Katrina Leskanich

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Katrina Leskanich

Background information
Birth name Katrina Leskanich
Born April 10, 1960 (1960-04-10) (age 48)
Origin Topeka, Kansas United States
Genre(s) New wave, Rock, Pop
Occupation(s) Singer, rhythm guitarist
Instrument(s) Voice, guitar
Years active 1981-present
Label(s) Capitol Records, Universal Records, Virgin, Warner Bros. Records, BMG, EMI, Katsweb
Associated acts Katrina and the Waves
Website http://www.katrinasweb.net/

Katrina Leskanich (born April 10, 1960, Topeka, Kansas, United States) is an American singer and musician.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Her father was a Colonel in the United States Air Force, and Katrina and her five siblings (four sisters and one brother) were moved from Kansas to New Mexico, and then California, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Germany and Netherlands before arriving in Norfolk, England in 1976. Katrina became a UK resident and has lived in England for the last 30 years.

[edit] Fame

In 1981 she became lead vocalist for the band Katrina and the Waves, based in the English city of Cambridge, which had several international hits, including "Walking on Sunshine" (1985), which has become a summer anthem and "Sun Street" in 1986. They also received a Grammy Nomination for Best New Artist. The hits continued with "Do You Want Crying", "Que te Quiero", "Rock and Roll Girl" and "That's The Way" which reached No. 16 in the U.S.A. The band went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 for the United Kingdom with "Love Shine a Light", which went to No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart and Katrina and The Waves performed an unprecedented four weeks running on the BBC One TV show Top of the Pops.

[edit] Recent career

After the Waves broke up in 1999, Leskanich launched a solo career, first as a DJ for BBC Radio 2 and then in 2001 she played the lead role in the musical Leader of the Pack. She released her first CD, Katrina Leskanich, through Universal Records in Britain in 2005. And the single - Leskanich's cover of Kirsty MacColl's "They Don't Know" was played on Radio 2. In 2005 she also participated in the Swedish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest (Melodifestivalen 2005) with the song "As If Tomorrow Will Never Come". In 2005 Leskanich (with Renars Kaupers) hosted Congratulations - 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest, in Copenhagen.

Currently Leskanich is performing in the UK, Europe and in the U.S. as a solo performer and with her new band. The Katrina Leskanich band features Darren Loveday (guitar), Elio Pace (keyboard), Jack Pollitt (drums), Andy Coughlan (bass)and Paul Newton (horns).

Katrina covered a Clash song, "Hitsville UK" for a compilation album put together by Jimmy Guterman, which is a tribute to The Clash Sandinista! album and was released on 15 May 2007 in the United States.

Katrina performed in the 1980s show Gylne Tider which toured Norway in the early summer of 2007 and transferred to the Christiania Theatre in Oslo from October to December 2007. Katrina's cover of "They Don't Know]" was included in the compilation Gylne Tider 2 which was released in 2007 and went platinum.

Katrina also appeared in the Countdown Spectacular 2 concert series around Australia between late August and early September 2007. She performed her hit "Walking On Sunshine" only.

From 27 January 2008 to 9 March 2008, Katrina was one of three jury members for Eurosong 2008 in Belgium, the pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.

On 1 March 2008, she performed a remix dance version of her 1997 Eurovision winning song, "Love Shine A Light", on the BBC Eurovision song selection show.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Solo

[edit] Solo Albums

  • Turn The Tide 2004
  • Katrina Leskanich released in 2006 - Universal Distribution

[edit] Compilations

  • We Gotta Get out of This Place with Eric Burdon - China Beach 1989 SBK
  • Ride of Your Life - Return to the Centre of the Earth (Rick Wakeman) 1999 EMI
  • Scar - This Is Not Retro - This Is The Eighties Up To Date 2005
  • They Don't Know - Gylne Tider 2 2007 Sony BMG
  • Hitsville UK - The Sandinista Project 2007 3:59 Records
  • Walking On Sunshine (Live and Studio Version) - Countdown Spectacular 2 (2007) Liberation Blue Records (Australian-only release)

[edit] Backing vocals

[edit] Katrina and The Waves

[edit] Albums

  • The Bible of Bop (Kimberley Rew) 1982 Armageddon Records
  • Shock Horror 1982 (The Waves) Aftermath Records
  • Walking On Sunshine 1983 Attic Records
  • The 2nd LP 1984 Attic Records
  • Katrina & The Waves 1985 Capitol Records
  • Waves 1986 Capitol Records
  • Break of Hearts 1989 SBK Records
  • Pet the Tiger 1991 Virgin Germany
  • Edge of the Land 1993 Polydor
  • Turnaround 1994 Polydor
  • Roses 1995 Polydor
  • Walk on Water 1997 Warner Music

[edit] Best Of Albums

  • The Best Of 1991 Attic Records
  • Anthology 1995 One Way Records
  • KATW/Waves 1996 BGO Records
  • Premium Gold Collection 1997 EMI
  • Greatest Hits of 1997 EMI
  • Walking on Sunshine 1997 Polygram Records
  • The Original Recordings 2003 BongoBeat Records

[edit] Singles

  • "The Nightmare" 1982 (The Waves) Armagedon Records
  • "Brown Eyed Son" 1982 (The Waves) Albion Records
  • "Plastic Man" 1984 Silvertown Records
  • "Walking on Sunshine" 1985 Capitol Records
  • "Red Wine & Whisky" 1985 Capitol Records
  • "Do You Want Crying?" 1985 Capitol Records
  • "Que Te Quiero 1985" Capitol Records
  • "Mexico" 1985 Capitol Records
  • "Is That It" 1986 Capitol Records
  • "Tears For Me" 1986 Capitol Records
  • "Lovely Lindsey" 1986 Capitol Records
  • "Sun Street" 1986 Capitol Records
  • "That's The Way" 1989 SBK Records
  • "Rock 'n' Roll Girl" 1989 SBK Records
  • "We Gotta Get out of This Place" 1989 SBK Records
  • "Pet the Tiger" 1991 Virgin Records
  • "Tears of a Woman" 1991 Virgin Records
  • "Birkenhead Garbage Pickers" 1992 Virgin Records
  • "I'm in Deep" 1993 Polydor
  • "Cookin'" 1994 Polydor
  • "The Street Where You Live" 1995 Polydor
  • "Honey Lamb" 1995 Polydor
  • "Turnaround" 1995 Polydor
  • "Walking Where the Roses Grow" 1995 Polydor
  • "Brown Eyed Son" 1997 Top Line records
  • "Love Shine a Light" 1997 Warner Music
  • "Walk on Water" 1997 Warner Music

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Leskanich, Katrina
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION American musician, actress
DATE OF BIRTH April 10, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Topeka, Kansas, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH