Shayne Ward.html



Shayne Ward
Background information
Birth name	Shayne Thomas Ward
Born	October 16, 1984 (1984-10-16) (age 24)
Origin	Clayton, Manchester, England
Genre(s)	Dance Pop R&B Pop Pop Ballad Blue Eyed Soul
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instrument(s)	Singing
Years active	2002, 2005–present
Label(s)	Sony BMG (2005–present)
Website	www.shayne-ward.com

Shayne Thomas Ward (born October 16, 1984) is an English pop singer, who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as Asia, after winning the second series of The X Factor. As of 2008 Ward has sold over 1 million records worldwide with 600,000 of his debut album been sold in Asia and around 980,000 of both albums in the UK.

Biography

Early life

Ward was born in 1984 in Clayton, Manchester to Irish parents^{1 2 3}.He has a twin sister named Emma and five other siblings: Mark, Martin, Michael, Lisa and Leona. He is a Manchester United supporter ⁴, and in 2002, he reached the final thirty of Popstars: The Rivals, the television show that created the massively successful British girl band Girls Aloud. Prior to his participation in The X Factor, Ward was in a band called Destiny with two women named Tracy Murphy and Tracey Lyle, performing at pubs, clubs and weddings. He currently resides in Manchester.

The X Factor 2005

In early 2005, Ward auditioned for the second series of The X Factor. He impressed all three judges (Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh) and passed through to the next round. His group (16 to 24 year olds) was then mentored by Louis, and Ward was chosen to be among Louis's top 4 contestants and perform on the live shows. Ward quickly became the Bookmakers' favourite to win the show, and after making it to the grand final, he defeated Simon Cowell's duo Journey South and Sharon Osbourne's over-25 singer Andy Abraham and was crowned as the winner of The X Factor 2005. He had not fallen into the bottom two throughout the entire competition, and won by a margin of 1.2% of the vote, out of a reported 10.8 million phone votes cast by viewers. Immediately after the competition, his mentor Louis Walsh became his manager under a joint venture with Global Publishing and Walsh Global Management.

X Factor Performances

• Top 12: "Right Here Waiting For you" by Richard Marx
• Top 11: "If You're Not The One" by Daniel Bedingfield
• Top 10: "Summer Of 69" by Bryan Adams
• Top 9: "You Make Me Feel Brand New" by The Stylistics
• Top 8: "Cry Me A River" by Justin Timberlake
• Top 7: "A Million Love Songs" by Take That
• Top 6: "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" by The Darkness
• Top 5: "Careless Whisper" by George Michael
• Top 5: "Take Your Mama" by Scissor Sisters
• Top 4: "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Garth Brooks
• Top 4: "Unchained Melody" by The Righteous Brothers
• Top 3: "If You're Not The One" by Daniel Bedingfield
• Top 3: "When A Child Is Born" by Johnny Mathis
• Top 3: "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" by Judy Garland
• Top 2: "That's My Goal" (winner's single) - Declared X Factor Winner 2005

Post-X Factor Career

2006–2007: Shayne Ward

Immediately after his victory on The X Factor, Ward signed a recording contract with Sony BMG and his first single, "That's My Goal", was rush-released in the UK on Wednesday, December 21, 2005 and after selling a massive 742,000 copies (including 313,000 on its first day), it became the Christmas number one single of 2005, held the top spot for four weeks and stayed in the top 75 until June 2006, a huge 21-week run. It therefore became the fourth fastest selling UK single of all time, beaten only by Elton John's "Candle in the Wind", Will Young's "Anything Is Possible/Evergreen", and Gareth Gates' "Unchained Melody" which sold 685,000, 403,000 and 335,000 copies in their first days of sale respectively). To date, "That's My Goal" has sold 1,300,000 copies.

Ward's second single, "No Promises", a cover of a Bryan Rice song was released on April 10, 2006, and peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart. Shayne Ward, his self-titled debut album was released on Monday April 17, and sold over 95,000 copies on the first two days of release. By the end of the week, the album had sold 201,266 copies and hit the albums chart at number one. To date, the album has sold 520,000 copies in the UK and a further 200,000 worldwide, hitting number one in eight other countries.

