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Warren Stacey

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Warren Stacey
Birth nameWarren Jituboh
Bornc. 1979
OriginWapping, London, England
GenresR&B, soul
OccupationSinger
LabelsDef Jam

Warren Stacey (born Warren Jituboh)[1] is a British singer from London who came into prominence on the UK television show Popstars, the reality programme that created the pop band Hear'Say. Despite not making it into the group, Stacey went on to be signed by Def Jam Recordings and released his debut single "My Girl, My Girl" in March 2002, which made number 26 on the UK Singles Chart.

Life and music career

Stacey's first experience of performing music was singing in a church choir at a young age.[2] In 2001, while working at a London branch of NatWest,[1] he auditioned to become a member of Hear'Say, the pop group that was being formed from the reality television programme Popstars. He impressed the show's judges with a rendition of "Angels" by Robbie Williams and progressed on to the "boot camp" stage of the competition. During the second day of boot camp, Stacey opted to perform a hymn rather than a pop song for the judges. Nigel Lythgoe, one of the show's judges, informed him that the final band was obviously not going to perform hymns and that, at that stage in the competition, the judges were looking for small reasons such as this to eliminate contestants. However, Stacey's part in a group performance of "Monday, Monday" by The Mamas & the Papas was seen as sufficient to keep him in the competition for another day.

"My Girl My Girl"
Stacey's R&B single "My Girl My Girl" was compared to the sound of Craig David.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Stacey was ultimately eliminated from the Popstars competition on the fourth day of boot camp, with the show's judges saying that he was "more gospel-influenced and [they] were after something altogether more poppy".[3] He originally intended to form a trio with Taz and Raymond, two other Popstars contestants who had been eliminated the same day as him.[3] Within weeks of his elimination, Stacey was signed as a solo artist by Def Jam Recordings,[4] who flew him to Los Angeles to write and record his debut single "My Girl My Girl" with production team Red Zone.[5] He played alongside Hear'Say and fellow Popstars contestants Liberty at the 2001 Smash Hits tour in December,[6] before releasing "My Girl My Girl" in March the next year. The single peaked at Number 26 on the UK Singles Chart,[7] with Stacey's sound being favourably compared to that of fellow British R&B singer, Craig David.[1] Stacey provided support at the final night of MTV's Five Night Stand in April[8] and went on to support Destiny's Child on their UK tour in June.[5]

Discography

Singles

Year Title Chart peak positions
UK
[9]
2002 "My Girl, My Girl" 26

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Horan, Tom (14 March 2002). "One that got away". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 June 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  2. ^ "Warren Stacey – Interview @ Designer Magazine". Designer Magazine. 2002. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2002.
  3. ^ a b Simpson, Richard (9 April 2001). "POPSTARS REJECT SET TO BEAT HEAR'SAY TO FIRST MILLION". The Evening Standard. London: TheFreeLibrary.com. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  4. ^ "Popstars reject in album talks". BBC News. London. 10 April 2001. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Popstar to soulstar". Manchester Evening News. Manchester. 8 March 2002. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  6. ^ "Hear'Say on same bill as Popstars rivals Liberty". South Wales Echo. Cardiff: TheFreeLibrary.com. 10 October 2001. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  7. ^ "The Official Charts Company – Warren Stacey – My Girl My Girl". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  8. ^ "MTV Five-Night Stand Details". Tour Dates. 1 March 2002. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  9. ^ "The Official Charts Company – Warren Stacey". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
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