La Roux was initially formed by two people, singer Eleanor Jackson and record producer Ben Langmaid. After their split in 2014, La Roux means only “Elly” Jackson. She was born on March 12, 1988, in London, United Kingdom. Her mother is actress Trudie Goodwin and actor Kit Jackson. Jackson’s grandfather was Anthony Bernard, known to be founder of the London Chamber Orchestra and first musical director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford upon Avon. Jackson built her education at Pimlico School, Sydenham High School, and Royal Russell School
Music Inspiration
When it comes to music, she was first inspired by folk music. She loved Carole King, Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell. Her parents influenced somehow her music taste, as she found these two singers in her parents’ record collection.
When she became a teenager, her taste in music changed. She became closer to rave music. She said she used to listen to Depeche Mode, Prince, Madonna, Jenny Wilson, Gerry Rafferty, Michael Jackson, the Eurhythmics, The knife and David Bowie.
In 2010 she mixed a volume of Sidetracked. This is a project that encourages young electronic artists to show their musical interests. La Roux used for her compilation songs from Joyce Sims, Fever Ray, Japan, Tears for Fears and others.
Elly Jackson’s beliefs
She does not approve the perception people have when it comes down to appearances. This is why she adopted an androgynous clothing and style in general. Even though her producers made some attempts to give her a more feminine look, she sticks to her belief.
When it comes down to the name, La Roux means “red haired”. It refers also to Jackson’s hair which has a reddish color. It is a combination between two French terms: le roux and la rousse. The meaning that should come is a person with red hair without any gender. So, she combined the feminine article la with the masculine roux.
First Album
Jackson and Langmaid first met in 2006. In the beginning, their first project was called Automan. It consisted mainly in acoustic music. La Roux’s debut single was released in December 2008. Its name was Quicksand and it was released by Kitsuné Music, a French independent record label.
In 2009, on March 16, La Roux released her second single, In for the Kill. The song gained more attention and caught the eye of Skream and Skrilex. They both made dubstep remixes of her track. The single reached number two in UK Singles Chart. On June 21 2009, La Roux released another single, this time with Chrispy. The song debuted first place on the UK Singles Chart.
La Roux, as she entitled her album, made it to number 70 in Billboard 200 and number 4 on the Dance/Electronic chart.
In 2009, La Roux did a eight-city tour in North America. On July 23 the band performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! late-night show. La Roux’s new album Trouble in Paradise was released in 2014.During the promoting tour, Jackson announced that she split with Langmaid. It is believed that after these years in the business La Roux has an estimate net worth of $ 3 million.
