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Charlotte Church (born
Charlotte Maria Reed on February 21, 1986) is a Welsh pop singer and TV
presenter who rose to international fame in childhood as a popular classical
singer. To this date, she has sold 10 million albums worldwide.
****
Background information
Birth name Charlotte
Maria Reed
Born February 21, 1986
(age 20)
Origin Cardiff, Wales,
UK
Genre(s) Pop, Opera,
Classical
Years active 1998-2006
Label(s) Sony BMG
1998-2006
(acquired from Sony
upon merger with BMG)
Website
CharlotteChurch.com
****
Early
life
Church was born in
Llandaff, Cardiff, the capital of Wales. She was raised a Catholic by her
mother, Maria, separated from her natural father. She was legally adopted by her
mother's second husband, James Church. She had her first taste of stardom when
she performed "Ghostbusters" at a holiday camp in Caernarfon at the age of 3,
and had to be dragged from the stage when she refused to leave. Her big break
came at the age of 11 when she sang "Pie Jesu" on the television show Talking
Telephone Numbers in 1997, closely followed by her show-stealing performance on
ITV's Big, Big Talent Show in 1998. This led to concerts at Cardiff Arms Park,
Royal Albert Hall and the opening spot for Shirley Bassey in Antwerp.
Classical career
Charlotte was then
introduced to the Cardiff-based impresario, Jonathan Shalit, who later became
her manager, and negotiated a record contract with Sony BMG. Her breakthrough
album, Voice of an Angel, showcased her unique voice in a collection of arias,
sacred songs, and traditional pieces that sold millions of copies worldwide and
made her the youngest artist with a No. 1 selling album to date.
Church later appeared
on numerous PBS specials and television commercials, most notably in the
acclaimed Just Wave Hello campaign for the Ford Motor Company. The song appeared
on her self-titled second album, which included another array of operatic,
religious, and traditional tracks.
In 2000, she released
Dream a Dream, principally an album of Christmas carols, but including
Charlotte's first foray into a more pop-influenced genre: the title track Dream
a Dream, a memorable song borrowing the melody from Fauré's Pavane and featuring
young American country singer Billy Gilman. Church also sung with Gilman in a
duet ('Sleigh Ride') on his CD Classic Christmas.
In 2001, Charlotte
Church added more pop, swing, and Broadway to her classical repertoire with her
album Enchantment. That same year, movie-going audiences heard Church for the
first time in the 2001 Ron Howard film A Beautiful Mind. Since Celine Dion was
not available to perform the film's end title song, "All Love Can Be" (Dion was
beginning her concert engagement in Las Vegas), composer James Horner enlisted
Charlotte to handle the vocals, and the song was re-written to Church's vocal
range. Charlotte also handled other vocal passages throughout the score.
In 2002, at the age of
16, Charlotte Church released a 'best of' album called Prelude, and took part in
the Royal Christmas tour alongside Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer,
concluding her classical music career. Her next album, Tissues and Issues, would
be of a rather different genre.
Church has also sung in
religious services in Taizé.
Pop
career
Charlotte made her
first venture out of classical music in February 2003 providing vocals for
Jurgen Vries (aka DJ and producer Darren Tate's) single "The Opera Song". She
was credited on the sleeve as CMC. The track reached #3 in the UK charts.
In 2005, she issued her
first pop album Tissues and Issues and the first four singles have all been at
least moderately successful in the UK with "Crazy Chick" reaching #2, "Call My
Name" reaching #10, "Even God" reaching #17 and "Moodswings" reaching #14.
Although these were released in Australia as well, they failed to reach the same
level of success there, and in March 2006 it was announced that there would not
be a US release of same nor any US release until a No. 1 hit was obtained.
In April of 2006 she
performed three concerts in Glasgow, London, and Cardiff, in venues holding
between 2,000 and 3,000 people; the dates at London and Cardiff were sold out.
