Everything about Charlotte Church totally explained
Charlotte Maria Church (born
February 21,
1986) is a
Welsh singer and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a
classical crossover singer before branching into
pop music in 2005. By 2007, she'd sold more than 10 million albums worldwide, her first three classical crossover albums accounting for the majority.
Early life
Church was born Charlotte Maria Reed in
Llandaff, a district of
Cardiff, Wales. She was raised a
Roman Catholic by her mother, Maria, who was separated from Church's biological father. Church was adopted by her mother's second husband, James Church in 1998. Her break came at 11 when she sang "
Pie Jesu" on the television show
Talking Telephone Numbers in 1997, followed by her performance on
ITV's
Big, Big Talent Show in 1998. This led to concerts at
Cardiff Arms Park, the
Royal Albert Hall and opening for
Shirley Bassey in
Antwerp. She also received a vocal scholarship to Howell's Girls School in Cardiff where she started in 1998. She balanced performing and school with help from tutors for when she was on the road and said in many interviews that she was "just like every other girl her age".
Classical career
Church was then introduced to the Cardiff impresario,
Jonathan Shalit, who became her manager and negotiated a contract with
Sony BMG. Her first album,
Voice of an Angel was a collection of
arias, sacred songs, and traditional pieces that sold millions worldwide and made her the youngest artist with a No. 1 album on the British classical crossover charts.
Church appeared on
PBS specials. Her
self-titled second album also included operatic, religious, and traditional tracks. One, the soaring and inspirational
Just Wave Hello, was the centerpiece of a millennium-themed ad campaign for the
Ford Motor Company. The song's full-length video, featuring Church, won acclaim at the
Detroit Auto Show and introduced her to new fans. The track reached #31 in her native
UK.
In 2000, she released
Dream a Dream, an album of
Christmas carols. It included Church's first foray into a more pop-influenced style in the title track
Dream a Dream, borrowing the melody from
Fauré's Pavane and featuring young American country singer
Billy Gilman. Church also sang with Gilman in "Sleigh Ride" on his CD
Classic Christmas.
In 2001, Church added more pop, swing, and
Broadway with her album
Enchantment. That year, movie audiences heard Church for the first time in the 2001
Ron Howard film
A Beautiful Mind.
Celine Dion was beginning a concert engagement in
Las Vegas and wasn't available to perform the film's end title song, "All Love Can Be", composer
James Horner enlisted Church and the song was re-written for her
vocal range. Church also handled other vocal passages throughout the score.
In 2002, at 16, she released a '
best of' album called, and took part in the Royal Christmas tour alongside
Julie Andrews and
Christopher Plummer, concluding her classical music career. Her next album,
Tissues and Issues, would be a pop release.
Articles emerged in the UK press in March and April of 2008 stating that she was still training classically and was contemplating a return to classical crossover at some point.
Church has sung in religious services in
Taizé. She has also performed before
Pope John Paul II and
Bill Clinton, the former United States
President.
Pop career
Church made her first venture out of classical music in February 2003 providing vocals for the Jürgen Vries (aka
Darren Tate) single "The Opera Song". She was credited on the sleeve with her initials, CMC. The track reached number 3 in the UK charts.
In 2005, she issued her first pop album
Tissues and Issues and the first four singles have all been at least moderately successful in the UK with "
Crazy Chick" reaching no. 2, "
Call My Name" number 10, "
Even God Can't Change the Past" number 17, and "
Moodswings (to Come at Me like That)" number 14. Although these were released in Australia as well, they failed to reach the same level of success there, and in March 2006 it was announced that there would be no US releases of Church's pop work until she'd achieved a number 1 hit in the UK.
In April 2006, she performed three concerts in
Glasgow,
London, and
Cardiff, in venues holding between 2,000 and 3,000 people; the dates at London and Cardiff were sold out. Supported by
Irish band the
New Druids, Church performed a mix of tracks from her debut pop album and a number of pop covers including
Prince's "
Kiss" and
Gloria Estefan's "Rhythm is Gonna Get You". Though Church hinted at the possibility of a full tour in the future, none has taken place to date.
