Gabriella Cilmi

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Gabriella Cilmi
Born 10 October 1991 (1991-10-10) (age 16)
Origin Melbourne, Australia
Genre(s) Soul, Vocal Jazz, R&B
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active 2005 – present
Label(s) Warner Music, Island Records & Xenomania
Website http://www.gabriellacilmi.com

Gabriella Lucia Cilmi[1]is an Australian singer and songwriter. She is best known for her debut single "Sweet About Me", released in 2008.

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[edit] Early life

Cilmi was born 10 October 1991 in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong. She lives with her dog Toni, brother Joseph and parents Paula and Joe. She attended Sacred Heart Girls' College, but now continues her education via correspondence. At a young age she acquired an interest in a wide range of musical styles ranging from Nina Simone to Led Zeppelin. Despite her natural aptitude and vocal talent, she was told that she lacked the discipline necessary to pursue a singing career. During this time she formed a garage rock band which performed cover songs of classic bands. She recorded original songs with writer/producers Barbara and Adrian Hannan of The SongStore.[2]

In 2004 she captured the attention of Michael Parisi, a record company executive from Warner Music, while giving an impromptu rendition of the Rolling Stones' song "Jumping Jack Flash" at a the Lygon Street Festa, a community festival in Melbourne. At the age of thirteen, Cilmi travelled to the U.S.A. and U.K. accompanied by Adrian Hannan and was offered four major U.S. deals. She eventually signed a contract with Island Records U.K.

[edit] Musical career

The tracks "Don't Tell Me" and "Sorry" co-written with Barbara and Adrian Hannan, appeared on the soundtrack of 2005 Australian film Hating Alison Ashley.[3] Cilmi shares a manager with the Sugababes and supported former Sugababe Mutya Buena at the Jazz Café in London in 2007. She made her UK TV debut on 14 December 2007 when she sang her new single "Sweet About Me" on Later with Jools Holland. In December 2007 Cilmi's song "Sanctuary" featured in the film St Trinian's and on its soundtrack.

Cilmi has also sung on the theme to UK TV Series Echo Beach which aired in early 2008 on ITV1. It is a cover of "Echo Beach" by Martha and the Muffins.

In January 2008 Cilmi supported Rufus Wainwright on his Australian tour. In February 2008 she supported the Parisian band Nouvelle Vague on their UK tour.

Cilmi's first album Lessons To Be Learned was written and recorded with hit production team Xenomania and was released on 31 March 2008 in the UK. She has been compared to Amy Winehouse[4], and also Macy Gray because of the occasional fracture in her voice[citation needed].

The single "Sweet About Me" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #68 (9 March 2008) and rose to #50 the following week (16 March 2008). The single rose again to #20 (4 May 2008) several weeks after the physical CD was made available. Despite then falling back to number 23, it re-entered the top 20 at number 19 on 18 May and is still going up, the single reached it's highest position (7) so far on the chart dated Sunday, June 8. It has also so far reached #20 in the Irish Singles Chart. It debuted at #13 in Australia on downloads alone, and has peaked at #1.

She performed "Sweet About Me" on the Australian breakfast news program Sunrise on the Seven Network on the 1 April 2008 and again on the talk show Rove five days later. She also performed this single on Irelands' chat show The Late Late Show on Friday 23rd May 2008.

Cilmi will be supporting the Sugababes on their 2008 UK tour Change Tour, as well as supporting Nouvelle Vague. She is also opening for James Blunt on his 2008 Australian tour.

After her single 'Sweet About Me' dropped to number two for several weeks, she reclaimed the #1 spot on 19/05/08 on the Australian ARIA Charts.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year Title Peak chart positions[5][6][7]
AUS NZ UK
2008 Lessons to Be Learned
2
6
8

[edit] Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions[5][6][7][8] Album
AUS NZ SWI UK
2008 "Sweet About Me" 1 7 29 7 Lessons to Be Learned
"Save the Lies"
"Don't Want To Go To Bed Now"

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