Supported by Irish band the New Druids, Charlotte performed mix of tracks from
her debut pop album and a number of pop covers including Prince's "Kiss" and
Gloria Estefan's "Rhythm is Gonna Get You." Though Church hinted at the
possibility of a full tour in the future, no dates are yet scheduled.
In November of 2006 it
was announced that she and Sony had parted ways. According to her publicist,
this was a mutual decision reached after a series of meetings, ostensibly since
her five and later six album deal had come to an end. There was some speculation
that Church had decided to take a break (temporarily or permanently) from her
singing career, in order to focus on her successful television show (see below).
Others suggested that the performance of her pop releases in the charts also
played into the decision. [2]
Acting
and television career
Church has made a
number of cameo appearances on the television; she appeared on the CBS series
Touched by an Angel, starred in the 1999 Christmas special of Heartbeat;, in
2003 she presented an episode of Have I Got News For You and in 2005 played
herself in an episode of The Catherine Tate show.
She made her silver
screen debut in 2003's I'll Be There, co-starring and directed by Craig
Ferguson. Church played the role of "Olivia," the daughter of a washed-up 80s
rocker from a one-night-stand played by Ferguson. The film did not meet with
widespread success, playing for only ten days in UK theaters and being released
directly to video in the US.
Church will play a
small role in a new film Bridge of Lies directed by Little Britain director Matt
Lipsey, to be released in 2007.
The
Charlotte Church Show
In the summer of 2006,
Charlotte began work on her own entertainment TV show, "The Charlotte Church
Show." After a pilot episode which caused some controversy but which was never
released to the public[1], the series began on September 1, 2006 on Channel 4.
The show, hosted by
Charlotte and featuring two celebrity guests each week, involves a mixture of
sketches, reality TV, interviews and music, as well as a recurring Welsh theme
(the first show included a Wales vs. the World competition and a Welsh remake of
Will and Grace). Denise van Outen, Michael McIntyre, Ruby Wax and Patsy Kensit
were amongst the first celebrities to appear on the series.
The show has averaged
1.9 million viewers and 10% of the available audience, and on 6 October 2006, it
was announced that Channel 4 had commissioned a further two series of the show.
However, the show's ratings have yet to seriously compete with the
well-established Friday Night with Jonathan Ross which is broadcast on BBC One
in the same timeslot.[citation needed]
Church won a British
Comedy Award for "Best Female Comedy Newcomer" in 2006,[2] and the 'Funniest TV
Personality' award at the 2006 Loaded Magazine's 'LAFTA' awards[3].
Personal life
Church's personal life
has often been portrayed in the sensationalist tabloid newspapers in the UK,
rather more frequently than her career (inspiring the song "Let's Be Alone" on
her album Tissues and Issues).
Revisited with
particular frequency is her love life. In 2002, aged 16, she moved out of the
family home to live with her boyfriend, Steven Johnson (inspiring the song
"Casualty of Love", also from Tissues and Issues); the couple later split at the
end of 2003. The tabloid press documented her subsequent relationship with Kyle
Johnson (no relation), which ended in February 2005. The couple stated at the
time that they remained friends, though shortly afterwards Johnson revealed
graphic details about the couple's sex life to the press, leading to a public
punch from Church, which she later admitted. The press has recently devoted much
attention to Church's relationship with current boyfriend Gavin Henson, a Welsh
International Rugby player: at the end of 2005, they purchased a property in her
native Llandaff, Cardiff for a reported £500,000; both celebrities have since
mentioned the possibility of marriage on talk shows and in the press.[4]
Other aspects of her
personal life have been criticized in the press. In 2002, she was photographed
smoking, and it gradually emerged that she had developed a smoking habit
(another fact alluded to on her album Tissues for Issues, in the song
"Confessional Song"). She has also been criticized for what the press have seen
as excessive partying, with plenty of photos of the singer drunk or misbehaving
adorning tabloid newspapers, including one in which she gave the photographer
the finger. In more recent interviews, Church has stated that she has now
stopped smoking and that her behaviour is now much more low-key.[5][6]
Church has lent her
support to design limited edition T-shirts or vests for the 'Little Tee
Campaign' for Breast Cancer Care which donates money for breast cancer
research.[7]
Has signed a reported 6
figure deal to write her autobiography which will be published in 2007.
