Will Young

Template:Infobox musical artist 2

William Robert Young (born January 20, 1979) is a British singer and actor. He catapulted to fame in 2002 after winning the inaugural UK Pop Idol contest, and continues to sustain a successful music career.

Early life

Young was born in Reading/Wokingham, Berkshire, with a non-identical twin, Rupert. He has an elder sister, Emma. He was educated at Horris Hill preparatory school and Wellington College.

He then attended the University of Exeter where he read Politics. At university, some of his haunts included Timepiece, The Old Firehouse, and Harry's, where he used to work. In September 2001, he became a student at the Arts Educational School in Chiswick, London, starting a three-year course in musical theatre with a scholarship.

Pop Idol

In February 2002 Young came to national prominence by winning the ITV television programme contest Pop Idol.

Contrary to popular belief, Will did not come from behind to win the contest. After having beaten the widely-accepted frontrunner Gareth Gates in the final show, it emerged that he had in fact gained the most votes in six out of the nine weeks of the live show. Many casual viewers of the show were surprised at Will's victory, as Gareth had won many well-publicised newpaper polls, which some detractors unfairly said was partly due to his stutter evoking the 'sympathy vote'.

Post-Idol career

Young's first single was a double A-side featuring Westlife's song "Evergreen" and "Anything Is Possible", a new song written for the winner of the show by Cathy Dennis. In March 2002 this became the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history, selling 403,027 copies on its day of release (1,108,659 copies in its first week). It went on to sell over 1.7 million copies, and in the official list of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK issued later that year it was 11th.

Will subsequently revealed that he was gay, in order to pre-empt a tabloid newspaper that was preparing to run a 'shock-horror' story on his sexuality. He also stated that he had never hidden and was comfortable with his sexuality and it was time to tell his fans.

He went on to win the Brits Best Breakthrough Act Award and a plethora of other awards, including Best Artist in the Digital Music Awards, October 2004. Early singles of note include "Light My Fire" (in the José Feliciano style), "Leave Right Now", and "Friday's Child". The latter is the title of his second album, which contains several tracks co-written by him, and went five-times platinum, and also received awards and critical acclaim.

His second Brit, in February 2005, was awarded for his co-written single "Your Game". Following sell-out theatre and arena tours in 2004, he toured again at outside festival venues in summer 2005. On July 6, 2005, he performed at Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push, the final concert of Live 8, where he did a duet with James Brown in "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag".

His third album, Keep On, was released in November 2005, together with the first single from the same, "Switch It On". He released a second single from it, "All Time Love", which received critical acclaim. He released a third single "Who Am I" in April 2006, and has run into legal trouble over the video. It contains images of his head superimposed on former Blue Peter presenters' bodies. They claim he did not ask for permission, and are seeking compensation. This is however, in spite of the fact that BBC gave clearance for the footage to be used. [1]

In summer 2005, Will took part in Live 8 a charity concert in Edinburgh to raise money for Africa and to celebrate the twentieth anniversay of the live aid concert of 1985. In 2005, Young met comedian David Walliams and the pair became good friends. Young appeared at the Little Britain live stage show in Manchester, and later recorded a podcast with Walliams in which they chatted informally about Young's career. The first part of the four-part podcast became available to download on 21 April 2006.

On 1 May 2006, Will was voted the UK's favourite artist ever in a poll conducted by commercial radio, beating the likes of Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney and the Spice Girls.[2]

On 20 May 2006, he sang "Who Am I", "Leave Right Now" and "Love the One You're With" at the Prince's Trust 30th Birthday.

Acting Career

Young added acting to his repertoire when he accepted a role in the BBC film Mrs. Henderson Presents, starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins, in which he played 'Bertie'. The film was released in the UK in November 2005 to excellent reviews - not least for Young's performance as both actor and singer in the movie. The scene in which Will appears naked postdated his "absolutely thrilled" acceptance of the British male Rear of the Year Award 2005, an accolade to add to the Most Stylish Male Music Star, Best Bod, Sexiest Star, Best Dressed and Best Hair awards he had already won.

Football fan

It is unknown what football side he supports but many say it is Ipswich Town following a photograph of him wearing an Ipswich Town scarf during a Radio One interview.

Future Projects

Will is going to tour the UK with his Keep On Tour, which starts in September 2006 and will include many hits from his new album Keep On, including All Time Love and Who Am I.

Philanthropy

Young supports the charity Women's Aid, about which he wrote: "I am proud to put my name beside this cause and hope that I may be able to help more people affected by the terrors of domestic violence as well as help to create a wider awareness within our society." [3]

Young also supports Mencap, The Children's Society Safe and Sound Campaign, and Positive Action Southwest (PASW), for which he performed at his first solo concert, in July 2003 at Killerton Hall, Exeter.

Young has been an ambassador for the Prince's Trust since 2002.

Discography

For Will Young's full Discography see Will Young discography

Albums

From Now On (2002) #1 UK
Friday's Child (2003) #1 UK
Keep On (2005) #2 UK

Singles

"Anything Is Possible/Evergreen" (2002) #1 UK
"Light My Fire" (2002) #1 UK
"The Long and Winding Road/Suspicious Minds" (with Gareth Gates) (2002) #1 UK
"Don't Let Me Down/You and I" (2002) #2 UK (proceeds to Children In Need)
"Leave Right Now" (2003) #1 UK (writer Eg White)
"Your Game" (2004) #3 UK (writers Will Young, Blair MacKichan, T Onile-Ere)
"Friday's Child" (2004) #4 UK (writers Steve Lee, D Taylor)
"Switch It On" (2005) #5 UK
"All Time Love" (2006) #3 UK ("All Time Love" was also made into a mini movie which served as a music video.) (writer Jamie Hartman)
"Who Am I" (2006) #11 UK (writers Eg White, Lucie Silvas)

Others

Pop Idol: The Big Band Album (2002)
Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason (soundtrack) (2004)
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" (Band Aid 20) (2004) #1 UK
Mrs. Henderson Presents (soundtrack) (2005)

External links