In November 2006, it was announced that she and Sony had parted ways. According to her publicist, this was a mutual decision reached after a series of meetings, ostensibly since her five and later six album deal had come to an end. There was some speculation that Church had decided to take a break from her singing career, in order to focus on her more successful television show. Others suggested that the performance of her pop releases in the charts also contributed to the decision.
Acting and television career
Church has made a number of cameo appearances on television. She appeared in the
CBS series
Touched by an Angel, starred in the 1999
Christmas special of
Heartbeat, and in 2003 she presented an episode of
Have I Got News For You. In 2005 she played herself in an episode of
The Catherine Tate Show, in a sketch with the fictional character
Joannie Taylor.
She made her silver screen debut in 2003's
I'll Be There, co-starring and directed by
Craig Ferguson. Church played the role of Olivia, the daughter of a washed-up 80s rocker from a one-night-stand, played by Ferguson. The film didn't meet with widespread success, playing for only ten days in UK cinemas and being released directly to video in the US.
Church currently appears in a high profile television advertising campaign for
Virgin Holidays for
2008 which features her singing in an
Operatic style for the first time in a number of years.
The Charlotte Church Show
In the summer of 2006, Church began work on her own entertainment
TV show,
The Charlotte Church Show. After a pilot episode which caused some controversy and which was never released to the public, the series began on
1 September 2006, on
Channel 4.
The show, hosted by Charlotte and featuring two celebrity guests each week, involves a mixture of sketches,
reality TV, interviews and music, as well as a recurring
Welsh theme. The first show included a
Wales vs. the World competition and a Welsh remake of
Will & Grace.
Denise van Outen,
Michael McIntyre,
Ruby Wax,
Billie Piper, and
Patsy Kensit were amongst the first celebrities to appear on the series.
The show has averaged 1.9 million viewers and 10% of the available audience, and on
6 October 2006, it was announced that
Channel 4 had commissioned a further two series of the show. However, the show's ratings have yet to seriously compete with the well-established
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross which is broadcast on
BBC One in the same timeslot. According to her official website, the final series, originally planned for summer of 2007, was deferred until after Church gave
birth. However, on
18 December 2007, Church stated in an interview that she'd no immediate plans to shoot the final series, as she was too busy being a new mother.
Church won a
British Comedy Award for "Best Female Comedy Newcomer" in 2006, and the 'Funniest TV Personality' award at the 2006
Loaded Magazine's 'LAFTA' awards. In 2008 she was nominated for the
Rose d'Or Special Award for Best Entertainer.
It was announced on the
10th February 2008 that Church was ready to make her return to TV. Channel 4 are said to be still in the planning stages but the show will air some time in the summer.
Personal life
Church's personal life has often been portrayed in UK
tabloid newspapers, inspiring the song "Let's Be Alone" on her album
Tissues and Issues.
Church released an autobiography titled
Voice of an Angel (My Life So Far) at 14, before the release of "Enchantment" and just after she'd wrapped up her "Dream a Dream" Christmas CD. Her change of music direction is hinted at in the final chapter, "Turning Corners." She released a second autobiography titled "Keep Smiling" in fall of 2007, very different in tone than the first.
Revisited with particular frequency is her love life. In 2002, aged 16, she moved out of the family home to live with her rap
DJ/model boyfriend, Steven Johnson. This relationship inspired "Casualty of Love", from
Tissues and Issues). The couple split at the end of 2003. The tabloid press documented her subsequent relationship with Kyle Johnson (no relation of Steven Johnson), which ended in February 2005. The couple stated that they remained friends, though shortly afterwards Johnson revealed graphic details about the couple's
sex life to the press, leading to a
slap from Church.
