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Gareth Gates

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Template:Infobox musical artist 2 Gareth Paul Gates (born July 12, 1984, Bradford, England) is an English pop singer who shot to fame in 2002 when he came second in the first series of the ITV talent show Pop Idol. Gates is also known for overcoming his severe stammer through the McGuire Programme [8], qualifying as a speech coach in 2004 [9].

Early life

Gates was born in Bradford. He has three sisters, Jessica (b. 1993), Charlotte (b. 1991) and Nicola (b. 1985) and grew up with cousin James (b. 1986) who was fostered by the family.His parents regularly foster other children.[1]

Gareth joined Bradford Cathedral choir at age nine.[2] He was head chorister at Bradford Cathedral by the age of eleven, singing solo for the Queen when she visited in 1997.[3] Gates achieved Grade VIII in piano, classical guitar and singing. He had gained a place at the Royal Northern College of Music before the finals of Pop Idol.[4]

Career

An early favourite to win, Gates was runner-up on the first series of Pop Idol. Despite not winning the competition, he was soon signed up with Simon Cowell's record label BMG. (Cowell had been one of the Pop Idol judges, notorious for his harsh criticisms of many of the contestants.)

Post-Pop Idol

Gates' first single, a cover version of "Unchained Melody", entered the UK Singles Chart at number one, knocking Will Young's first single — the double A-side "Anything is Possible"/"Evergreen" — off the top of the chart. The single was voted 2002's Record of the Year by ITV viewers. This was followed by another high selling number-one single, "Anyone of Us". His third single, "The Long and Winding Road", a duet with Will Young, also reached number one. His fourth, "What My Heart Wants to Say" reached number five.

Gates was at the height of his fame in 2002, with the now-defunct Smash Hits magazine dedicating 7 November as International Gates Day for his fans.

His debut album, What My Heart Wants to Say, entered the chart the previous month at number two with first week sales of over 100,000, and went on to achieve double platinum status.

In 2003, Gates sang the 2003 Comic Relief charity single, "Spirit In The Sky", with The Kumars. This was also a number-one hit, staying there for two weeks. He also appeared in Comic Relief's Celebrity Driving School. Through Comic Relief, he became involved with Body and Soul, a charity that helps people affected by HIV and AIDS. He continues to be involved.

His next two singles "Sunshine" and "Say it Isn't So" reached numbers three and four respectively. His second album Go Your Own Way entered the UK chart at number eleven, charting at number one and achieving platinum status in a number of Asian countries.

Gates has enjoyed significant success outside the UK, particularly in Asia, South Africa and many European countries. He won MTV Asia's award for Best International Male in 2003/4 and was awarded the same title by MTV China and MTV Taiwan.

"Say It Isn't So", a 2003 number-four single, proved to be Gates' last single release in the UK to date. At the start of 2004 he did an arena tour of the UK, then continued to promote throughout Europe and Asia, before taking a break and training as a speech coach and course instructor with the McGuire Programme.

He also had a part in the film Seeing Double, and increased his charitable work, promoting AIDS awareness through a charity concert to fifty thousand people with MTV in Indonesia.

To date, Gates has sold just over three million music singles in the UK alone, including the second and sixth best selling singles in 2002 ("Unchained Melody", which sold one point three million, and "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)", which sold 570,000) and the second best selling single in 2003 ("Spirit in the Sky", 550,000 copies).

Recent career

Whilst working on a comeback album throughout 2005, he parted company with his record label Sony BMG in April 2006. He appeared on a documentary called Whatever Happened to Gareth Gates? about his experiences in the industry and his life outside it. This was screened on ITV1 in December 2006. The documentary confirmed a new record deal with UMTV, and an album as well as showcasing snippets of the new material. His album will be released in July 2007. An early preview of his new music was given at a secret gig on 29 November 2006 where he sang tracks titled "Afterglow", "Pictures", "Changes", "Angel on My Shoulder", "New Kid in Town", "Lost in You", "Can't Believe It's Over" and "19 Minutes".[5] He has been working with writers such as Sacha Skarbek (James Blunt), Ricky Ross (of Deacon Blue fame) and Pete Gordeno (Depeche Mode), and has been produced by Martin Terefe, Jon Hall and Nick Whitecross.[6]

Since 2004 Gates has been working extensively with singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke (best known for her 1979 hit "Stay With Me Till Dawn"). Initial contact was made through Lucie Silvas; Silvas, a long-time backing vocalist on Tzuke's albums and tours, co-wrote most of her 2004 album Breathe In with Tzuke, and also wrote and sang backing vocals on Gates' first album. Gates' regular acoustic guitarist, Graham Kearns, also worked with Tzuke and has writing credits with Gates on both albums. Appearing at Crewe's Limelight during Tzuke's October 2004 tour, Gareth sang backing vocals to a surprised audience on Tzuke's track "Bully" (from her album Secret Agent). A song Gates co-wrote with Tzuke, "Dark Days", appeared on Tzuke's 2007 album Songs 1 and is also due to appear on Gates' forthcoming album.

