| All About Katherine Jenkins |
Katherine Jenkins was born 29 June 1980 in Neath, Wales U.K. is an award-winning Welsh mezzo soprano. Her first album Premiere made her the fastest-selling mezzo-soprano to date and she later became the first British classical artist to have two number one albums in the same year. She also stands as the first female artist to win two consecutive Clasical BRIT Awards. Jenkins has released five classical number one studio albums to date selling 4,000,000 copies. Her sixth album, Sacred Arias, was released on 20 October 2008. Her albums feature arias, popular songs, hymns and classical crossover music and she has performed in a large number of concerts around the United Kingdom and other countries, including the United States and Australia. Personal life: Jenkins has one sister Laura. Her father, Selwyn Jenkins, died of cancer when she was only 15 years old and she has remarked on missing him in her album liner notes. Whilst Jenkins was studying at the Royal Academy Of Music, at 19 years of age, she was attacked and nearly raped by a man who followed her off a bus after she had enjoyed a night out with friends. When Jenkins was making the 2-minute walk to her London home, he sprang upon her and tried to drag her into an alley, but she managed to escape. He continued to pursue her and punched her to the ground, prompting Jenkins to curl up into a ball so that he was not able to rape her.After repeatedly kicking her, he eventually left with her wallet and has never been caught. "It was just awful. I was so shaken up. It took me a long time to get over it, and my mum was devastated. I genuinely believe I was very lucky," commented Jenkins. After Jenkins and Dame Vera Lynn were both seen centre stage together at the 60th Anniversary of VE Day in 2005 during the song "We'll Meet Again", the newspapers dubbed Jenkins "the new Forces' Sweetheart", a nickname given to Lynn during World War II. Lynn had said to Jenkins that she should "go out and entertain the troops" to which Jenkins promised. In December 2005 and 2006 Jenkins travelled to Iraq to sing to the soldiers for Christmas.On her first visit to Iraq in 2005, when travelling to , Shanibah the largest British base in Southern Iraq, the helicopter she was travelling in was targeted by missles Anti-missile flares were deployed and the group landed safely. Background: At Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School in her home town of Neath, Katherine Jenkins received A grades in both GCSEs and A Levels and participated in productions such as Calamity Jane and Guys and Dolls. Two years after she had become a choirgirl at her church, she shattered a chandelier whilst singing "O Holy Night" at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall. Jenkins' music talents continued to progress and she achieved Grade 8 distinctions in singing and piano. Between 1990 and 1996 Jenkins was a member of the Royal School of Church Music Cathedral Singers, where she achieved the St Cecilia Award, which was, and still is, the highest RSCM award for female choristers. Jenkins was also a member of the National Youth Choir of Wales for three years. She twice won the BBC Radio 2 Welsh Choirgirl of the Year contest , won the BET Welsh Choirgirl of the Year and was also awarded the Pelenna Valley Male Voice Choir Scholarship for the most promising young singer. At the age of 17, she won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy Of Music, University Of London. At the Academy, she also studied Italian, German, French and Russian and graduated with honors. She finished the course with a degree, a music teacher's diploma and then made some money as a freelance singing teacher and a model for hair and make-up. After entering a modeling competition, Jenkins was made the Face of Wales in 2000 and then decided to focus more intently on her musical career.When Universal Classicas And Jazz heard one of Jenkins' demo tapes, she was called to an interview, and she sang " Una voice poco fa " by Rossini. Universal then offered Jenkins a six-album deal just an hour later. This meant that at the age of just 23, Jenkins had signed the then largest record deal in United Kingdom classical recording history, reportedly worth £1 million. Universal Classics' marketing director has since said, "She is an utter professional, a wonderful singer and has a team utterly committed to her." 2010 Coming Soon 2009 - Katherine Prepares For The USA Katherine Jenkins, 28, who has sold more than two million albums in the UK alone, is leaving her record label Universal , is leaving her record label Universal Classics & Jazz and joining Warner Music in a bid to break into the American market. The mezzo-soprano has signed a $10million (£5.8million), five-album deal which will see her move to Los Angeles for 4 months in February of 2009. Music industry sources said it is the biggest in classical music history. The new contract dwarfs the £1million six-album deal she originally signed with Universal when she was an unknown in 2000. In America she will be working with opera star Placido Domingo and American singer-songwriter David Foster who is the most successful songwriter / producer in the history of the music business , having won 15 Grammy Awards and also being nominated for 45 more. David Foster has worked with Celine Dion , Mariah Carey , Josh Groban and Barbra Streisand just to name a few of the superstars from a list that is substantial. In the music industry David is commonly known as the hit man. Miss Jenkins' final album with Universal, called Sacred Arias, was released in October and immediately climbed to the top of the British charts.In an interview earlier this month, Miss Jenkins said she wanted to make an album aimed at an American audience. She said: "I've not done a lot there yet as I've focused on other areas". She said Placido Domingo was "a great person to learn from", adding: "He thinks he