MILLIONAIRE singer Neneh Cherry has been handed thousands in taxpayer cash to help further her career.
The star, who has sold millions of records, will share £220,000 with 11 other acts.
Swedish-born Cherry, 55, owns a £3.5million mortgage-free home in London’s Primrose Hill.
Her debut 1989 album Raw Like Sushi went platinum in the UK and sold two million globally.
A 1996 duet with Youssou N’Dour, 7 Seconds, sold more than one million.
She won a share of the Department for International Trade’s latest Music Export Growth Scheme.
BOOST HER OVERSEAS SALES
Jazz musician YolanDa Brown, soul singer Samuel Jack and singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin got between £5,000 and £50,000 each to boost overseas sales and fanbases. The British Phonographic Industry, which oversees the grants, refused to say how much went to Grammy award-winning Cherry.
John O’Connell, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Late Gen-Xers will remember Ms Cherry as a global superstar, so they might be wondering why their taxes are picking up these bills.”
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Cherry is wed to record producer Cameron McVey, who’s behind Massive Attack, All Saints and Sugababes.
The BPI said the grants, which have raised £30million in revenue, went directly to record labels. A spokesman said: “The application by Neneh Cherry’s management met all the criteria to be awarded funding.”
Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour had a hit with the song 7 Seconds in 1994ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKynZpOke7a3jqecsKtfbYZzgJRvamimlaOyqXnCoZyrqqliwaLEz5qwnqpdmK60tIymoKWkmaS7orXRnmSsoZ6csrN7