Jo Harrop

Born in Durham in Northeast England, Harrop was raised on a steady diet of Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, and credits a Newcastle performance by Tony Bennett she attended as a teen for planting the seed to be a performer. “I was so moved and so inspired, I realized that I needed to sing. I wanted to be able to touch people with my music in the same way.”

Gaining formative experience as a session singer with Neil Diamond, Gloria Gaynor, and Rod Stewart, Harrop moved to London and began her career as a solo artist, signing to Lateralize Records and releasing her debut in collaboration with guitarist Jamie McCredie, Weathering the Storm, in 2020.
The Heart Wants consists primarily of Harrop’s original material and was written when the pandemic lockdown gave her a chance to bear down and make the album she always wanted to make. In her words, “each song is a true story about the dreams and desires, doubts and regrets and trials and tribulations of the human heart.”