| Søren Sko | |
| Birth Name: | Søren Svenninggaard Sørensen |
| Birth Date: | 4 June 1963 |
| Birth Place: | Aalborg, Denmark |
| Genre: | Pop, pop rock |
| Occupation: | Singer, songwriter |
| Years Active: | 1990–present |
| Associated Acts: | Sko/Torp, Shoes for Julia |
Søren Sko (born Søren Svenninggaard; 4 July 1963) is a Danish singer and songwriter, best known as a member of the duo Sko/Torp. The artist got his stage name, Sko, which means shoes in Danish, from his father who was a shoemaker in Hammel.
Sko was born in Aalborg, Denmark. At the age of 9, he and his family moved to Hammel, Denmark. He graduated from Langkær Gymnasium in 1982. After graduating he moved to Aarhus, and began singing in vocal groups for Sanne Salomonsen, among others.[1]
While performing at Aarhus University, Sko met the guitarist and keyboardist Palle Torp. The two musicians formed the band Sko/Torp in 1989. The record company Sonet was reluctant to release their first album On a Long Lonely Night for fear that an English-language album would become a commercial success. Sanne Salomonsen, whose husband Mats Ronander had produced the album, persuaded the record label's manager and the album was released in 1990. On a Long Lonely Night sold more than 200,000 copies. In 1991, the duo was named the new Danish name of the year at the Danish Music Awards, and Søren Sko was named the Danish singer of the year. The duo released three more studio albums as Sko/Torp, before splitting in 1997.
Søren Sko and Palle Torp reunited as Sko/Torp in 2004. The duo began touring with their previous albums.[2] In 2019 They released Heartland, their first album since reuniting, in collaboration with producers Nick Foss and Rune Nissen-Petersen. Their sixth album, After Hours was released in 2016.
In September 1998, Søren Sko released his first solo album, Sko.[3] The album sold 40,000 copies, and earned him the Danish Grammy as the Danish singer of the year.[4] His second studio album Shine was released in March 2000. Unpolished was released in 2001, which included covers of popular songs by Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Poul Krebs, and Rick Astley, among others.[5]
Sko's fourth album Faith Hope Love was released in October 2002. It was his first album which he had written and composed all of the songs independently.[6] In January 2004 One for My Baby was released. The album was produced by the jazz bassist Chris Minh Doky, and featured cover versions of popular songs by Elton John, Lionel Richie, John Lennon, and Stevie Wonder.[7] One for My Baby also contains two songs which Sko had co-written with Palle Torp. It was the first time the two had worked together since Sko/Torp split in 1997.[8]
In 2001, Søren Sko produced EyeQ's debut album Let It Spin, which sold 150,000 copies.[9] EyeQ won the first season of the Danish edition of Popstars on TV 2. Sko was a judge for the second season of Popstars in 2002, along with Simon Junker and choreographer Toniah Pedersen.[10]
In 2012, Sko formed the pop-duo Shoes for Julia with Julia Fabrin Jakobsen, a former vocalist for The Fireflies. Their first single, "Cross the Line" was released that June by EMI.[11] In October, their self-titled debut album was released.
In March 2018, Søren Sko released the album "On Cole" in collaboration with Benjamin Koppel. The album was a tribute to Nat King Cole and Søren's father.
| Released | Album | Record company | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | On a Long Lonely Night | Sonet | |
| 1992 | Familiar Roads | Medley | |
| 1994 | Hey You! | ||
| 1996 | A Perfect Day | ||
| 1997 | Radio Song Book – De bedste fra Sko/Torp (compilation) | ||
| 2007 | Glorious Days – The Very Best Of (compilation) | EMI | |
| 2010 | Heartland | Mermaid | |
| 2012 | De første fra Sko/Torp (compilation) | EMI | |
| 2016 | After Hours | Phd Music | |
| 2018 | Heaven is on our side | Warner |
| Released | Album | Highest chart ranking in Denmark | Record awards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Sko | 7 | ||
| 2000 | Shine | 12 | ||
| 2001 | Unpolished | 3 |
| |
| 2002 | Faith Hope Love | — | ||
| 2004 | One for My Baby | 6 | ||
| 2017 | De Bedste (compilation) | |||
| 2018 | On Cole |