Greg Page (musician)
Greg Page |
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Gregory John "Greg" Page AM (born 16 January 1972 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian musician and actor. He is best known as the original lead vocalist and a founding member of the children's band The Wiggles. Page has also recorded several solo albums.
Career
Page met Anthony Field and Murray Cook when they were Early Childhood Education students at Macquarie University, and combined their music backgrounds and teaching skills to form The Wiggles.[1] When performing with The Wiggles, Page wore a yellow shirt. Like the other Wiggles, Page had a schtick, which was doing magic tricks.
His 2005 solo album, Taking Care of Country, reflects Page's interest in Elvis Presley's music. It was recorded with the TCB Band, Elvis' back-up band. In spring 2003, Page performed in Las Vegas with the TCB Band. In 2002, Page sang back-up with Australian Elvis impersonator Mick Gerace.[1]
Illness and retirement
On 30 November 2006, The Wiggles announced that Greg Page would leave the group due to poor health.[2]
Page had experienced health difficulties since December 2005, when he underwent a double hernia operation and withdrew from his group's U.S. tour after suffering repeated fainting spells, slurred speech, fatigue, and trembling.[3][4] Although Page was missing for virtually all of the late 2006 U.S. tour, audiences were informed of Page's absence at concerts moments before the curtain went up.[5] At first, Page was told that he had seven years to live,[4] but he was diagnosed with a non-life-threatening and difficult to diagnose chronic illness called orthostatic intolerance or dysautonomia, which causes symptoms such as fatigue and loss of balance. Specialists believed that Page had mild episodes of the illness going back twelve years, and that his symptoms worsened after his hernias. It was decided that Page would retire from performing with The Wiggles to better manage his health.[2] In the months following the announcement of Page's retirement, he received an "overwhelming outpouring of public support". He reported that it took his parents six months to respond to the "mountains of letters, emails and sympathy notes".[4]
Page was succeeded by Sam Moran as a full member of the group.[2]
Post-Wiggles
By late 2009, Page had recovered enough from his illness to begin touring with another country rock band, but with a more limited schedule than The Wiggles. He had also started his own foundation, the Greg Page Fund, to raise funds and educate the public about orthostatic intolerance.[6] In addition, he is a supporter of, and spokesperson for, the Dysautonomia Youth Network of America (DYNA).
Personal life
Page owns the fourth largest collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia in the world.[7] His collection includes Elvis' personal and movie clothing, marriage certificate, guitar, piano, the last Cadillac owned by Elvis, and original TCB Band necklaces.[8] In 2008 he decided to donate the collection, reportedly worth $1.5 million, to a new Elvis museum in Parkes, New South Wales.[9] Some of the collection was lent for display at the 2008 Parkes Elvis Festival.[10]Greg has also been Ambassador of Angelbear (www.angelbear.org.uk.[11] )- an organisation which sends teddy bears to children in crisis across the world, since 2010 and this year has agreed to become their official patron. In June 2011 Greg will join Angelbear's Melanie Smith, Marie Williamson and Jessica Malcolm in visiting recipient organisations across New South Wales.
Page was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia on 26 January 2010 "For service to the arts, particularly children's entertainment, and to the community as a benefactor and supporter of a range of charities".[12]Greg has also been Ambassador of Angelbear (www.angelbear.org.uk.[13]
)- an organisation which sends teddy bears to children in crisis across the world, since 2010 and this year has agreed to become their official patron. In June 2011 Greg will join Angelbear's Melanie Smith, Marie Williamson and Jessica Malcolm in visiting recipient organisations across New South Wales.
Solo discography
- Greg Page (1998)
- I Believe in Music (2002)
- Greg Page Live in Concert (2003)
- Throw Your Arms Around Me (2004)
- Taking Care of Country (2005)
References
- ^ a b Troedson, David (2002-05-27). "Interview - Greg Page of The Wiggles". Elvis Australia. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
- ^ a b c "Greg Page leaves The Wiggles". The Wiggles Homepage. 2006-11-30. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
- ^ Associated Press (2006-11-30). "The Wiggles' lead vocalist to stop performing". MSNBC. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
- ^ a b c "Yellow Wiggle Greg Page talks of his illness". The Daily Telegraph. 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
- ^ Crooks, Michael (2006-11-29). "Illness forces Greg Page out of the Wiggles". Who.com. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
- ^ Maddox (2009-09-12). "Wounded Wiggle starts to get his groove back". The Age. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
{{cite news}}: Text "Gary" ignored (help) - ^ Braithwaite, Alyssa (2009-01-07). "Collector finds wiggle room among kings of memorabilia". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
- ^ "My obsession - Greg Page". Collectors. Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
- ^ Dunn, Emily (2008-12-31). "Elvis is alive … in Parkes". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Elvis collection to 'wiggle' in for festival". Parkes Champion-Post. 2008-12-31. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
- ^ "Angelbear".
- ^ "Greg Page AM". It's an Honour. Australian Government. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
- ^ "Angelbear".