Sarah Cracknell is best known as the lead singer of Saint Etienne. Ahead, she discusses the important men in her life, including her father, who passed away at 54, husband and two adult sons.
I never met my paternal grandfather, Clarence Cracknell – apparently, he was a bit of a scoundrel. He was always out gambling, drinking and womanising. My dad, Derek, had very little respect for him and barely spoke about him.
My maternal grandfather, Edgar Samuel, was a barfly who everyone called Sam. My grandmother was the most amazing cook but he was barely home to eat. He was a real joker and we forgave him for his ways. He used to smoke 60 cigarettes a day and lived into his 70s.
Dad was in the army – the payroll guy who wanted to work in film. He ended up doing accounts on documentaries, then got a job as a third assistant and that’s how his career unfolded. Dad was Stanley Kubrick’s first assistant on 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange, two of the most iconic films ever made. Stanley was tricky to work with, but my dad was a good mediator and brought great balance to his workplace. Dad sadly died at the age of 54 from pancreatic cancer, just as I joined Saint Etienne, and never got to see what I did. I am an only child.
My mum, Julie, was an actress. She was 16 and Dad was 25 when they met on the set of a film called The Long Ships in what was then Yugoslavia. Dad was engaged at the time, but they met and clicked. Mum worked on three films with him and when she was 19, someone dared her to ask him out. Everyone thought my dad was gay. He was very handsome. They returned to England and Mum found out about the engagement. She gave him an ultimatum.
My first kiss happened up the back of a school bus in primary school when I was about seven. It was very innocent. He broke my heart because, not that long after, I gave him a Valentine’s card and he ripped it up in front of the whole class. I was devastated.
I’ve had my heart broken and I’ve been the heartbreaker.
My celebrity crush was Adam Ant. I ended up going out with a guy called Vince when I was 14 who looked a bit like him.
I was quite a dater and had lots of boyfriends in my teens. I’ve had my heart broken and I’ve been the heartbreaker. My mum was devastated when I broke up with my boyfriend when I was 15. She really liked him and told me I was cruel. He ran away from home because it was all too much.
My best friend Mick Bund and I met when we were 17 and 16, respectively. He became a bass player in one of my first bands and we hit it off like brother and sister. We had a strong bond and shared a flat for seven years. Once, we pretended we were engaged to get a one-bedroom rental. He’d had a crappy upbringing, which is why we bonded. He got into alcohol and sadly died about eight years ago.
My mum adored Mick and he lived with her for a while as well. He had the biggest musical influence on me and I learnt how to write songs with him. We wrote a song called Marble Lions, which Saint Etienne did a version of.
There was one guy who broke my heart – his parents were posh and had sent him off to boarding school. He was obsessed with music and would send me letters and mixtapes all the time.
I was with a guy for seven years who was a surfer type from Devon. He really looked after me. I’d met him before Saint Etienne took off, so I felt he loved me for me. When you’re in a band, people come at you from all over the place because of that. It’s ridiculous.
My husband, Martin Kelly, is the manager of Saint Etienne. We married in 2004 and have two sons – Spencer, 24, and Sam, 22. We’d known each other for a long time and one night we got together. It was a bit unexpected. It was Martin who wanted kids. The timing was serendipitous, everything just fell into place, the stars aligned, and I am pleased we have two amazing sons.
Saint Etienne are touring Australia from November 23 to December 1.
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