Tasmin Archer was born on 3 August 1963 in Bradford. She first worked as a sewing machine operator and joined a group called 'Dignity' as a backing vocalist. Later, after studying secretarial skills she became a clerk at Leeds Magistrates' Court.

She helped out at a recording studio in Bradford called 'Flexible Response', and subsequently began working with musicians John Hughes and John Beck. Archer signed to EMI in 1990, and released her first single Sleeping Satellite in September 1992, which went to no.1 in the UK.

The album "Great Expectations" followed in October (reaching no.8). Further singles from the album followed, and although they were top 40 hits in the UK, they did not achieve the same level of success as her debut.

In 1993, Archer won a BRIT Award for the Best British Breakthrough Act. However, she later joked that she kept her award in the back of her kitchen cupboard and claimed that she used it for cracking nuts and tenderising steak.

After disappearing from the limelight, Archer reappeared in 1996 with her second album "Bloom". However, the album (and subsequent single "One More Good Night With The Boys"), failed to make any impact on the chart.

In late 1997, disagreements with EMI left Archer somewhat disillusioned and feeling like she had been treated as a commodity. She decided to take a short break from the industry.

After two years she felt the time was right to start writing again but was hindered by writer's block. Although this didn't prevent her from being initially creative she found it difficult to finish anything musically. However, she did not let this stop her from expressing her creativity in other ways, and she began painting and moulding clay during this time away from the spotlight.

It was also during this time that her love of Sunderland AFC blossomed, committing to a season-ticket with her Sunderland-born musician partner John Hughes in 1999 after falling in love with the team when taken to her first match in the late 1980s. She retains her ticket to this day.

After working through the block and starting in 2002, she and Hughes worked on a new album. Initially this was going to be titled Non Linear, but later became ON. Several demo-versions of the songs from this album were available for free from the messagetothemagnet website which was created for the purpose. People were encouraged to send feedback on the material.