|
The following biography
is from
Wikipedia.org
“The
Free Encyclopedia.”
Rachel Lauren
Stevens (born April 9, 1978) is an English singer and an occasional
actress and model. Formerly with the successful pop group S Club 7, she
has now launched a solo recording career and has released seven singles
and two albums to date in the U.K
****
Background information
Born London,
England
Genre(s) Pop,
Dance, Adult Contemporary
Instrument(s)
singing
Years active
1999–present
Label(s)
Polydor (2003-??)
Associated
acts S Club 7
****
Biography
After a
successful audition Stevens became a member of the British pop group "S
Club 7", selling sixteen million records worldwide[1] and achieving four
number one hit singles in the United Kingdom. The group was disbanded in
2003 for reasons undisclosed. Stevens became the first member of the
band to sign a multi-million dollar recording contract and released her
first solo single, "Sweet Dreams My LA Ex", in late 2003, reaching
number two on the UK singles chart. Her first album reached number nine
on the UK albums chart and quickly disappeared. Stevens' follow-up
single "Funky Dory" also failed to gain much attention and charted at
number 26. Critics began to write her off as a one-hit wonder until she
came back with the song "Some Girls" (2004) which quickly became a hit
in the UK, peaking at number two. This was later followed by the October
release of the widely successful single "More, More, More" which acted
as a close on her debut album. Stevens would then returned to music in
March 2005 with the single "Negotiate with Love", which appeared on her
2005 sophomore album "Come And Get It" Along with "Some Girls". The
single "Negotiate With Love" became Stevens fourth Top Ten hit and was
followed by "So Good", which reached number 10, and "I Said Never Again
(But Here We Are)", which made number 12. "Come And Get It" failed to
perform well in the charts, becoming a commercial failure even though it
was praised by the pop music press and other outlets, such as The New
York Times.
Early life
Stevens was
born in Southgate, London of Jewish heritage.[2] Her now-estranged
father, Michael Stevens, was notable for being the guide to the best
places to solicit prostitutes in London.[3] Her mother is Linda Stevens.
She attended Ashmole School in Southgate, London.
From a very
early age, Stevens was drawn to entertaining people. At the age of five
she began taking acting lessons at a drama school near London, but as
time went on she seemed to be more interested in fashion than acting. At
the age of fifteen her first big break when she beat out 4999
competitors in a modelling competition sponsored by Just 17 Magazine.
Following her first modelling jobs Stevens attended the London School of
Fashion and after graduation worked in fashion PR, but began to lose
interest and started to seek out a career in music instead.
Then, at the
age of twenty, Stevens accompanied her brother to an audition in London
for a new pop group, which was being put together by Simon Fuller, the
one-time manager of the Spice Girls. While waiting for her brother to
audition, she was approached by the judges. After many calls and
auditions she was chosen as a member of the new band S Club 7, along
with Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo
O'Meara, and Hannah Spearritt.
Career
S Club 7
Stevens and "S
Club 7" quickly rose to fame, with their debut single "Bring It All
Back" reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart in June 1999. The
groups follow-up, "S Club Party" was also a hit, the groups self-titled
debut album also sold well. The success of their debut album landed the
band their own TV show, S Club 7 in Miami. Minor success in the United
States followed.
Stevens
probably enjoyed more success than the rest of the band members, as she
received the most media attention and was a fan favorite. Despite the
negative press the male members of the group had been receiving, Stevens
was not affected by it and in 2000 was voted the second sexiest woman on
the planet by the men's magazine FHM. Around 2002 to 2003, Jo the lead
singer had vocal problems for a number of weeks. Rachel took over the
role of the lead vocals during this period.
The group was
able to release a successful film in 2003 called S Club Seeing Double
but after a UK tour, the members of "S Club 7" commenced to break up.
Solo career
Funky Dory
After "S Club
7" broke up, Stevens signed a £1.5 million solo four-album deal with
Polydor Records and re-signed with "S Club 7" manager, Simon Fuller.
Breaking out on her own after success with "S Club 7" was hard for
Stevens, "I think we ended up conforming to what people's perceptions
was," she said about the group. "This one was the ditzy one, this one
was the singer, this one was the dancer. And to come out of that and be
a whole person has been a real challenge for me. I didn't have my say,
really, in the group. None of us did."[4] Stevens was the first member
from the group to sign a solo recording contract and expectations were
high for her first release to be a success.
