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Revision as of 02:41, 11 October 2010
Brooke Fraser |
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Brooke Gabrielle Fraser (born 1983) is an award-winning New Zealand folk-pop singer-songwriter.
Early life
Born on 15 December 1983 in Wellington, Fraser is the eldest of the three children born to former All Black, Bernie Fraser[1] and his wife Lynda Fraser.[2] She grew up in Naenae, Lower Hutt and attended Dyer Street School, Naenae Intermediate School and Naenae College.[3]
Fraser took piano lessons between the ages of seven and seventeen. She started writing songs at age twelve and taught herself the acoustic guitar at fifteen, although despite her singing success she has never taken singing lessons.[3]
She performed at Parachute, an annual New Zealand Christian music festival, and did so for several years, beginning in 2000 – including a special guest performance in 2007.[3]
She began writing for the Soul Purpose magazine at age fifteen, and was later made editor in 2002. She gave up her job as editor shortly after moving to Auckland in late 2002 in order to pursue her music career.[4]
Musical career
In 2002, while Fraser was in Auckland, Scotty Pearson, the drummer for Elemeno P, organised a meeting with producer Matty J for her. Matty J became her manager, liaising with the major labels who had shown interest and compared their offers. Fraser had about five different labels offer her deals and chose to sign a multi-album deal with Sony Music.[5]
What to Do With Daylight
Fraser's first album, What to Do with Daylight, was released in New Zealand in late 2003, debuting at number one and achieved gold status in the same week. The album eventually went seven times platinum,[6] selling over 105,000 copies in New Zealand alone.[7] It remained on the album charts for sixty-six weeks.[8] All five singles from the album reached the top twenty in the New Zealand Singles Chart.[9] Her album also topped the New Zealand Top 50 Albums of 2004.[10]
Following the release of What to Do with Daylight, Fraser toured Australia and New Zealand with American artist John Mayer and then toured New Zealand with veteran U.K. rock artist David Bowie.[11][12] Whilst on tour with John Mayer, she met with his guitarist and keyboardist Michael Chaves who, after recording Mayer's album Heavier Things, Fraser enlisted to play on her album and future concerts.[13]
Albertine
In 2005, prior to writing and preparing her follow-up album, Fraser/Ligertwood took a trip to Africa to immerse herself in Rwanda before visiting her sponsor children in Tanzania, as she is an advocate for child sponsorship. In this trip, she was so moved that she wrote the song "Albertine" about a young child (named Albertine), whom she met while in Rwanda. It was later decided to make this song the album's title track.[14]
For the second album, Fraser decided to enlist a new band, primarily constructed from American musicians who'd worked with an array of notable artists, both live and recorded.[15] In 2006, Fraser and the band went into the studio in Los Angeles to record the album. Later, Fraser also allowed her MySpace page to give visitors a listen to the album's first single "Deciphering Me", which was later released initially to radio and ultimately to CD single, and achieved number four in the New Zealand single charts.
On 4 December 2006 Albertine was released in New Zealand, achieving double platinum status less than a month after its release and has remained, to date, in the top 20 every week since. The album was released in Australia and internationally on 31 March 2007. In Australia, it charted at number twenty-nine in its first week on 9 April and has thus far achieved Gold sales status in Australia.
On 6 April 2007, Fraser performed "Deciphering Me" for the Good Friday Appeal, an annual televised fundraising event to raise money for the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.
In 2008, Fraser appeared on the Dave Barnes song "Believe" from his album Me + You + the World, performing backing vocals.
Albertine was also Fraser's U.S. debut, released 27 May 2008 and entered the Billboard 200 at number ninety on 19 July 2008. Her album propelled in success with online sales after being chosen as Editor's Choice on iTunes. On July 4, 2008 Fraser supported Canadian artist/U2 collaborator Daniel Lanois at the Montreal Jazz Festival. In August she toured the southern U.S.[16] In September, she re-toured several major U.S. cities and completed the tour at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, UK.
Flags
Her third album, "Flags" is due to be released on 12 October 2010.[17] The making of the album is documented in a series of videos that can be found on her website.
Personal life
After the success of her first album, Fraser moved to Sydney, where she has lived since 2004. She commutes to the U.S. for touring. On March 17, 2008 she married Scott Ligertwood, in Sydney, changing her name to Brooke Ligertwood.[18] "Brooke Fraser" has remained her stage name for her activity as a Sony BMG recording/touring artist. She continues to contribute to writing songs for Hillsong church, now as "Brooke Ligertwood". Among her notable worship songs are "Desert Song" and "Hosanna". Despite the Christian character of much of her music she has been critical of the commercialism of the Contemporary Christian Music industry.[19]
Charity work
Fraser has been a World Vision Artist Associate since 2001. She has visited Cambodia and Tanzania with World Vision, the Philippines with Opportunity International and independently traveled to Rwanda in June 2005, in June 2006 as part of charity event "Hope Rwanda", and in May 2007 when she filmed the music video for the song "Albertine". In 2006 she, along with Petra Bagust and Tau from Spacifix, appeared advertising the World Vision 40 Hour Famine; an event which raises funds for children in third world countries. She also sponsors a number of children through World Vision[citation needed] and makes child sponsorship available to people at her shows in NZ, Australia and the U.S., in addition to providing her audiences with other ways of contributing to the work of World Vision (i.e. fundraising t-shirts etc.).