Other aspects of her personal life have been criticized in the press. In 2002, she was photographed
smoking, and it emerged that she'd developed a habit. This was alluded to on her album
Tissues and Issues, in the song "Confessional Song".
In recent interviews, Church stated she's stopped smoking and that her behaviour is more low-key.
The press has devoted much attention to Church's relationship with boyfriend
Gavin Henson, a
Welsh International Rugby Union player: they've reportedly bought a
manor in
Glamorgan. At the end of 2005, she purchased a property in her native
Llandaff,
Cardiff, for a reported £500,000, although Henson said he isn't part-owner of the property. The couple have mentioned
marriage on
talk shows and in the press,
The couple have been nicknamed the "
Welsh Victoria and David Beckham".
In 2007, Church made another appearance on a British young people's
rich list with Henson. They were ranked 49th richest young people in Britain with an estimated joint wealth of
£10 million.
Philanthropic efforts
Church has lent her support to the production of limited-edition T-shirts or vests for the 'Little Tee Campaign' for
Breast Cancer Care which donates money for
breast cancer research.
She has also been a long time and very visible supporter of the Noah's Ark Appeal to build a children's hospital in Wales.
Controversy
Controversy surrounds the circumstances of the dismissal of Church's first manager, Jonathan Shalit. He was allegedly discharged from her representation in a letter faxed by Church's mother; although allegations were later made by the Church family of "inappropriate tactile conduct" on the part of Shalit, nothing ever came of them. Shalit subsequently sued for breach of contract and received an out-of-court settlement believed to be worth
£2 million. The exact details were never released because, as one of the parties to the matter was a minor, such details are protected under UK law.
Church has provoked controversy on some occasions with her comments and criticisms – in an interview with
Davina McCall, Charlotte agreed that being diplomatic was "not in her nature". Her remarks about her visit to New York in the wake of the
September 11, 2001 attacks, saying "People overdramatise and lose perspective" proved controversial.
The pilot episode of Church's new show,
The Charlotte Church Show, provoked a backlash from some religious groups, as Church reportedly mocks the
Roman Catholic Church and makes some controversial comments about
Pope Benedict XVI, calling him a "
Nazi" in reference to his service in the
Hitler Youth and
German Army. One large Roman Catholic distributor of books, CDs and other goods,
Ignatius Press, pulled Church's products from its catalogue.
In her video blog entry for
22 March 2007, Church referred to the UK's
Eurovision entry,
Scooch, as "absolute shit" and went on to say "I've never seen shit like it, because Scooch really are shit".
Russ Spencer of
Scooch hit back saying "what a pity the voice of an angel has acquired the mouth of a sewer". Spencer's fellow band member
Natalie Powers added "As a mother of a young child myself I find her behaviour and language quite unacceptable. What kind of role model is this for a mum-to-be?" Church hit back by saying on her
Channel 4 show "They called me attention seeking... then what's doing the Eurovision dressed as air hostesses?"
She has claimed that she'd be a better judge for the
reality show X-Factor than any of the judges on the show. She becomes "annoyed" when their remarks are inaccurate, stating "they just don't know the ins and outs of a voice or music."
Discography
Albums
Official singles
1 Church was credited as "CMC" in this release
Promotional Singles
Voice of an Angel
Charlotte Church
- "La Pastorella"
- "She Moved Through the Fair"
Dream a Dream
|
Enchantment
Prelude: The Best Of...
- "It's the Heart That Matters Most"
- "All Love Can Be"
Music From The Motion Picture "I'll Be There"
- "Would I Know"
- "Summertime"
- "In Hebrid Seas"
- "Reach Out I'll Be There"
|
Filmography
I'll Be There - Directed by Craig Ferguson (2003)
Books
Voice of An Angel, My Life (So Far) an autobiography published in 2001.
Keep Smiling her second autobiography published in 2007.Further Information
Get more info on 'Charlotte Church'.
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