| Brooke Fraser | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Brooke Gabrielle Fraser |
| Born | 15 December 1983 Wellington, New Zealand |
| Origin | Wellington, New Zealand |
| Genres | Pop, folk rock |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Sony Music, Wood + Bone |
| Associated acts | Hillsong |
| Website | www.brookefraser.com |
Brooke Gabrielle Fraser Ligertwood, better known as Brooke Fraser (born 15 December 1983) is a New Zealand award-winning folk-pop and Christian music[1][2] artist. Her third studio album Flags has become the most successful album of her career, with the single "Something in the Water" reaching number one on the RIANZ singles chart in 2010.
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Fraser is the eldest of the three children born to former All Black Bernie Fraser,[3] who was born in Lautoka, Fiji, and his wife Lynda Fraser.[4] She grew up in Naenae, Lower Hutt and attended Dyer Street School, Naenae Intermediate School and Naenae College.[5]
Fraser took piano lessons between the ages of seven and seventeen. She started writing songs at age twelve and taught herself the acoustic guitar at fifteen, although despite her singing success she has never taken singing lessons.[5]
She performed at Parachute, an annual New Zealand music festival in 2000 – including a special guest performance in 2007.[5]
She began writing for the Soul Purpose magazine at age fifteen, and was later made editor in 2002. She gave up her job as editor shortly after moving to Auckland in late 2002 in order to pursue her music career.[6]
In 2002, while Fraser was in Auckland, Scotty Pearson, the drummer for Elemeno P, organised a meeting with producer Matty J for her. Matty J became her manager, liaising with the major labels who had shown interest and compared their offers. Fraser had about five different labels offer her deals and chose to sign a multi-album deal with Sony Music at the age of 17.[7]
Fraser's first album, What to Do with Daylight, was released in New Zealand in late 2003, debuting at number one and achieved gold status in the same week. The album eventually went seven times platinum,[8] selling over 105,000 copies in New Zealand alone.[9] It remained on the album charts for sixty-six weeks.[10] All five singles from the album reached the top twenty in the New Zealand Singles Chart.[11] Her album also topped the New Zealand Top 50 Albums of 2004.[12]
Following the release of What to Do with Daylight, Fraser toured Australia and New Zealand with American artist John Mayer and then toured New Zealand with veteran U.K. rock artist David Bowie.[13][14] Whilst on tour with John Mayer, she met with his guitarist and keyboardist Michael Chaves who, after recording Mayer's album Heavier Things, Fraser enlisted to play on her album and future concerts.[15]
In 2005, prior to writing and preparing her follow-up album, Fraser took a trip to Africa to immerse herself in Rwanda before visiting her sponsor children in Tanzania, as she is an advocate for child sponsorship. In this trip, she was so moved that she wrote the song Albertine about a young child (named Albertine), whom she met while in Rwanda. It was later decided to make this song the album's title track.[16]
For the second album, Fraser decided to enlist a new band, primarily constructed from American musicians who'd worked with an array of notable artists, both live and recorded.[17] In 2006, Fraser and the band went into the studio in Los Angeles to record the album. Later Fraser allowed her fans to listen to the album's first single Deciphering Me via her MySpace page. The single was later released initially to radio and ultimately to CD single, and achieved number four in the New Zealand single charts.
On 4 December 2006 Albertine was released in New Zealand, achieving double platinum status less than a month after its release and has remained, to date, in the top 20 every week since. The album was released in Australia and internationally on 31 March 2007. In Australia, it charted at number twenty-nine in its first week on 9 April and has thus far achieved Gold sales status.
On 6 April 2007, Fraser performed "Deciphering Me" for the Good Friday Appeal, an annual televised fundraising event to raise money for the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.
In 2008, Fraser appeared on the Dave Barnes song "Believe" from his album Me + You + the World, performing backing vocals.
Albertine was also Fraser's U.S. debut, released 27 May 2008 and entered the Billboard 200 at number ninety on 19 July 2008. Her album propelled in success with online sales after being chosen as Editor's Choice on iTunes. On 4 July 2008 Fraser supported Canadian artist/U2 collaborator Daniel Lanois at the Montreal Jazz Festival. In August she toured the southern U.S.[18] In September, she re-toured several major U.S. cities and completed the tour at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, UK.
