Sarah Joyce (born 3 June 1979), better known by her stage name, Rumer, is a Pakistan-born British singer-songwriter. Supported by leading music industry figures including Burt Bacharach, Elton John, Carly Simon, and Jools Holland, Rumer was nominated for two Brit awards on 13 January 2011. Her debut album, Seasons of My Soul, released in 2010, peaked on the UK Charts at #3, was certified platinum in 2013 having sold over one million copies, and was listed at #26 in the Official Top 40 Biggest Debut Albums of the Decade in 2019. Rumer's voice has been described by The Guardian and many others as being reminiscent of Karen Carpenter. Her stage name was inspired by the author Rumer Godden. Boys Don't Cry, released in 2012, peaked on the UK Charts at #3. She has performed at several festivals such as Glastonbury Festival. Her album This Girl's in Love (A Bacharach & David Songbook) was released in November 2016. In August 2020, she released her fifth album, Nashville Tears (The Songs of Hugh Prestwood). Early life Rumer, the seventh of eight children, was born in 1979 in Tarbela Dam, Pakistan. Rumer's family lived there from 1977 to 1984 while her British father was contracted as Chief Engineer of the Tarbela Dam Project. Her parents split and her Streatham-born mother moved back to England with Rumer and her siblings. Rumer moved to Carlisle aged 11 and attended Newman Catholic School, where she won the school's annual talent show in 1994. Rumer became fascinated with the work of Judy Garland at a young age, and sought solace from difficulties at home and school by listening to artists such as Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman. She was encouraged by her musical family, who all played instruments and played in their local Catholic church. This began her interest in becoming a performer. Rumer later discovered her biological father was the family's Pakistani cook, with whom her mother had had an affair when living in Pakistan. While her mother was dying of breast cancer in 2001, she asked Rumer to make the journey to Pakistan to search for her real father, with her mother reportedly saying "I want to leave this planet with my house in order". She discovered on arriving he had only recently died in a freak accident. Rumer briefly attended the drama course at Dartington College of Arts, in Devon before dropping