Chesney Hawkes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chesney Hawkes | |
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 Chesney Hawkes pictured at home in 1991
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Chesney Lee Hawkes |
| Born | 22 September 1971 |
| Origin | Slough, Berkshire, England |
| Genre(s) | Pop, Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician |
| Years active | 1990 – present |
| Label(s) | Chrysalis Records Right Track Records |
| Website | Official Website |
Chesney Lee Hawkes (born 22 September 1971), is an English pop singer, songwriter, and occasional actor. He is best known for his 1991 single "The One and Only", which topped the charts in the UK and went Top 10 in the U.S.
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[edit] Life and career
Hawkes was born in Slough, Berkshire, and attended Charters School in Sunningdale. His father is the singer Len 'Chip' Hawkes, formerly with the 1960s band The Tremeloes. Chesney was named after the singer and comedian, Chesney Allen.
Hawkes' career began at nineteen, when he appeared as the title character in the film Buddy's Song. Shortly after this, in March 1991, he released his most famous single "The One And Only", from the film's soundtrack. Written By Nik Kershaw, the song was later featured in the opening credits of Doc Hollywood (1991), starring Michael J. Fox. The single spent five weeks at Number one. He has released eight singles including "I'm a Man Not a Boy" (May 1991) & "Another Fine Mess" (2005) since then.
In 1993 his single "What's Wrong With This Picture?" reached Number 63 in the UK, and his 2002 collaboration with Adam Schlessinger Fountains of Wayne, "Stay Away Baby Jane", reached number 74 in the UK Singles Chart.
Hawkes has had a dedicated core of mainly student fans who have ensured his continued success as a touring artist, and who have been kept loyal by the constant playing of "The One And Only" in student bars and clubs. Hawkes has also had success as a songwriter for other artists, such as A1, Caprice, Tricky, Jennifer Paige & Tears for fears.
Hawkes returned to the media's attention with his involvement in Channel 4's The Games in March 2005, in which he won a Bronze Medal. He also took part in the ITV programme Hit Me Baby One More Time in April that year. He released a new single called "Another Fine Mess" in May 2005, it reached number 48; it was his biggest-selling single for over a decade.
Chesney was involved in a project called the Lexus Symphony Orchestra (http://www.lexus.co.uk/about_lexus/news_and_events/lso.asp and http://www.lexusorchestra.co.uk) This was a world first and Chesney composed two original pieces of music for these events held at Castle Howard and Crystal Palace, UK in August 2007
He released an album Another Fine Mess in 2007, available on his website [1]
Hawkes organizes a very successful annual songwriting retreat in Iceland called Songfusion
He often works with the comedian Tony Hawks on songs which are available on MySpace.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Album
- The Buddy's Song Soundtrack/The One and Only (US title) (1991) #18 UK
- Get The Picture (1993 - Europe only)
- The Very Best Of (2005) - UK only) #128
- Another Fine Mess (2007) In final production
[edit] Singles
- "The One And Only" (February 1991) #1 UK, #10 U.S. [1]
- "I'm a Man Not a Boy" (June 1991) #27 UK
- "Secrets Of The Heart" (September 1991) #57 UK
- "Feel So Alive" (November 1991) did not chart
- "What's Wrong With This Picture" (May 1993) #63 UK
- "Stay Away Baby Jane" (January 2002) #74 UK
- "Another Fine Mess" (May 2005) #48 UK
[edit] Filmography
- Buddy's Song (May 1991)
[edit] Trivia
- Whilst his brother plays drums in his band, Chesney's sister fronted the mid-1990s rock group Transister, that also featured Danny Wilson's Gary Clark.
- He is a supporter of West Ham United Football Club.
- Chesney once dressed and lived as a tramp for 3 weeks to gain a gritty realism for a project about homelessness.
- The phrase "I am the one and only", along with the music from the hit song, is used in the popular AMX mode for the FPS video game Counter-Strike when there is only one player left from a team, against two or more from the opposing one.
