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A Thousand Threads

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A Thousand Threads

By: Neneh Cherry
Narrated by: Neneh Cherry
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

**Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction 2025**

A deeply personal and powerful memoir from beloved music icon Neneh Cherry.

*A GUARDIAN AUDIOBOOK OF THE WEEK*
*A GUARDIAN MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024*
*A BBC CULTURE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024*

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.

'Neneh is cool, Neneh is wise, Neneh is a legend. Her memoir is a treasure. I loved it.' ZADIE SMITH

'Cherry delivers her story with clarity and calm, even when revisiting the darker chapters in her life' The Guardian

©2024 Neneh Cherry (P)2024 Penguin Audio

 Entertainment & Celebrities Friendship Music Relationships Women Celebrity

Critic Reviews

Inspiring. It made me want to dance harder, turn the volume up, cook a meal for all my friends and hold my family close. It’s a book about culture, creativity, friendships, mothering and the pursuit of an artful life (ANNIE MACMANUS)
Thrums with life . . . A Thousand Threads searches for feelings transient and timeless, keeps keeping on, never says maybe
Wonderful . . . a rich autobiography wise to all the joys – and the perils – of a creative life
A living testament to artistic invention . . . A vibrant read, peppered with both delight and moments of darkness
In her first memoir, [Cherry] offers a brilliant insight into the joys — and the perils — of a creative life . . . She proves with gusto that she has her own tales to tell
'Neneh is cool, Neneh is wise, Neneh is a legend. Her memoir is a treasure. I loved it' (ZADIE SMITH)
Enthralling . . . An extraordinary mix of abundant creativity and never-ending travel, always with the changing seasons of her music-making, soulful friendships and devotion to family at the heart of it (BERNARDINE EVARISTO)
Neneh's memories and her voice has the strength and spirituality to uphold her family's legacies with ecstatic joy (THURSTON MOORE)
This beautifully written memoir resonated deeply with my immigrant heart . . . Cherry is a marvel. Her voice is a bridge-builder, and her honesty is a balm for the soul . . . It is the kind of writing that heals, and by the time you finish reading, you feel richer and a little bit wiser (Elif Shafik)
Very moving . . . Both a love letter to her mother, Moki, and testament to grabbing life with both hands and throwing yourself at it
All stars
Most relevant
It was wonderful to learn about Neneh’s incredible life so far. Her fascinating heritage, her family and the big back story of her creative journey. I loved learning more about her Mum Moki and her beautiful art. I came in to this knowing a little about her music and a love of the early years with the Slits et al. I left feeling happy about learning so much more. What a beautiful and fascinating woman.

A big and interesting life

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It was always someone else's story. Punk acts I was too young too see, and scenes too physically removed – continents away –  to ever be involved in,  Somehow, despite Neneh Cherry living in several different countries , a few years before I was born, in a community setting far different from my own, this felt so familiar. The coalescence of hip hop, dance. punk and reggae culture, the sudden seismic cultural shifts at the end of the 80s/dawn of the '90s, the line-in-the-sand records she loved
that changed everything for her, all resonated 100%. But much more importantly, Cherry's family life – born to Sierra Leonian /Swedish parentage, raised in Sweden, LA, New York and London, with jazz and visual art luminaries all around her, crystallises how she became the inspirational musical polymath we know her to be. Cherry's upbringing and background exemplifies a sense of family and community suffused in the arts that is now dying, Cherry isn't just an important musician, she's a cultural figure who passes on the influence of her mother Moki and stepfather Don every day, simply through living her life. You'll learn plenty about great music listening to this, but you'll learn the most about living life authentically. It's an absolute must. 

A life lived authentically through music: inspired

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.