Lauren Laverne

Lauren Cecilia Fisher (née Gofton; born 28 April 1978), known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, model, television presenter, author and singer. She was the lead singer and additional guitarist in the alternative rock band Kenickie. The group's album At The Club reached the top 10, although her greatest chart success came when she performed vocals on Mint Royale's single "Don't Falter". Laverne has presented numerous television programmes, including 10 O'Clock Live for Channel 4, and The Culture Show and coverage of the Glastonbury Festival for the BBC. She has also written a published novel entitled Candypop: Candy and the Broken Biscuits. She presents the breakfast show on BBC Radio 6 Music, and in 2018 became the host of the long-running radio show Desert Island Discs. Early life and education Born Lauren Gofton, she was brought up in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, in a large family. Her father was one of nine and her mother was one of six. One grandfather had been a shipbuilder, the other a coalminer. Her father, Leslie Gofton, was a sociology lecturer at Newcastle University, and her mother was a teacher. She first attended St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School in 1982, where she befriended Marie Nixon, later to become a fellow Kenickie guitarist, and then St Anthony's Girls' Catholic School between 1989 and 1994, where she and Nixon met Emma Jackson. Laverne went on to study at City of Sunderland College from 1994 to 1996. Career During her time at college, Laverne, Nixon and Jackson, then all aged sixteen, formed Kenickie with Laverne's brother Peter, taking the stage names Lauren Laverne (originally Lauren Le Laverne), Marie du Santiago, Emmy-Kate Montrose and Johnny X (originally just X). Initially affiliated to the Slampt label and the local punk scene, the band later signed with EMI. In all, Kenickie achieved four top-40 hit singles and a top-10 hit album. Laverne, Du Santiago and Montrose became as known for their funny and acerbic onstage banter and interview style as for their music, making all three of them popular contestants on comedy panel shows such as Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Laverne would later appear on Have I Got News for You.