Flags was recorded at East West Studios in Hollywood in the summer of 2010 [19] and released by Wood & Bone Records on 12 October 2010. Fraser celebrated with sold-out tours in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. Flags reached the #1 spot on the New Zealand album chart,[20] #3 in Australia,[21] and entered at #59 on the Billboard 200 in the US,[22] and climbed as high as #3 on the U.S iTunes album chart. "Flags" has been certified Gold in Australia and 3x Platinum in New Zealand where it was the 6th highest selling album of 2010.[23] The first single, “Something in the Water,” has achieved extensive radio success across the globe, notably receiving BBC Radio 2 A-list rotation upon release.[24] The single has gone on to achieve double platinum sales in NZ where it spent 21 weeks in the 2010 singles chart.[25]The single has reached #2 in the Dutch airplay chart whilst residing in the top 5 singles chart for 6 consecutive weeks.[26] The single has charted in Poland and Belgium at #15 and #23 respectively,[27]as well as being certified Gold in both Germany and Italy.[28] Flags was released in July 2011 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and debuted in the following positions: #6 in Germany, #33 in Austria & #24 in Switzerland. One month on from release, "Flags" remained in the German top 20 at #13 and "Something in the Water" on the singles charts at #8. "Flags" was released in October 2011 in Hungary, reaching #15 on the national album chart by 2nd week of release.[29] Flags is due to be released in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland on 7 November 2011.[30] Flags has received accolades from peers and press alike. Sara Bareilles announced to her 2 million followers on Twitter "If you don’t know her, you should. @brookefraser is a freakin gem. New album out now. Yay." and Women’s Wear Daily has called Brooke "The Kiwi Norah Jones."[31][32]
In its review of Flags, Glide Magazine said: "Brooke Fraser’s third release, Flags, is a wonder. From the stunning lyrical imagery throughout to the impressive guest vocalists who join her (Cary Brothers, Jon Foreman and Aqualung among them), from Fraser’s ethereal and breathy performances to the wide-ranging soundscapes, this record is drenched in beauty and stands as one of the more remarkable achievements of 2010."[33]
In support of "Flags" release in Switzerland, Brooke will be appearing in November 2011 at the “ENERGY STARS FOR FREE” event in Zurich alongside Lenny Kravitz & Snow Patrol.[34]
After the success of her first album, Fraser moved to Sydney, where she has lived since 2004. On 17 March 2008 she married Scott Ligertwood, in Sydney, changing her name to Brooke Ligertwood.[35] "Brooke Fraser" has remained her stage name for her activity as a Sony BMG recording/touring artist. She continues to write songs for Hillsong Church, now as "Brooke Ligertwood". Among her notable congregational songs are "Desert song" and "Hosanna". After touring her second album Albertine for almost 4 years, Fraser returned home to Sydney. She took almost a year off from music-making. After attending the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the US and seeing Fleet Foxes [36] set she was inspired to work on her latest album Flags.[37]
Fraser also runs a blog from her website where she comments on everything from touring, to fashion and food.[38]
Even though Fraser has enjoyed success in her career for many years, she has always used her position to highlight many worthy causes and charity projects, and raising large amounts of money for them in the process. In late 2010 whilst on tour in the U.S. promoting her third album Flags, Fraser, in conjunction with charity: water ran a birthday campaign asking her fans to donate $27 in honor of her 27th birthday. The goal was to raise $50,000 to build clean water wells in Ethiopia.[39] Joining the likes of Justin Bieber,[40] Will Smith[41] and Adam Lambert[42] Fraser's birthday campaign was a success raising over $54,000. She has vowed to continue her work with charity: water on future projects.
Fraser has worked with World Vision as an Artist Associate since 2001. She has visited Cambodia and Tanzania with World Vision, the Philippines with Opportunity International and independently traveled to Rwanda in June 2005, in June 2006 as part of charity event "Hope Rwanda", and in May 2007 when she filmed the music video for the song "Albertine" off her second studio album of the same name. In 2006 she, along with Petra Bagust and Tau from Spacifix, appeared in an advertisement for the World Vision 40 Hour Famine; an event which raises funds for children in third world countries. She also sponsors eleven children through World Vision[43] and makes child ways of contributing to the work of World Vision (i.e. fundraising t-shirts etc.).
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004[44] | "Better" | Most Played Composition in New Zealand | Won |
| 2007[44][45][46] | Deciphering Me | Won | |
| APRA Silver Scroll | Nominated | ||
| "Albertine" | Won |
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004[47] | Herself | People's Choice Award | Nominated |
| What To Do With Daylight | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| Best Female Solo Artist | Won | ||
| Breakthrough Artist of the Year | Won | ||
| "Lifeline" | Single of the Year | Nominated | |
| Songwriter of the Year | Nominated | ||
| 2007[48] | Herself | People's Choice Award | Nominated |
| Albertine | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| Best Female Solo Artist | Nominated | ||
| Highest Selling Album | Won | ||
| "Deciphering Me" | Single of the Year | Nominated | |
| Airplay Record of the Year | Won | ||
| 2009[49] | Herself | International Achievement | Won |
| 2011[50] | Flags | Album of the Year | Won |
| Flags | Best Pop Album | Won | |
| "Something in the Water" | Single of the Year | Won | |
| Herself | Best Female Artist | Won | |
| Herself | People's Choice Award | Won |
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Herself | Female Vocalist of the Year | Nominated |
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