Thrasher, Sibel

Websites:  No
Origin: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA - Vancouver, British Columbia, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Born 12th December 1952, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.
Died 9th April 2020, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Sibel was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised by her mother, grandmother and grandfather who were all ministers of the Baptist church. Their wonderful choir influenced the nine year old Sibel and her two little brothers to become “The Thrasher Singers”. Later in high school, Sibel began performing in R&B and jazz groups. Then, while in New York City, Sibel was asked to record with the New York City great recording artist Roy Ayers. Although she loved working in New York, in 1979 she was asked to join the world famous “Platters” on an international tour starting in Los Angeles. Part of that tour stopped in the Orient then on to Vancouver, Canada for one month in 1981, during which Sibel fell in love – with Vancouver. Eventually Sibel moved to Vancouver and continued pursuing a solo career. In 1984 she auditioned and won the perfect role in Fats Waller’s musical “Ain’t Misbehavin'” which turned out to be a smash hit. Scheduled to run for six weeks, this brilliant show ran two years! The national tour saw sold out houses right across Canada. Nominated for Best Performer in several theatrical productions, she was voted Performer of The Year by the Vancouver Sun writer Alex McGillivary. Sibel was also nominated for Best Gospel Singer of The Year in 1994. Sibel has recorded with popular recording artists such a s Long John Baldry, Donna Summers and Etta James. She is greatly influenced by the great jazz sounds of Sarah Vaughan, the smooth sexy singing of Dinah Washington and Brook Benton, the dynamic sounds of Ella Fitzgerald and, of course, the strong but inspirational sounds of Billie Holiday.

Singer Sibel Thrasher Dead at 67
The British Columbia–based vocalist worked with legends like the Platters and Roy Ayers, and featured heavily on Destroyer’s 2011 album Kaputt
By Madison Bloom

British Columbia–based singer Sibel Thrasher, who featured heavily on Destroyer’s 2011 album Kaputt, has died, local outlet Richmond News reports. She was 67 years old. Destroyer’s Dan Bejar, a fellow British Columbia resident, paid tribute to the late Thrasher in a social media post earlier today (April 17). “Saddened to hear of Sibel’s passing,” Bejar wrote. “Her voice transformed Kaputt, her presence lit the stage. Working with her was a honour and she will be dearly missed. Rest In Peace.” Find Bejar’s post below.

Thrasher was born in 1952 in Cincinnati, Ohio, but she settled in Vancouver, British Columbia in the early ’80s. She began singing and performing professionally at age six. During her 60-year career, she worked with iconic doo wop group the Platters, composer Roy Ayers, blues artist Long John Baldry, pianist Linton Garner, and many others. She released a collection of songs titled The First Face of Sibel Thrasher in 2001. That record included standards like “Fools Rush In” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” She is credited for singing on nine of Kaputt’s tracks on the deluxe edition of the LP, notably on “Chinatown.”

In 2004, Thrasher was inducted into the British Columbia Entertainment Hall of Fame. She also occasionally worked as an actor, starring alongside Donald Sutherland and Diane Lane in the 2005 drama Fierce People, among other films.

B.C. singer Sibel Thrasher left lasting impression on Vancouver music, theatre scenes
Born Dec. 12, 1952, in Cincinnati, it was music that first brought entertainer Sibel Thrasher to B.C.

Sibel Thrasher died April 9. She was 67.
It was music that first brought entertainer Sibel Thrasher to B.C.

During an international tour with the American vocal group The Platters that kicked off in 1979 and saw her perform in California, Japan and Korea, the entertainer found herself in Vancouver for a month-long performance at the Holiday Inn.

She fell in love with the city during that time in 1981 — and eventually moved here to pursue her dream of becoming a solo singer.

“I said I was never gonna leave Canada. I packed my bags and made Vancouver my home,” Thrasher recalled in a 2007 interview in The Vancouver Courier. “I fell in love with Vancouver because of the people, the climate and blue water.”

It was an affection for her adopted hometown that friends say she was quick to bring up whenever she had the chance.

“She loved everything about Vancouver,” Rob Montgomery, a friend, guitarist and bandleader for Incognito, says. “When we’d perform Dock of the Bay live, she would always tell the story of falling in love with Vancouver looking out at English Bay.”

During her decades-spanning career, the “jumbo voiced actor-singer with the four-octave range” (this according to a Victoria Times Colonist article from 2002) worked with music greats such as Roy Ayres, Long John Baldry, Donna Summer, Linton Garner and Etta James. She became a fast fixture in the local jazz and blues music scenes, and also carved out a spot for herself onstage.

It was her turn in the cast of Thomas (Fats) Waller’s musical revue Ain’t Misbehavin’ that firmly affixed Thrasher’s star on the theatre scene. The production ran in Vancouver for more than 1,000 performances, and was considered to be “the longest-running musical in Vancouver theatre history,” according to an article in The Vancouver Sun in November 1993. Thrasher also went on the road with the production on a tour across Canada.

“It was like going to a party every night and getting paid,” she told The Sun of the experience in 1993.

Thrasher went on to have a series of roles in local productions, including The Black and Gold Revue, When the Rains Come, Blues in the Night, and It’s Time to Sing, all at the Arts Club, though she admitted in the article in The Sun that, while she enjoyed her time in the theatre spotlight, she would “rather just sing.”

Thrasher also worked on various entertainment projects, according to her IMDB page, including the TV series The Lone Gunman, Jackie Chan’s Rumble in the Bronx, Death Wish II and the 2005 film Fierce People, which starred Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland.

But it was music that captured Thrasher’s heart; a passion that friends and fans say came through in every one of her performances.

“I first met Sibel playing at the Vancouver Sea Festival in English Bay. The band I was with played before her set. And, when she took the stage, I was completely mesmerized at her whole being and stage presence that was so confident and yet, there was such a humble warmth about her,” Montgomery recalls.

Montgomery, who played several performances with Thrasher throughout the years dating to the 1980s, says that, if you saw her perform once, you became a “fan for life.”

“Sibel was one of those legendary entertainers, that made everyone feel special and important,” he says. “Even if you were at the back of the room, she would reach out and see you.”

Thrasher was also an avid supporter of several philanthropic causes over the years, lending her voice and star power to benefits at The Yale, The Commodore Ballroom, the Edgewater Casino and more, friends say.

“She was very much a reason the events were so successful,” Montgomery says. “If Sibel was on the show, it was packed.”

Throughout her career Thrasher garnered several accolades, including two nominations for Best Performer at the Jessie Awards, as well as a nod for the Best Gospel Singer of the Year in 1994. She was inducted into the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2004.

Thrasher died April 9 at age 67.