can help me and give me advice. I don't know the American market so I need to take advice". Universal, the record label which first signed her, said it wished her well in her new deal. A spokesman said: "We are proud to have helped Katherine develop such a successful career, and her new album of Sacred Arias is her best yet - it is set to be her fifth consecutive classical number one. "We wish her well, and we hope that her new company will be as committed to her as Universal has been over the last six years." Miss Jenkins, who says on her website that she tries to emulate both Marilyn Monroe and Madonna, is one of the most successful British female soloists in history, with her last album Rejoice selling 500,000 copies. Her albums feature arias, popular songs - some sung in Italian - as well as traditional hymns and classical crossover music. She says on her website: "I do not understand where the idea came from that opera is only for privileged people, I am as Stadium, as I am happy singing before 70,000 people at the Millennium Stadium or in front of a few hundred in a small concert hall". Her first album 'Premiere' was the fastest selling classical CD of all time, selling over 30,000 copies in the first week. She is also the only singer in musical history to hold simultaneously the numbers one, two and three and positions in the classical charts which she did with her three albums - Premiere, Second Nature and Living A Dream - in 2005. Miss Jenkins has also tried to emulate the role of Dame Vera Lynn as the forces' sweetheart. She sang at the VE Day celebrations in 2005 and regularly risks her life to entertain troops in Afganistan and Iraq. In that year Katherine’s helicopter was targeted by a ground - to air missle when she was in Iraq and the helicopter pilot had to make a sudden drop from 2,000 feet to 500 feet to avoid being hit Katherine Jenkins was born in Neath, south Wales, and started to sing when she was just four in her local church choir where her mother ran a Sunday school. Her late father Selwyn, a retired factory worker, drove Katherine and her younger sister Laura to music lessons and choir practice. He later encouraged Katherine to take part in singing competitions. She once shattered a chandelier while singing "O Holy Night" at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall. She said: "When I hit a high 'A' there was this loud crack, like a gun going off," she said. "and then all this glass started falling on me." She became a music teacher, worked as a guide on the London Eye and earned some extra money as a model. In 2003 she was called in by Universal for an audition. An hour after hearing her sing, the company offered her the six album record deal. Sacred Arias is the final record in this deal. A spokesman for Warner Music declined to comment. The deal has been signed with Warner Music Entertainment , a division of Warner Music Group .Part of Warner's plans include a new Katherine Jenkins “webstore” offering merchandise and concert tickets. Miss Jenkins said “I am thrilled that my new partnership with Warner Music Entertainment will give me the once in a life time opportunity to work with David Foster on my first album under the deal.” Conrad Withey, President of Warner Music Entertainment said: “We are very excited about the myriad content and marketing possibilities by this type of extended collaboration with a star of Katherine’s stature. “We look forward to taking her popularity to new heights on both sides of the Atlantic." 2007— 2008: Rejoice and Sacred Arias: At the start of 2007, Jenkins made her first appearance on the British young people's Sunday Times Rich List which ranked her as the sixty-second richest young person in Britain with an estimated wealth of £9 million. As of the end of 2006, she is estimated to have sold about 2 million records since her debut in 2004. She made a cameo appearance in two episodes of Emmerdale on 16 and 17 May 2007, which saw her opening the village pageant. In July, Jenkins performed live on Saving Planet Earth on BBC One, to raise money for the BBC Wildlife Fund and later that month a special concert starring Jenkins was held at Margam Park in south Wales. It was entitled Katherine In The Park and saw Jenkins perform alongside Paul Potts and Juan Diego Florez. Jenkins extended a personal invitation to Potts to sing "Nessun Dorma" at the concert. On 12 August 2007 Jenkins appeared on ITV's Britain’s Favorite View where she nominated Three Cliffs Bay on the Gower peninsula to be voted as Britain's favourite view.She took cameras on a tour of the bay and commented on the great sentimental value the bay has to her: "I grew up on the edge of the Gower, but it was still a holiday place for our family. We’d go on weekend breaks to Three Cliffs Bay – six miles down the road! That’s how gorgeous it is." In September Jenkins catwalk modeled at Naomi Campbell's Fashion Relief event for charity in a Julien MacDonald dress which was then bought by Sir Philip Green for £10,000. On 21 October 2007 she sang "Time To Say Goodbye" with Andrea Bocelli on the Strictly Come Dancing results show. In November 2007, she again sang at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albery Hall, and won classical performer of the year at the Variety Club Showbiz Awards. Her fifth album, entitled Rejoice, was released on 19 November 2007. The album contains a mix of classical and pop music in which some songs have been written specially for her. Two of the songs are written by Take That's Gary Barlow. The album entered the pop album charts at number three, beating the Spice Girls and Girls Aloud Jenkins commented "I never imagined when I was a young girl listening to them on the radio that I would outsell the Spice Girls and Celine Dion. It’s almost too much to take in. I can’t thank my fans enough for all their support." She has also teamed up with Darcey Bussell, who organised to stage a song