Gareth Gates

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Gareth Gates
Background information
Birth name Gareth Paul Gates
Born July 12, 1984
Origin Bradford, England
Genre(s) Pop
Years active 2002–Present
Associated
acts		 Will Young

Gareth Paul Gates (born July 12, 1984, Bradford to Wendy and Paul Gates) is an English pop singer who shot to fame in 2002 when he came second in the first series of the television talent show Pop Idol.

Contents

[edit] Overview

He has three sisters, Jessica (b. 1993), Charlotte (b. 1991) and Nicola (b. 1985) and a foster brother James (b. 1986).

Gareth is also known for overcoming his severe stammer through the McGuire Programme, qualifying as a speech coach in 2004. He is also a keen supporter of Bradford Bulls and Leeds United F.C..

To date he has sold just over 3 million music singles in the UK alone, including the second and sixth best selling singles in 2002 ("Unchained Melody" - 1.3 million copies sold and "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)" - 570,000) and the second best selling single in 2003 ("Spirit in the Sky" - 550,000 copies).

He also experienced considerable success in Europe and particularly Asia where both his albums were amongst the highest selling international acts for their respective years.

He is currently dating dancer Suzanne Mole.

[edit] Pop Idol and chart success

Gareth grew up with music. He was head chorister at Bradford Cathedral by the age of 11, and achieved grade 8 in piano, classical guitar and singing. He had gained a place at the Royal Northern College of Music before entering Pop Idol.

Early favourite, Gareth 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.)

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-sided "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 1 single, "Anyone of Us"; his third single, a duet with Will Young, also reached number 1. His fourth "What My Heart Wants to Say" reached number 5.

Gates was at the height of his popularity in 2002, with the now-defunct Smash Hits magazine dedicating 7 November as International Gareth Day for his fans. His debut album, What My Heart Wants to Say, entered the chart later that month at number 2 behind David Gray and went double platinum in the UK.

[edit] 2003

With The Kumars, Gareth sang the 2003 Comic Relief charity single, "Spirit In The Sky". This was also a new entry at number one, and stayed there for two weeks, making his fourth UK number 1 hit. He appeared in the charity'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 number 3 and 4 respectively. His second album failed to live up to expectaions and entered the UK chart at number 11, although it did chart at number 1 in some 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.

[edit] 2004 onwards

"Say It Isn't So", a 2003 number 4 single, proved to be Gates' last single release to date in the UK. At the start of 2004 he did an arena tour of the UK, then continued to promote throughout Europe and Asia, before concentrating on other aspects of his career, training as a speech coach and course instructor with the McGuire Programme in order to help 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 2005 and in August 2006 instructed his first course singled handedly. He led his second at Bournemouth [1] on 22-26 November 2006

He also had a part in the film Seeing Double, and increased his charitable work, promoting AIDS awareness through a charity concert to 50,000 people with MTV in Indonesia.

Whilst working on a comeback album throughout 2005, he parted company with his record label Sony BMG in April 2006 [2]. However, his official website states that Gareth will be back 'with various projects', to include a documentary about his experiences in the industry and his life outside it which will be screened on ITV1 before Christmas (on the schedules for Saturday 23rd December). His album will be released in early 2007, with an early preview of his new music at a 'secret gig' on 29th November 2006.

[edit] 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

[edit] Other releases

DVDs
  1. Gareth Gates Live #1
  2. Spirit in the Sky #1
  3. Pop Idol Tour DVD #1
Books
  1. Right from the Start #1 (2002's biggest selling music book)
  2. Talking Point #10
Calendars
  1. Top 10 sales 2003
  2. Top 10 sales 2004

[edit] Tours

  • Pop Idol Arena Tour 2002
  • Will and Gareth Arena Tour 2003
  • Go Your Own Way Arena Tour - UK and Asia 2004

[edit] Other concerts of interest

  • 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 Shaghai, China. October 2004

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Records and awards

[edit] Awards

UK
  • The Record of the Year 2002: "Unchained Melody"
  • Smash Hits Awards 2002: best male, best hair, best newcomer, most fancible male
  • Smash Hits Awards 2003: 2003 best male and best single for 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)

[edit] Records

  • Youngest male to enter at #1 . He was 17 years and 255 days old when he debuted at number 1 with "Unchained Melody" on 24th March 2002.
  • Not only is Gareth the youngest solo male artist to have four no 1's,but he was also the first male solo artist to have 4 no 1 singles in a 12 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.

[edit] McGuire Programme for Recovering Stutterers

  • Youngest UK person to qualify as primary coach and course instructor intern
  • After running workshops at a number of courses, co-led first full course February 2005
  • Led first full course in Galway as instructor in August 2006

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../g/a/r/Gareth_Gates_237b.html"