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Official
Biographies
- 1999
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1999 Bio | 2000 Bio
| 2001 Bio | 2002 Bio
| Charlotte's
Story Book | Charlotte's
Autobiography
The results
achieved by Charlotte Church in the short time we've known her are
nothing short of amazing: 92% in Music, 87% in French, 87% in
History.
Those, as
Charlotte will proudly tell you in some detail, are her own exam
ratings at the end of a school year which also happened to include
becoming an internationally acclaimed, two million-selling soprano
with her debut Sony Classical album Voice Of An Angel. Now 13, she's
ready to do it all again with the November 1999 release of her
second album, simply titled Charlotte Church.
It has been a
year that would impress a seasoned veteran, but nothing seems to
dilute the energy and sheer joie de vivre of the extraordinary vocal
discovery from Cardiff, who at the age of 12 found herself in
company about as exalted as it gets. She performed at the Prince of
Wales' 50th birthday celebration at the Lyceum Theatre, London, at
Pope John Paul II's Christmas concert at the Vatican, for the Queen
at the opening of the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, and at the Ford
Theatre in Washington, D.C., before President and Mrs. Clinton.
What was it
like meeting the Pope, then, Charlotte? "It went really
well," she beams. "I've met so many people, Elton John,
George Michael, the Spice Girls, Will Smith , David Bowie,Danny
Devito , All Saints...everyone's been really nice to me." She
also has plenty of heroes and heroines in the classical and operatic
worlds, and she's met plenty of them too, including Kiri Te Kanawa,
Placido Domingo, Kathleen Battle and Andrea Bocelli. Every one of
those superstars, like the audience that has turned Charlotte Church
into an international phenomenon, marvels at her radiance.
It all began
when she performed Pie Jesu on the television show Talking Telephone
Numbers in 1997 at the age of 11. The performance was so magnetic,
that Sony Music UK Chairman and Chief Executive Paul Burger, signed
Charlotte on the spot to a multi-album deal within minutes of her
first visit to his office. Soon, Pie Jesu was one of the highlights
of Voice Of An Angel, an album on which Charlotte glided gracefully
from Ave Maria to Amazing Grace, from Danny Boy to Jerusalem.
But don't
mistake Charlotte's confidence for arrogance. "The success was
a huge surprise," she says, "because the day before the
album was released I was so nervous. I thought it would probably
sell like one or two thousand copies."
In actual fact,
the album raced to double platinum status (600,000 copies) in the UK
alone and made her the youngest artist ever to have a No.1 album in
the classical charts, in addition to being the youngest ever artist
to have a top 5 hit in the UK album charts. Before long, it became a
sensation in the USA, turning gold as Charlotte was invited to
perform on such TV institutions as The David Letterman Show, The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno,The Today Show, Good Morning America,
Rosie O'Donnell and Oprah.
On the way, her
album made her the youngest solo artist ever to achieve a Top 30
album in the US charts.She has already visited New York six times,
made three visits to Los Angeles and made countless friends in many
other US cities and countries around the world.
There hardly
seems to have been a minute to take stock, let alone fit in those
excellent school results, grab a holiday with her family in Turkey
and continue promoting Voice Of An Angel, which remains a fixture on
the Billboard 200 album chart and is still, at writing, top of the
magazine's Classical Crossover chart after three-months at No.1.
Ms.Church has
not only managed all that, she's also completed the recording of her
second album at Air Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra,
which she's even more excited about. "It was great fun. I've
enjoyed making both albums," she says. "I think I've
improved a lot, my voice has changed and matured. This time the
songs are not so one-themed, not so religious, more mixed."
High points on the album include Just Wave Hello, Men Of Harlech,
the song she performed for Prince Charles at his 50th birthday
celebration, and is also featured on Charlotte's hit television
special for PBS in the US; Rossini's La Pastorella, Puccini's O Mio
Babbino Caro and other popular melodies such as Barcarolle and The
Last Rose Of Summer.
As before,
another huge list of glittering occasions has built up for
Charlotte. After presenting the Best Newcomer Award at the MTV
Awards in New York in September, she appeared on the US TV hit show
"Touched by an Angel", performed at such events as the
Rugby World Cup Final and the Royal Variety Show. And of course
there is always the great leveler for the vocal prodigy: school.
"I was
happy with all my exam marks and my education is as important as my
singing," says Charlotte. "All my school friends think I
don't study when I go away, but I have three hours' tutoring a day.
My tutor makes me work hard."
Thanks to Paul
Sexton and Sony for providing this!
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