British pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor, 46, posted a sweet childhood throwback on Instagram on Thursday, sparking fan speculation about the identity of the girl in the photo. In the snap, she is seen in blue satin pajamas with short black hair, relaxing in an armchair at home. The caption read: 'Someone tell this girl she might be about to have her sixth top 10 album (love heart emoji).'

Ellis-Bextor first rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the indie band Theaudience in the late 1990s before launching a solo career in the early 2000s. She has since tallied eight UK Top 10 singles and five UK Top 10 albums, credited to her signature mix of disco, pop and electronic music. Her breakthrough came in 2000 with Groovejet (If This Ain't Love), a collaboration with Italian DJ Spiller, which became the UK's best-selling vinyl single of the millennium at the time of its release and continued to be celebrated in later years. Her debut solo album Read My Lips arrived in 2001, peaking at number two on the UK Albums Chart and eventually earning double platinum status with worldwide sales of more than 1.5 million copies. The set yielded hits including Take Me Home, Murder on the Dancefloor and Get Over You.

Her music evolved with subsequent releases. Shoot from the Hip (2003) reached number 19 on the UK Albums Chart and spawned top 10 singles Mixed Up World and I Won't Change You. Trip the Light Fantastic (2007) peaked at number seven, while Make a Scene (2011) delivered Bittersweet, a Top 40 hit that highlighted her ongoing blend of disco, pop and electronic textures.

In 2023, Murder on the Dancefloor found a new audience after its inclusion in the climactic final scene of Emerald Fennell's Saltburn. The track surged back into streaming charts, helped by the film's high-profile moment and social media chatter, and it briefly joined Spotify's Global Top 50, with more than 1.4 million streams in a single day. Ellis-Bextor acknowledged the renewed interest in a post on X, writing: Wow…thank you for all the Murder love. Happy new year! Xx

Saltburn premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2023 before a U.K. release in November. The film earned widespread critical acclaim and received two Golden Globes nominations and five BAFTA nods.

Ellis-Bextor continues to perform and release music, maintaining a prominent role in British pop's disco-inflected lineage as she marks two decades since her solo breakthrough.