Gates has confirmed on his official website that the first single from the new album will be "Changes" due out on 9 April 2007, with an album called Pictures of the Other Side to follow. The video for "Changes" was directed by Andy Hylton.

On March 30th 2007 Gareth appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, the first time he has participated in an interview for a mainstream TV chat-show since his speech improvement.

Personal life

Gates is qualified as a speech coach and latterly course instructor with the McGuire Programme where he helps those with stammers such as his own. He was the youngest UK person to qualify as a speech coach with the programme. He co-led his first full course in February 2005 and in August 2006 instructed his first course single-handedly in Galway.[7] He led his second at Bournemouth in November 2006.

Gates is a keen supporter of Bradford Bulls and Leeds United F.C..

Gates was alleged to have had a liaision with glamour model Katie Price during the 2002 Pop Idol. Gates initially denied the rumours but finally admitted the affair in 2003. At first he refused to confirm the stories saying that he "sees relationships as private" and was hurt that Price told the media about their relationship.[8]

Gates is currently dating dancer, choreographer and model Suzanne Mole. In October 2006 The People newspaper reported that they had secretly married,[9] although this was since shown to be untrue.

Discography

Album cover Album information
What My Heart Wants to Say
  • Chart positions: #1 (Taiwan, South Korea), #2 (UK)
  • Certification: Double platinum in U.K, Triple platinum in Taiwan, platinum in Indonesia and Malaysia, Gold in Norway
  • Additional Sales info: 48,000 + in Spain, 140,000 + in South Africa
  • Biggest selling western artist album in Taiwan
  • 2nd biggest selling western artist album in MTV Asia area
  • Singles:
  1. "Unchained Melody" UK #1,
  2. "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)" UK #1 , NL #1
  3. "The Long and Winding Road" (duet with Will Young) / "Suspicious Minds" UK #1 (double-A side)
  4. "What My Heart Wants to Say" UK #5
Go Your Own Way
  • Chart positions: #1 (Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia), #11 (UK)
  • Certification: Double platinum in Taiwan, Gold in South Africa
  • Additional sales info: 30,000 + in Spain
  • Biggest selling Western artist album in Taiwan
  • Singles:
  1. "Spirit in the Sky" UK #1
  2. "Sunshine" UK #3,
  3. "Say It Isn't So" UK #4
Pictures of the Other Side
  • Singles:
  1. "Changes"

DVDs

  1. Gareth Gates Live
  2. Pop Idol Tour DVD

Tours and concerts

Tours
  • Pop Idol Arena Tour 2002
  • Will and Gareth Arena Tour 2003
  • Go Your Own Way Arena Tour - UK and Asia 2004
Other notable concerts
  • Private concert for the Prince of Brunei, January 2005
  • MTV Asia AIDS Awareness Concert, Indonesia, December 2004
  • Concert to open Louis Vuitton's first store in Shanghai, China, October 2004

Records and awards

Awards

UK
  • The Record of the Year 2002: "Unchained Melody"
  • Smash Hits Awards 2002: best male, best hair, best newcomer, most fanciable male
  • Smash Hits Awards 2003: best male, best single ("Sunshine")
  • Young Achievers Yorkshire 2002
  • Special award for service to Yorkshire 2002
  • OUT magazine awards 2003: best singer, best video ("Sunshine"), best performance at G-A-Y
Outside the UK
  • MTV Asia: Best International Male 2003/2004
  • MTV China: Best International Male 2003/2004
  • MTV Taiwan: Best International Male 2003/2004
  • TMF Belgium: Best International Pop
  • MTV Taiwan: Inspiration to Youth
  • G-Music (Taiwan): Best International Artist 2003
  • Hit FM: Best single of 2003 (AOU)

Records

  • Youngest male to enter the UK Singles Chart at #1. He was seventeen years and 255 days old when he debuted at #1 with "Unchained Melody" on 24 March 2002.
  • Not only is Gates the youngest solo male artist to have four number ones, but he was also the first male solo artist to have four number-one singles in a twelve month period since Frank Ifield in 1965.
  • Fans with the loudest screams: Sheffield Arena during "Mack the Knife", Pop Idol Tour. Recorded at 130 decibels.

References

  1. ^ [1] BBC Online
  2. ^ [2] Craven Herald
  3. ^ [3] Deccan Herald
  4. ^ [4] Gareth Gates and Sian Solanas (2002) Right From the Start. Virgin Books, London.
  5. ^ [5] GPG News
  6. ^ "[6]". Accessed on 29 December 2006.
  7. ^ "[7]", Irish McGuire Programme. Accessed on 1 January 2007.
  8. ^ "Gates admits Jordan relationship", bbc.co.uk, 15 July 2003. Accessed on 27 December 2006.
  9. ^ "Gareth Gates Secretly Marries Suzanne Mole". The People. Accessed 28 December 2006.
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