Pauline Black was the lead singer with legendary 2-TONE group The Selecter and enjoyed a string of hits in the early '80'S, gaining two gold discs, to mark 100,000 sales of the albums 'TOO MUCH PRESSURE and DANCE CRAZE. The critically acclaimed album CELEBRATE THE BULLET followed. In 1982 she left The Selecter (the band split up soon after), gained her Equity card and diversified into theatre, TV and film acting, TV and radio presentation and writing. She won the Time Out/01 Best Actress Award in 1990 for her portrayal of jazz singer 'Billie Holiday' in a play by acclaimed novelist and playwright Caryl Phillips. She also won the 'Manchester Evening News Best Actress Award' 1993 for 'From The Mississippi Delta' by Dr. Endesha Mae Holland.


The Selecter re-formed in 1991, with a different line-up and regularly toured in U.S.A, Europe and Japan and recorded new material. The band retired from the touring circuit in December 2006.

Currently Pauline is taking a sabbatical from The Selecter and has been touring a new solo project with The Blue Jazz Trio (drums: Pick Withers ex Dire Straits; double bass: Nigel Portman-Smith, ex Pentangle; keyboards: Dom Pipkin, ex Morcheeba) entitled 'The Very Best of Nina Simone & Billie Holiday' since April 2007. An album and DVD recording of this project is underway.

In early 2008, Pauline has been invited to sing and present the JUST SOUL tour, featuring Eddie Floyd & Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band