Her first solo
single, written by Cathy Dennis (who has also written for Britney Spears
and Kylie Minogue) and produced by Bloodshy & Avant, was "Sweet Dreams
My LA Ex", released in September 2003. The single was a hit, debuting at
number two on the UK singles chart, beaten to the top spot by the Black
Eyed Peas and their international hit single "Where Is The Love?. The
single was also a hit worldwide peaking in the top ten in multiple
countries including Ireland and Sweden.
Taking
inspiration from R&B music most reminiscent of TLC and Sugababes, and
adult-style pop music by Madonna, Stevens' debut solo album, Funky Dory
was released later that month. The album was a minor hit, reaching
number nine on the UK albums chart and quickly fading away in subsequent
weeks almost without a trace. Although the album was not a huge
commercial success it did gain praise from pop-critics. Jamie Gill, in a
review for Yahoo! Launch, said that Stevens "eschews the cheap and
cheerful approach of her old band for a slinky adult confidence and
musical eclecticism."[5]
That December,
the album's title track, "Funky Dory" was released as the second single.
The song was hailed as being sophisticated and sexy, like its
predecessor, and featured a sample of the David Bowie song "Andy Warhol"
from his album Hunky Dory. Hopes were high that the single would be able
to match the success of "Sweet Dreams My LA Ex", but like her album the
single made a low showing on the charts, peaking at number twenty six
and then quickly disappearing. The song was given mixed reviews by
pop-critics with some calling it "musically better than "Sweet Dreams My
LA Ex" with a hybrid of pop, Latin and even a hint of jazz infusion" but
not a good choice as a single as it lacked anything special and
different, as it did not live up to Stevens' previous single.[6]
In July 2004,
Stevens released a brand new single, "Some Girls" which was produced by
Richard X. After the commercial failure of both her album and previous
single hopes were high for "Some Girls" to perform well on the charts,
with critics calling the single her career make or break release. The
single became a hit across Europe, and reached number two in the UK. All
profits from the single went to the BBC Sport Relief charity. On its
release HMV.co.uk called the single Stevens' "finest song to date"[7],
and Yahoo! Launch commented "she came to save her career. She ended up
saving pop."[8]
Due to the
success of "Some Girls", Funky Dory was re-released to include "Some
Girls" and another new track, a cover of Andrea True Connection's "More
More More". At this point, Rachel stepped up promotion, inadvertently
earning herself a Guinness World Record for “Most Public Appearances by
a Pop Star in 24 Hours in Different Cities” (Seven on September 8-9,
2004). On its single release, "More More More" peaked at number three in
the UK, giving Stevens her third top ten solo single in the UK. The song
was not well received by critics who called the vocals on the song weak
and the fact that the song is a cover uninspiring. Stevens herself has
stated that she dislikes the song. Nevertheless, the song was a hit and
due to the re-release of the album, Funky Dory has sold close to 200,000
copies in the UK to date and was a minor success.[9]
That November,
Stevens was nominated for seven awards at the Smash Hits Poll Winners
Party. She took home two awards, Most Fanciable Female and Best Dressed
Star.
Come And Get It
In late 2004,
Stevens began working on her second solo album with producers and
songwriters Richard X, Alexis Strum and Xenomania. The following March
she released the first single from her upcoming album, "Negotiate With
Love". The song was a minor hit in the UK, reaching the top ten and
received good reviews by critics for its mature and confident sound.
She sang on the
Band Aid 20 single despite not being invited having turned up to the
recording with Will Young who was.
"Negotiate with
Love" was followed-up by the song "So Good", which was released in July
and was another success when it peaked at number ten in the UK. It was
hailed as a good pop song that was "tastily produced and sassily
delivered."[10]
The singles
were followed by Stevens' second full-length studio album, Come And Get
It in October 2005. The album was, like her previous effort, a minor
success peaking at number twenty-eight in the UK. Come And Get It sold
only 18,000 copies in Britain in its first 3 months, and has been deemed
a commercial failure, even though the British pop magazines hailed it as
a great pop album. The album was also released as a special 'Limited
Edition' CD and DVD, which subsequently became a highly-priced item at
online auction sites like Ebay.com
The last single
released from the album was "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)",
released in October 2005 the song peaked at number twelve in the UK. The
single received some of the best reviews of Stevens' career with it
being hailed by HMV.co.uk for its "astonishingly flawless vocal
performance" and as Stevens' "most commercially accessible and quirky
single since "Some Girls"."[11]
Due to the low
charting of the album and its singles no further singles were released,
although multiple rumors stated that "Nothing Good About This Goodbye"
and the Richard X produced "Crazy Boys" were going to be released as
singles. In early January 2006, rumors surfaced that Stevens was to be
dropped from Polydor Records. However, a statement was released by the
Polydor executives stating that she is still with Polydor.
