Vanessa White

Vanessa White
Vanessa on stage in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Vanessa Karen White
Born	(1989-10-30) 30 October 1989 Yeovil, Somerset, England
Origin	London, England
Genres	R&B, pop, dance-pop
Occupations	Vocalist, songwriter, dancer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Polydor
Associated acts	The Saturdays, Vince Kidd
Website	The Saturdays

Vanessa Karen White (born 30 October 1989) is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in 2008 as the lead singer of English-Irish girl group The Saturdays, signed to Fascination and Polydor Records. The group have achieved substantial success with numerous top-ten hits as well as a number one single. She is the youngest member of the group.^[1]

Early life

Vanessa White was born in Yeovil, Somerset and is half-Filipina from her mother and half English from her father.^[2][3] She was attracted to performing from a young age and attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School on Saturdays before being offered a full-time place and moving to Stratford, London with her family when she was five.^[4] She applied for The Brit School, but was turned down. She appeared in several theatre productions, including the West End production of The Lion King as Young Nala and also played one of the King's daughters in The King And I from 2000-2002.^[5] She has a brother, Ryan and sister, Celine.^[6]

Career

2007–present: The Saturdays

Having already been signed as a solo artist, White auditioned for, and was accepted as, a member of a newly formed girl group in 2007. She gelled quickly with the four other members who now refer to her as "our Christina Aguilera" due to her extensive vocal range. Initially, White and band member Una Healy had the strongest relationship, as they discovered that they were very alike. However, she has grown to love the other members all the same.^[7] She has also received comparison to American singers Alicia Keys, Beyoncé and Mariah Carey.^[1][8]

During June and July 2009, White toured the UK with The Saturdays (The Work Tour). Before she was about to go on stage for the second show of the tour in Dundee, White tripped over a cable backstage and tore a ligament in her ankle and missed a large proportion of the show that night. Once paramedics had strapped up her foot, she was permitted to join the band on stage in a wheelchair. White spent the next few shows appearing on stage sitting on a bar stool and gradually began to stand for more and more songs as the tour progressed, before being able to perform her choreography again.

White is the only member of The Saturdays to have a solo in every song in their debut album, Chasing Lights.

Along with the other members of the group, White has co-written a track on their second album, Wordshaker, titled "Deeper". It was written in a two day studio session.

Solo releases and appearances

White provided additional vocals on Master Shortie's debut album A.D.H.D. on the track 'Swagger Chick'. The album was released on 27 July 2009. In January 2010, White participated in the first series of the ITV celebrity reality television programme Popstar to Operastar. She was the second contestant eliminated, on 22 January. White took part in and was compressed into a box so that it appears only her head, hands and feet are there on Stephen Mulhern's Magic Numbers.^[9] In 2013 she featured on Vince Kidd's song The Zoo; the music video debuted on YouTube on 20 April 2013.

Personal life

White started dating musician Adam Chandler in late 2008 but they split up in May 2010.^[10][11][12] She has been dating English stylist Gary Salter, since 2011.^[13]

Discography

As featured artist

External links

• Vanessa White biography at The Saturdays
• Vanessa White's Official Twitter

References