(b Blackpool, 14 Aug 1947). English folk singer. The daughter of the script-writer and novelist Allan Prior and raised in St Albans, she concentrated on performing English traditional songs on the advice of the folk duo Sandy and Jeannie, for whom she acted as a driver in the mid-1960s. In 1967 she began working with the guitarist and singer Tim Hart, with whom she released the two albums of Folk Songs of ye Olde England (Teepee, 1968). She and Hart were members of the initial line-up of the leading folk-rock group Steeleye Span and, after several changes of personnel, Prior fronted a more rock-oriented band which had a Christmas hit single in 1973 with Gaudete. In 1997 she left the group to concentrate on a solo career. She has recorded as a soloist (e.g. Woman in the Wings, Chrysalis, 1978), in duet with June Tabor (Silly Sisters, Chrysalis, 1976) and with her husband Rick Kemp (Happy Families, Park, 1990). Her 1998 album Carols at Christmas, was recorded live with the Carnival Band, who use medieval instruments, and with whom she has performed and recorded since the 1980s. Prior has established an international reputation for her pure, clear vocal style and convivial stage personality.
ROBIN DENSELOW