Just before the
release of Come And Get It, Stevens was featured in a documentary,
Rachel: My World which was shown on Channel 4's teenage strand T4, with
cameras following Stevens around for the summer, at road shows,
recording her album, and doing more humble things such as eating out,
and going to the gym.
Release Confusions
The track
"Breathe In Breathe Out" was being prepared to be released as a third
single from Funky Dory, a Promotional CD was even sent to radio's and
clubs to be played, but the track Some Girls later became available and
the album was rereleased. In 2005 a fansite reported that So Good
(Rachel's 6th single) was an unreleased version of a Kylie Minogue song
of the same name. Kylie's track leaked in late 2006 and is actually
confirmed to be a track from Atomic Kitten and the title of which was
Feels So Good instead of So Good.
In 2006 the
Alexis Strum track "Nothing Good About This Goodbye" and the Richard X
track were added to release lists on & off, but either of them ever
materialised and are praised as Steven's best works.
Unreleased Material
It's believed
that Rachel covered a Kylie Minogue track "Made of Glass" but the track
was added as a b-side to one of Kylie's singles released around the time
of album recording Xenomania has denied recording it with Stevens.
Another track entitled "Nothing in Common" written by Stevens and
Richard X was being put into consideration for release on her second
album Come and Get It, but to this day remains an unmastered demo.
Another track is "Rhythm Junkie" (Written by Louis John Biancaniello,
Lisa Greene and Samuel J Watters) which appeared long before any
material from her second album was released, and was believed to be her
first single from the second album but the track was recorded but never
released.
Future in music
The future of
Rachel's music is currently unknown. She spent majority of 2006 back and
fourth between London and L.A. It's also rumored that Rachel will be
appearing in several movies, but again nothing has been confirmed!
Discography
Main article:
Rachel Stevens discography
Studio albums
Funky Dory
(2003), #9 UK
Funky Dory
(re-release)
(2004), #13 UK
Come and Get It
(2005), #28 UK
Singles
Year Single
Album Chart positions UK Sales
UK IRE WLS
2003 "Sweet
Dreams My LA Ex" Funky Dory 2 3 1 225,000
2003 "Funky
Dory" Funky Dory 26 24 24 20,000
2004 "Some
Girls" Funky Dory (re-release), Come and Get It 2 13 1 130,000
2004 "More More
More" Funky Dory (re-release) 3 5 3 68,000
2005 "Negotiate
With Love" Come and Get It 10 27 13 31,000
2005 "So Good"
Come and Get It 10 27 8 32,000
2005 "I Said
Never Again (But Here We Are)" Come and Get It 12 34 9 32,000
Total
538,000
Acting career
While Rachel
was a member of S Club 7, she appeared in all S Club 7 associated series
such as Miami 7, LA 7, Hollywood 7 and Viva S Club and also the S Club 7
feature film, entitled Seeing Double.
Rachel also
appeared in a movie entitled Suzie Gold and appeared in Deuce Bigalow 2,
and is rumored to have appeared in Hostle Deux and the upcoming untitled
Pink Panther movie!
Stevens spent
the first few months of 2006 in Los Angeles in preparation for launching
an acting career. According to Stevens, she is working with the William
Morris Agency, one of the largest acting agencies in the world and she
has been seen visiting the same acting class that Brad Pitt used to
attend.
Personal life
On Valentine's
Day in 2002, Stevens made headline when she became engaged to her
longtime boyfriend, actor Jeremy Edwards. The engagement would not last
long, though. The couple broke up in early 2004 after they had been
dating for over three years.[12] Stevens made headlines in March 2004
when she was ditched by her rumored boyfriend, businessman Simon Brodin.