Liam Gallagher of the
rock group Oasis is a big fan of Charlotte's, complimenting both her voice and
hellraising activities. [8]
Controversy
Controversy surrounds
the circumstances of the dismissal of Church's first manager, Jonathan Shalit.
He was allegedly discharged from her representation in a letter faxed by
Charlotte's mother; although allegations were later made by the Church family of
"inappropriate tactile conduct" on the part of Mr. Shalit, nothing ever came of
them. He subsequently sued for breach of contract and received an out-of-court
settlement believed to be worth 2 million pounds sterling [9] (although the
exact details were never released, as one of the parties to the matter was a
minor and such details were protected under UK law).
Church has provoked
controversy on some occasions with comments and criticisms (in an interview with
Davina McCall, Charlotte agreed that being diplomatic was "not in [her]
nature"[10]). Her remarks on the September 11, 2001 attacks drew some criticism
[11]. More recently, the Daily Mail reported that the pilot episode of Church's
new show, The Charlotte Church Show, provoked a backlash from some religious
groups, as Church reportedly mocks the Roman Catholic Church and makes some
controversial comments about Pope Benedict XVI, calling him a "Nazi" in
reference to his compulsory time in the Hitler Youth and German Army, where he
served briefly on an anti-aircraft battery.[12] One large Roman Catholic
distributor of books, CDs and other goods, Ignatius Press, is reported to have
pulled Church's products from its catalogue.[13]
Discography
Albums
Voice of an Angel
(1998) #4 UK, #28 US, #22 AUS
Charlotte Church (1999)
#8 UK, #40 US
Dream a Dream (2000)
#30 UK, #7 US, #64 AUS
Enchantment (2001) #24
UK, #15 US
A Beautiful Mind: Music
from the Motion Picture by James Horner (2001)
Prelude: The Best of
Charlotte Church (2002) #76 US
Tissues and Issues
(2005) #5 UK (sales: 236,000)
Singles
Voice of an Angel
"Pie Jesu"
"My Lagan Love"
"In Trutina"
"Panis Angelicus"
"Amazing Grace"
Charlotte Church
"Just Wave Hello" #31
UK
"La Pastorella"
"She Moved Through the
Fair"
Dream a Dream
"Ave Maria"
"Dream a Dream" with
Billy Gilman
Enchantment
"Tonight"
"Carrickfergus"
"The Prayer" with Josh
Groban
Prelude: The Best Of...
"It's the Heart That
Matters Most"
"All Love Can Be"
Tissues and Issues
"Crazy Chick" #2 UK,
#39 AUS, #33 NZ, #10 IRL
"Call My Name" #10 UK,
#60 AUS
"Even God Can't Change
the Past" #17 UK
"Moodswings (to Come at
Me Like That)" #14 UK, #1 MEX
Guest appearance:
"The Opera Song (Brave
New World)" #3 UK, #62 AUS
Filmography
I'll Be There -
Directed by Craig Ferguson (2003)
Endnotes
-
^ BBC News on "The All New
Charlotte Church Show"
-
^ Church wins Best Female Comedy
Newcomer
-
^ Channel 4 agrees to more Church
from Monkey
-
^ Charlotte and Gavin in Hello
Magazine, 10th October 2006
-
^ Interview with Davina McCall
-
^ Charlotte and Gavin in Hello
Magazine, 10th October 2006
-
^ Kidman joins the Breast Cancer
Care crusade
-
^ [1]
-
^ Charlotte Church biography at
BBC Wales
-
^ Charlotte's interview with
Davina McCall
-
^ Church: 'Terror comments
distorted' BBC News
-
^ The Sun: Church ban for Church
-
^ Daily Mail: Charlotte Church
faces Catholic boycott over Nazi Pope jibe
****
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URL of Original Article:
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Date Article Copied:
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