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Cerys Matthews (pronounced 'Kerris')(born April 11, 1969 in Cardiff, Wales, UK) is a Welsh singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer of Welsh rock band Catatonia from 1992 to 2001.

The daughter of a surgeon, Cerys Matthews was brought up in Swansea and Pembrokeshire. She has cited her childhood heroes as being Pippi Longstocking and the Wombles, due to their love of recycling. She had a reputation of being a bit of a troublemaker and loudmouth, but at the same time generous and loyal, and always ready to stick up for her friends. She learned to play the guitar in her early teens - a period where she described herself as being "a bit of an obnoxious bitch" - teaching herself blues and rude Irish folk songs. After a stint in Spain as a nanny, where she learned to speak Spanish and Catalan, Cerys worked as a cleaner on a beach. She later became involved with the local music scene, befriending - amongst others - Mark Roberts, with whom she would later move in and form a relationship.

The band Catatonia was formed in 1992, reputedly after Roberts heard Cerys busking in a street in Cardiff city centre (this later turned out to be a story fabricated by the band's press officer, as Cerys had known Mark for some time, although they did often go busking). She subsequently sang lead vocals on the band's hits, including "You've Got A Lot To Answer For", "Mulder and Scully", "Dead From The Waist Down", and "Road Rage", and played guitar on the earlier material before second guitarist Owen Powell joined the band. She also performed a single with the band Space named The Ballad of Tom Jones, which tells the story of two lovers who want to kill each other, but then hear a Tom Jones song that defuses their homicidal feelings. In addition, she collaborated with Tom Jones himself to record a version of Frank Loesser's Baby, It's Cold Outside on Jones' album Reload.

Matthews was once voted the Sexiest Female in Rock by the now defunct magazine Melody Maker. She also became a lesbian icon.

In September 2001 Cerys announced her departure from Catatonia after bouts of exhaustion and anxiety, and a spell in rehab due to problems brought on by excessive drinking and smoking. The remaining members of the band continued their career together, under a different band name.

A rejuvenated Matthews moved to Nashville in early summer 2002 in search of a new beginning. She had already collected 76 traditional folk songs with the idea of making an album of folk covers, but meeting Bucky Baxter changed all that. On her arrival in America in June, Matthews handpicked Baxter, who had played lap steel guitar for Bob Dylan and Ryan Adams. Her debut album, Cockahoop, was recorded in seven months and appeared on Blanco y Negro in the UK in May 2003. She toured the album around Britain but with minimal promotion as she was heavily pregnant at the time. Its stateside release followed in October 2004.

Cerys now lives in Nashville with her husband Seth Riddle, whom she married in February 2003, and their two children, Glenys Pearl Y-Felin and Johnny Tupelo Jones.

In December 2005, Cerys Matthews recorded a new version of the classic 60's hit "1-2-3" in Nashville, Tennessee. She's released it as a single with all profits going to a childrens charity.