Noughties singer songwriter, 42, has barely aged a day 18 years after number one smash hit
IN 2006, this singer was wishing she was a punk rocker with flowers in her hair.
And 18 years later, Sandi Thom hasn’t aged a day – and is becoming the revolutionary she spoke about in her hit song.
The Scottish songstress stormed the charts in the mid 2000s with her catchy bop, reaching number one with I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker in the UK.
Starting life streaming from MySpace and gigging from her London flat, Sandi was signed to RCA Records and soon stormed the charts.
It even knocked off Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy from the top spot on the UK Top 40.
I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker gained international attention, even becoming the biggest selling single of 2006 in Australia.
She followed up the success with her debut album, Smile… It Confuses People, which also reached number one, and sold over a million copies across the globe.
However, after Sandi’s second album, The Pink And The Lily, was rushed out in 2008, she was subsequently dropped from RCA Records after the record’s poor performance.
Sandi later explained she felt too rushed with producing her second record.
In the years that followed, Sandi struggled to get her songs played – culminating in a heartbreaking video in which the weeping songstress said radio broadcasters weren’t putting her song Earthquake on their playlist.
“Honest to God I’m f**king sick to death of the bulls**t this industry pulls on people like me and I’ve had it. Enough. I’m done,” she said in part in the clip, which was later deleted.
Despite this setback, Sandi has continued to produce and create albums as an independent artist – with four more albums now under her belt.
She has been sharing her songs on TikTok, including covers of Abba hits and the iconic What’s Up by 4 Non Blondes, and asking fans for advice on what will make her latest release.
In March this year, she released her latest single, folk track Revolution Anthem (Song For The Oppressed), which hits on geopolitical issues including Brexit, and taking aim at world leaders and MPs including Boris Johnson, Vladamir Putin and Donald Trump.
Speaking of I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker – which she remixed and re-released last year, she told PA: “It doesn’t feel like that long ago, it pretty much feels like yesterday to me.
” I think because the legacy of the song lives on in perpetuity, it’s always alive for me and for the people that love it.”