Ward's third single "Stand by Me" failed to set the charts alight like the previous two, entering and peaking in the UK Singles Chart at number fourteen. It fared slightly better in the Irish charts however, reaching number nine.

It was confirmed in Gary Barlow's autobiography, that in 2006, fellow Take That member, Jason Orange threatened to quit the band, and Ward was suggested and heavily considered to become his replacement. Orange, however changed his mind and Ward was no longer considered.

In August 2006, it was reported that Ward had developed vocal cord nodules — the same condition that stopped the singing career of Julie Andrews — and was to be flown out to Los Angeles in early September to see a specialist surgeon. His manager,Louis Walsh, released a statement that he was confident Ward would be fine and would be back at work by the end of the month. Ward had successful treatment and was indeed able to return to his singing career. In November 2006, he released his autobiography entitled My Story. He travelled to a several places around the UK for book signings, which thousands of people attended. In early 2007, Ward embarked on a massive solo tour of UK venues, taking in eighteen concerts in twenty-eight days from late January to mid-February. The tour commenced in Dublin on January 21 and ended in Birmingham on February 17, 2007.

2007–2008: Breathless

After the completition of his successful debut tour, Ward's fourth single and first from his sophomore album ("If That's OK with You") was given a release date of August 20, 2007, but was then delayed and became a double A-side single with "No U Hang Up". It was finally released on September 24, 2007, and charted at number two in the UK. "No U Hang Up" and "If That's OK with You" charted separately in Ireland, the former reaching number eleven and the latter entering at number one.

Ward's second album, Breathless, was released on November 26, 2007, and after selling over 95,000 copies in its first week, debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, held off the top spot by his X Factor successor Leona Lewis, whose debut album had achieved enormous success, however in Ireland it debuted at number one (removing Lewis's album from the top spot) a position it held for three weeks, and was certified five times platinum there. The second single from Ward's album was announced as "Breathless", and was released on November 19, 2007. It peaked at number six in the UK and number two in Ireland. On November 10, Ward had performed a world exclusive of "Breathless" on the live results show of the fourth series of The X Factor, although the single was not available for download until the November 18, followed by a performance on The Paul O'Grady Show on November 19. There was plans for a third single release from the album, rumoured to be "U Got Me So" but got cancelled due to work on his tour and next album. In the UK the album has been certified platinum with sales of over 450,000.

In May 2008 Ward embarked on his month long UK tour named The Breathless Tour 2008. He made his stage debut at London's O2 Arena and visited his home town Manchester at the MEN Arena. He also performed his complete show as a support act for Westlife's 2008 tour in front of a crowd of over 80,000 at Ireland's Croke Park.

After touring the UK, Ward plans to return to South Africa for promotional work and some gigs and then he moves on to Australia to work for the first time, before moving on to LA where he will do five weeks of writing and recording⁵.

Ward has recently explained that he wants a greater creative input on his next album and that he wants people in the UK to recognise the international success he has achieved since The X Factor stating: "People need to realise that I'm not just a UK name. I'm more international." Ward recently had to cancel a date on his Breathless Tour due to conflict with his recording schedule. According to a blog on his official website he has already started work on the third album in July 2008, and is writing and recording in the UK with Taio Cruz, Karen Poole and Future Cut (who were the producers/writers ofLilly Allen's "Smile"). From mid July 2008 he will be in Los Angeles for four - six weeks writing and recording with US and European writers and producers. The next album is expected towards the end of 2008 or into the first quarter of 2009, not much information about the content of the new album has been given except that it will be very different compared with his previous efforts. ⁶

Discography

Singles

• Note 1: "If That's OK with You" and "No U Hang Up" were released as a double-A side in the UK, but charted separately elsewhere.
• Note 2: Charted in 2008
• Note 3: Charted in 2008

See also

• The X Factor (UK series 2)
• Cheryl Cole, Wards Manager
• Simon Cowell, Wards Manager
• Sharon Osbourne, previous "The X Factor" judge
• Andy Abraham, 2nd placed finalist in the competition
• Journey South, 3rd placed finalist in the competition
• Brenda Edwards, 4th place semi finalist in the competition
• Maria Lawson, 8th place semi finalist in the competition

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shayne Ward

• Official website
• Official Forum
• Shayne Citybeat Interview
• BBC Berkshire: Shayne Ward interview
• News and Pictures