the notorious 'Mr Big' of the music world, who discovered her, making her change her name from Bookbinder and sending her on a tour of Germany. It was make or break for the still raw Elkie, but as always her voice won through. She went on to become part of cult rock groups such as Dada and Vinegar Joe, before establishing herself as one of the UK's most successful female vocalists. Yet the road to stardom was never an easy one. But for the support of Elkie's great friend Humphrey Lyttelton, she says she might have been dead from drink. She has experienced hardships that would have daunted most, and dealt with them with the same spirit, grit and humour that make her singing so powerful. Along the way she has worked with many of the biggest names in the business and recorded some of the most iconic songs in rock history, including 'Lilac Wine', 'Sunshine After the Rain' and her signature tune, 'Pearl's A Singer'. In Finding My Voice, Elkie tells her remarkable story in her own unique voice, laying bare the reality of stardom and sharing her commitment to the great passion of her life - music.