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ [9] |
AUS [20] |
U.S. [21] |
U.S. Chr. [21] |
U.S. Ind. [21] | |||
| 2003 | What to Do with Daylight
|
1 | — | — | — | — | NZ: 7× Platinum[6] |
| 2006 | Albertine
|
1 | 29 | 90 | 3 | 9 | NZ: 4× Platinum[22]
AUS: Gold[23] |
| 2010 | Flags
|
To be released[24] | |||||
Singles
| Year | Title | NZ peak chart position [9] |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Better" | 3 | What to Do with Daylight |
| "Lifeline" | 7 | ||
| 2004 | "Saving the World" | 15 | |
| "Arithmetic" | 8 | ||
| 2005 | "Without You" | 16 | |
| 2006 | "Deciphering Me" | 4 | Albertine |
| 2007 | "Shadowfeet" | 13 | |
| "Albertine" | — | ||
| 2010 | "Something in the Water" | 6 | Flags |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004[25] | "Better" | Most Played Composition in New Zealand | Won |
| 2007[25][26][27] | "Deciphering Me" | Won | |
| APRA Silver Scroll | Nominated | ||
| "Albertine" | Won |
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004[28] | Herself | People's Choice Award | Nominated |
| What To Do With Daylight | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| Best Female Solo Artist | Won | ||
| Breakthrough Artist of the Year | Won | ||
| "Lifeline" | Single of the Year | Nominated | |
| Songwriter of the Year | Nominated | ||
| 2007[29] | Herself | People's Choice Award | Nominated |
| Albertine | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| Best Female Solo Artist | Nominated | ||
| Highest Selling Album | Won | ||
| "Deciphering Me" | Single of the Year | Nominated | |
| Airplay Record of the Year | Won | ||
| 2009[30] | Herself | International Achievement | Won |
References
- ^ Hurley, Bevan (7 March 2010). "Singer's Hollywood sojourn turns ugly". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ Monk, Felicity (6 – 12 March 2004). "Brooke Fraser". New Zealand Listener. Vol. 192, no. 3330. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
{{cite magazine}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c "Brooke Fraser Biography". BiggestStars.com. Archived from the original on 19 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ Smithies, Grant (6 August 2007). "A close encounter with Brooke Fraser". Sunday Star-Times. Archived from the original on 19 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ Hobbs, Rick (2003). "Fast Tracking Brooke Fraser". NZ Musician. Archived from the original on 20 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ a b "What To Do With Daylight: ABR". Marbecks. Archived from the original on 19 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ "Chart Facts". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ "Brooke Fraser – What to Do with Daylight". Hung Medien. charts.org.nz. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ a b c "Brooke Fraser in New Zealand charts". Hung Medien. charts.org.nz. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ "New Zealand Top 50 Albums of 2004". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. charts.org.nz. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ "Basics". brookefraser.net. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ "Brooke Fraser". muzic.net.nz. Archived from the original on 20 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ "Brooke Fraser". SteroSubversion. 9 June 2008. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ http://www.brookefraser.com/
- ^ The NewsTours Page on Fraser's website indicates her band's history.
- ^ "Brooke Fraser puts a Kiwi note into US charts". The New Zealand Herald. 21 July 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
- ^ http://brookefraser.com/
- ^ News of marriage in NZ Girl
- ^ http://www.aboutchristianmusic.com.au/brooke_fraser_interview.html
- ^ "Brooke Fraser in Australian charts". Hung Medien. australian-charts.com. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ a b c "Brooke Fraser". Billboard. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ "Latest Gold / Platinum Albums". RadioScope. 24 June 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2008 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. 31 December 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ Kara, Scott (5 August 2010). "Brooke Fraser Flags L.A. as inspiration". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
- ^ a b "Brooke Fraser". Pacific Starmap. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
- ^ New Zealand Press Association. "Fraser takes Silver Scroll with Albertine". Fairfax New Zealand. Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- ^ "APRA Silver Scroll Awards 2007". 17 July 2007. Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
- ^ "Four dominate at 2004 music awards" (Press release). New Zealand Music Awards. 23 September 2004.
- ^ Hunkin, Joanna (19 October 2007). "Mint Chicks, Hollie Smith dominate NZ Music Awards". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- ^ New Zealand Press Association (8 October 2009). "NZ Music Awards Winners". Television New Zealand. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.