As one of the most successful authors in history, J. K. Rowling is clearly a great creative talent. Do her skills also include being able to sing?
There is nothing to indicate that J. K. Rowling possesses any notable singing ability, as we have never heard her doing so. She did, however, create a “Singing Sorceress”, Celestina Warbeck, who is mentioned in three of the “Harry Potter” novels. Rowling later wrote a story about Celestina, which she posted on Pottermore, her official Potter site.
For more on J. K. Rowling and the relationship with music in her life and work, read on.
Rowling and Music
It’s difficult to answer the question of whether or not J. K. Rowling can sing as, quite simply, we have never heard her singing.
However, it seems she has long had an appreciation for music. Born and raised in rural England, in Gloucestershire, it was probably a natural progression that Rowling became something of a rebellious “rock chick” in her late teens and young adult years in the 1980s.
In 1983, on Rowling’s 18th birthday, she and her boyfriend at the time attended the now notorious Elephant Fayre in Cornwall, in South West England. The festival was canceled in 1986 following widespread drug use and outbreaks of violence.
Fortunately, Rowling’s experience at the festival, three years earlier, was a far happier one. She hitch-hiked the few hours to the South West Peninsula, telling her parents that and her boyfriend were being driven down by his brother.
Rowling has spoken about being obsessed with the Beatles in her late teens but said that the aforementioned boyfriend tried to steer her away from popular music into more alternative tastes.
Ultimately, she didn’t agree with her boyfriend’s scorn towards music that other people liked. She named The Smiths and Psychedelic Furs among her favorite bands at the time.
One of her lecturers during her time at the University of Exeter has said that he remembers Rowling for her punkish style and doing the minimum work that was necessary to get by.
Rowling has admitted that she was more concerned with reading the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Dickens than focusing on her French college work.
Celestina Warbeck
Even if Rowling hasn’t displayed any singing ability, one of the lesser-known characters of her “Wizarding World” is a famous singer.
Madam Celestina Warbeck, known as the “Singing Sorceress”, is a Welsh witch and singer who attended Hogwarts in her youth and receives mentions in three of the Harry Potter novels.
Her musical group, Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees, are the favorite musical act of Molly Weasley (the mother of Harry’s best friend, Ron), and perform regularly on the Wizarding Wireless Network.
Rowling has said that her appearance and musical style were inspired by legendary Welsh singer Dame Shirley Bassey, who is well known around the world for singing two of the iconic James Bond movie themes, “Goldfinger” and “Diamonds Are Forever”.
Celestina starred in her own story that Rowling published to her Pottermore site, which she has used to give a spotlight to many of the Potter series’ less prominent characters. She is the daughter of a wizard father and a Muggle mother, who was a failed actress, and Mrs. Warbeck agreed to let Celestina attend Hogwarts after discovering that there was no wizarding stage school.
Harry Potter fans can experience a performance by Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees for themselves, as a real-life version of the group regularly performs at Diagon Alley as part of “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” in Universal Studios, Florida. They often perform Warbeck’s most famous song, “You Stole My Cauldron but You Can’t Have My Heart”.
Even if Rowling hasn’t given us a public musical performance, it’s clear to see that music has been an important part of her life.