EllisBextor Archives

22 October 2025

Sophie Ellis-Bextor was convinced to let Murder on the Dancefloor be used in the final scene of Saltburn when she discovered Barry Keoghan would be dancing naked to her hit single.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

The 2001 disco pop track soundtracks Keoghan’s nude dance as his character Oliver Quick through the Saltburn estate in Emerald Fennell’s Golden Globe nominated 2023 movie.

Sophie, 46, was thrilled when she found out the filmmaker wanted to license her song and had no hesitation saying yes when she found out it would be the music to such a memorable moment.

Speaking to Instagram and TikTok creator Luke Hamnett on episode 4 of BRITs podcast The Red Carpet Treatment – On The Road presented by Mastercard, she said: “I knew about Emerald. I never met her, but I was thinking, what a treat you want to use my song. And then I could see this little synopsis that’d be someone naked. I was like, count me in, got to see that.”

Sophie also loves the fact that Saltburn villain Oliver ultimately comes out on top in the comedy thriller.

She added: “I think there is a little dark triumph in the baddie coming out on top, that’s obviously baked into the veins of Murder on the Dancefloor.”

Thanks to the film’s release in 2023, the Groovejet hitmaker has enjoyed a massive career renaissance and is riding the wave of Murder on the Dancefloor’s revival with new music and renewed momentum.

In September, Sophie released her eighth album Perimenopop and she says the sound of the album goes right back to the style of Murder on the Dancefloor.

She said: “It’s disco pop. It’s optimistic. It sums up my relationship with pop music, actually. It’s like a little audio tonic to make you feel a bit better. Because I had this resurgence with Murder on the Dancefloor, it was the first time I was thinking back to when I started with it and seeing the video and the artwork and all that kind of thing. And calling the album Perimenopop was a really amazing way to liberate me from any kind of comparison with that because it kind of put front and centre the fact that that’s not me anymore. And I didn’t really realise that’s what I was doing with the title until I was nearly releasing it. And I felt like, God, I feel really free. I feel like I’m exactly who I am right now.”

New episodes drop weekly via the BRITs’ YouTube @BRITs and social channels @BRITs.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s episode is available to watch in full on @BRITs YouTube or on @BRITs social channels.

After being uplifted throughout her career by the LGBTQ+ community, disco-pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor is making sure that the community knows she stands firmly with them in a new interview.

In an interview with The Independent published Sunday (Oct. 5), the “Murder on the Dancefloor” hitmaker spoke out about the state of politics surrounding the trans community in 2025, sharing her disdain at seeing increased attacks against the community, especially in online spaces. Speaking specifically about those spreading transphobic views online, Ellis-Bextor said she was dismayed at the fervor with which many of them spoke.

“These people make trans people their whole personality and spend their entire day checking their socials and being angry, whereas trans people themselves just want to be under the radar and live their lives,” she explained. Her fears are confirmed by the data. A February study found that instances of hate speech on X rose by roughly 50% in the months after Elon Musk purchased the platform in 2022.

Ellis-Bextor continued, adding that movements such as Pride felt more vital than ever. “There was a time when Pride felt like a celebration of all the shoulders that people were able to stand on, but now it feels like it’s an absolute political necessity,” she said. “I suppose you have to be optimistic that things will get better again, but I do get very down about it.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the singer explained that she’s had to deal with people in her personal life turning on the trans community over the course of the last few years. “I had one of my girlfriends go on quite a weird flip, and it was really affecting me,” she explained. “And you definitely do need to assert that you feel really differently, and then just find ways to support what you believe is being on the right side of history.”

The interview comes a few weeks after the release of Ellis-Bextor’s new album Perimenopop, the singer’s return to disco-pop after the runaway success of her song “Murder on the Dancefloor” in 2024 thanks to its prominent sync in Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn. Ellis-Bextor spoke to Billboard that year about earning her first Billboard Hot 100 entry thanks to the film. “My relationship with the song is great, I perform it all the time — it’s been the song that people associate the most with me,” she said. “But to have it having this little wild adventure on the charts is actually bonkers.”

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‘I could see this little synopsis that’d be someone naked…’ Sophie Ellis-Bextor reveals why she said yes to Saltburn

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Slams Transphobia, Defends Trans Community