The couple was rumored to have dated for two months after Stevens
broke-up with Edwards. The relationship was never confirmed by either
side.[13] Six months later Stevens again was in the tabloids as she
started dating Gavin Dein, son of Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, the
relationship would not last long with the couple splitting up in August
2005.[14] Since then she has been linked to Arsenal midfielder Freddie
Ljungberg after taking interest in him because she wanted him to star as
her boyfriend in an upcoming music video. Stevens' commented on the
rumors by telling Neil Sean of Sky Showbiz Gossip, "It's all top secret
but my dream is to have the lovely Freddie in the video for the song as
my boyfriend. I'd like that in real life too, but I’ll start with the
video." She has also been spotted recently in LA in February 2006 with
mystery man who claimed to be her new boyfriend, but it has neither been
confirmed nor denied.[15] She has also been spotted with a mystery man
in Barbados in the last week of April 2006. [16] The April 30, 2006
issue of The Daily Star and The News of the World claim their
relationship has grown romantically and she is surely smitten with Ed
Thomas. The People also reported a similar story as did The Daily Record
who quote an onlooker as saying they look very much in love. [17] She
was also spotted in LA with American actor Stephen Dorff, but they were
quoted as saying they were just friends. [18] She was also spotted with
American-based British singer Oli Trevena (Oli T) who she is rumored to
be dating and the Daily Mirror claimed he was taking her to meet his
parents. She herself claims that, for now, she enjoys the single life
and "loves flirting with strangers." [19]
Awareness campaigns
Although 2005
did not bring the commercial success of earlier years, Stevens made
headlines when she followed in the footsteps of fellow British pop star
Robbie Williams to front the Everyman Rachel Stevensicular Cancer
Awareness campaign. Stevens's role was notable as she was the first
woman to represent this campaign. Her television commercial raised
eyebrows with its suggestive content that included her telling men to
"put one hand down their trousers and give their Rachel Stevensicles a
good feel". On the commercial, Stevens commented, "Sometimes men need a
little encouragement to think about their health. This is a funny way of
raising awareness about a serious subject." [20] The video can be found
here.
In 2005 Stevens
also took part in the Make Poverty History campaign, which aims to
eliminate poverty in third-world countries by supplying aid to them
through food, money, and other resources that these countries do not
have. Stevens donated an undisclosed amount of money to the campaign,
and also starred in television and magazine advertisements supporting
the cause. Her official Web site also displayed the campaign's official
online banner. [21]
Awards
2006
Jammy Awards —
Most Outstanding Female Singer
2005
Smash Hits Poll
Winners Party — Most Fanciable Female
Glamour Awards
— Woman Of The Year
2004
52nd Annual
Showbusiness Awards — Recording Artist Of The Year
Celebrity
Awards — Sexiest Female Celebrity
Smash Hits Poll
Winners Party — Most Fanciable Female & Best Dressed Star
Disney Channel
Kid's Choice Awards — Best Female
2003
Smash Hits Poll
Winners Party — Best Dressed Star
National Music
Awards — Favourite UK Female Singer
World records
Most Public
Appearances By A Popstar In 24 Hours — Guinness World Records 2006
Stevens made
seven public appearances
Achievements
Stevens was the
first woman to front the Everyman Cancer Campaign for Rachel
Stevensicular cancer in 2005.
She was chosen
to open the Olympic Games bid ceremony in Trafalgar Square in July 2005.
She is
currently at number fourteen in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World
2006.
Stevens' cover
of "More, More, More" ranked at number nine on TMFs Top 40 Covers of
All-Time.
Was the opening
artists at the Royal Variety Performance in front of Her Majesty The
Queen in 2003.
FHM Rank
history
2000: #18
2001: #2
2002: #2
2003: #4
2004: #2
2005: #13
2006: #14
****
The
above biography has been copied in part or in whole
from an article on
Wikipedia.org
"The Free Encyclopedia." It has been modified under
the GNU Free Document License Section 5 in the
following manner: (1) All links within the article
have been removed, including text links such as
"[#]"; (2) The "[Edit]" text and link have been
removed [if you would like to update the article,
you may do so from the original page]; (3) the table
of Contents links and text have been removed; and
(4) all of the sections of the original article have
not been copied. All of the above text is available
under the terms of the
GNU Free Document License.
URL of Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Stevens
Date Article Copied:
January 2007
We
will try to replace this article with an original
biography in the near future, but we hope this will
be of help to our visitors in the mean time. |
