Natalia Kills | |
---|---|
Natalia Kills opening for Robyn at the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio on 7 February 2011 |
|
Background information | |
Birth name | Natalia Keery-Fisher |
Also known as | Candy Rapper, Verbz, Verbalicious,[1] Natalia Noemi Cappuccini,[2] Verse |
Born | 15 August 1986 Bradford, West Yorkshire, England |
Genres | Pop, electropop |
Occupations | Singer-songwriter, actress, director |
Instruments | Vocals, drums, guitar |
Years active | 1995–present |
Labels | Adventures in Music, Kon Live, will.i.am, Cherrytree, Interscope, Bozadya, Dandyville |
Associated acts | Akon, Far East Movement, LMFAO, will.i.am |
Website | www.nataliakills.com |
Natalia Keery-Fisher[3][4] (born 15 August 1986) is an English singer-songwriter, actress, and short-film director who performs under the stage name Natalia Kills. She released her first single "Don't Play Nice" under the name Verbalicious in February 2005. She released her debut album, Perfectionist, under the name Natalia Kills in March 2011.
Contents |
Keery-Fisher was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, to an Afro-Jamaican father and Uruguayan mother,[5] where she attended Bradford Girls' Grammar School. In addition, she studied classical drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.[3]
Keery-Fisher made her acting debut at age 9 in 1995 in New Voices. She had a regular role as Sima on the TV sitcom All About Me and also played Amy Franks in the BBC's long-running radio drama The Archers. During her time on television and radio she began writing songs, some of which were featured in films and television shows, including Bring It On 4, Sleepover, Just My Luck, and Entourage.[6] She auditioned for the part of Princess Amidala in the Star Wars film series but did not get the part, as it instead went to Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman. She did note later that "I auditioned in front of George Lucas, it was amazing."[3]
After finishing with The Archers in 2003, Keery-Fisher attributes her musical breakthrough to winning a Radio 1 MC Battle in Leeds under the name "Candy Rapper" in 2003.[3]
Keery-Fisher signed to the UK record company Adventures in Music and released her first single "Don't Play Nice" under the name Verbalicious in February 2005. The song rose to 11 on the Billboard R&B charts in the UK. (She later filed to be released from all recording/management agreements after the record label filed for bankruptcy.) In January 2008, will.i.am signed Keery-Fisher to Interscope Records via his will.i.am Music Group imprint. She was noticed for her demo EP Wommanequin, which she produced and wrote herself. Once signed to Interscope, she was placed with Cherrytree Records. Cherrytree encouraged her to find a name that was more direct and descriptive, and she then came up with the name Natalia Kills. (During this time she also wrote songs for French recording artist M. Pokora and met underground director Guillaume Doubet, who as of 2011 now directs all her visual efforts in Paris.)
Kills released her debut album Perfectionist in April 2011 in Germany. She has also produced and co-directed a filmed mini-series titled Love, Kills xx and an additional film under the working title The Exhibition, which was made concurrently with the album, the soundtrack to the film. The album's first single, "Mirrors", was released in the United States in August 2010 and in the UK in April 2011. Her second single, "Wonderland", was released on in April 2011 in Germany. The song was featured in the 2011 film Beastly. In 2011, Kills began saying that her former stage name Natalia Cappuccini[2] is her real name.[7]
Kills opened for Kelis' European All Hearts Tour, as well as supported Robyn on her Body Talk Tour in November 2010 and early 2011. Kills supported Ke$ha on the UK leg of her Get Sleazy Tour alongside LMFAO. Throughout August and September 2011, Kills is scheduled to support Katy Perry on her California Dreams Tour for eight dates in Europe[8] and São Paulo, Brazil.[9]
Kills was featured in LMFAO's "Champagne Showers."
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1995 | New Voices | Pearl | TV series, 1 episode |
2003 | All About Me | Sima | TV series, 22 episodes |
Casualty | Samina Khan | TV series, 1 episode | |
Coronation Street | Laura Mangen | TV series, 2 episodes | |
2004 | Doctors | Hazel Perry | TV series, 1 episode |
Blue Murder | Anisa Khan | TV series, 1 episode | |
2005 | No Angels | Sujata | TV series, 1 episode |
2006 | Silent Witness | Kelly Wetherby | TV series, 1 episode |
Tripping Over | Julie | TV series, 2 episodes | |
2007 | Cape Wrath | Kerry | TV series, 1 episode |
|