and dance production to pay tribute to the stars which have inspired them which include Madonna and Judy Garland. With a £1 million budget, the show was launched in Manchester in November and is entitled Viva La Diva. As part of the preparation for the show, Jenkins has learned to tap dance, spent eight hours a week in dance studios learning choreography, and running three miles a day to get fit. Jenkins and Bussell performed a segment of Viva la Diva before the Queen at the 79th Royal Variety Performance which was televised on 9 December 2007. On 15 December Jenkins performed on The X Factor final with contestant Rhydian Roberts , performing the song " You Raise Me Up".She performed the Welsh National Anthem on 17 May 2008 at the 2008 FA Cup Final between Cardiff City and Portsmouth, becoming the first person to do this at an FA Cup Final. Jenkins' autobiography, Time To Say Hello , was released on 28 January 2008, and was also serialised in The Mail On Sunday. Jenkins is also an ambassador for Montblanc pens and gifts. Being an ambassador for the company she is able to borrow their jewellery to wear to events, but in order to guard Jenkins and the expensive items, she is chaperoned by Montblanc bodyguards.She wore £6 million worth of Montblanc diamonds to the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008. On 20 October 2008 Jenkins released Sacred Arias, which is her last album with Universal Music. On 19 October The Telegraph stated that Jenkins had signed the biggest classical recording deal in history, for $10 million (£5.8 million), with Warner Music. She is scheduled to perform at Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent on Sunday 7th June 2009. 2005—2006: Living A Dream and Serenade: On 22 January 2005 Jenkins sang at Cardiff at the Tsunami Relief Concert in order to raise money for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake In April and May 2005, Jenkins supported Irish Teno Ronan Tynan on his first US tour as a solo artist. At the Berlin stage of Live 8 in 2005, Jenkins sang the hymn "Amazing Grace". Her interpretation was partly a vocal solo; for the rest she was accompanied by a single softly played piano. In May 2005, Jenkins sang at Trafalgar Square to 15,000-strong audience to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of VE Day, and later helped to launch the Royal British Legion's poppy appeal at Covent Garden whilst wearing a dress made of 2,500 poppies. Jenkins' Italian language version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" ("L'Amore Sei Tu"), first performed live at Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire on 28 August 2005, was the first cut on Jenkins' third album Living A Dream. When the album was released, she held the positions of one, two and three in the classical music chart at the same time along with her first two albums, becoming the only singer to do so. The album held onto the number one position for nearly a year and reached number four in the pop album charts. Jenkins repeated the success of Second Nature with her Living A Dream album when she won the classical BRIT award for Album of the Year for a second time. She now stands as the first female artist to win two consecutive Classical BRIT Awards. Jenkins, with the Blue Man Group, sang "I Feel Love" in front of The Queen at the Royal Variety Performance on 21 November 2005, whilst wearing a flashing, multicoloured dress. She also performed at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo , Norway on 11 December 2005. Her fourth studio album entitled Serenade , released on 6 November, 2006, became number five in the mainstream charts and sold more than 50,000 copies in its first week. This ensured it was the biggest seller for a classical CD in Britain. On HMV's classical charts, the top four albums were all held by Jenkins. Also in November, she performed live before The Queen at the Royal British Legion , Festival Of Rememberance at the Royal Albery Hall and joined fellow Welsh singer James Foxx in the final verse of "Anthem" from the musical Chess. On 23 December 2006 Jenkins appeared as a guest and performer on ITV's Parkinson show, where she sang the Welsh national anthem informally during her interview and a Christmas song backed by the Froncysyllte Male Choir and a brass band. Career 2003—2004: Première and Second Nature: Jenkins first came to public attention when she sang at Westminister Cathedral honouring Pope John Paul II's silver jubilee in October 2003 and then supporting singer Aled Jones on his tour. At the Rugby World Cup in 2003, she made her Sydney Opera House debut. In August 2004, she made her first US appearance supporting opera diva Hayley Westenra at Joe’s Pub in New York City. Her 2004 debut album, Première, lasted a total of eight weeks at the top of the classical charts, which made her the fastest-selling soprano of all time. A Welsh speaker, this first album contained three Welsh songs. She soon became the first British classical artist to have two number one albums in the same year with Premiere and Second Nature, and she now stands as the only person to have held the number one and two classical album chart positions. Second Nature reached number 16 in the UK pop charts and was later named Album of the Year at the 2005 Classical BRIT Awards. This award is chosen by listeners of Classic FM. Jenkins was also the first person to perform the Home Nation anthem "The Power Of Four". She then began to appear regularly as the singer for the Welsh national anthem, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau", at Welsh International rugby matches and sang with Bryn Terfel at the 2005 Wales - England Six Nations match at the Millenium Stadium. Jenkins is now the official mascot for the Wales rugby team. As well as her appearances before Rugby Union matches, in 2004, Jenkins sang at the Rugby League Powergen Challenge Cup final between St. Helens and Wigan. |