All about Mr Gareth Gates

Gareth Paul Gates was born on July 12, 1984 in Bradford, Yorkshire to Wendy and Paul.  Gareth has 3 younger sisters, Nicola, Charlotte and Jessica. The Gates family also fostered a number of other children.           At the age of 9 Gareth joined the choir of Bradford Cathedral and by 11 was Head Chorister. In 1997 he sang a solo for the Queen at the Maundy ceremony.    Gareth Gates is an accomplished classically trained musician, achieving grade 8 in singing by the age of 16 as well as playing the piano and classical guitar to grade 8 standard. He also plays the drums and was in a church based band from the age of 13, where he played the electric guitar.   Gareth shot to fame in 2002 when he came second to Will Young in the television talent show phenomenon, Pop Idol, hosted by Ant and Dec overseen by the infamous Simon Cowell, the legendary Pete Waterman, the delectable Nicky Chapman and Dr Fox.          He was immediately signed up with record label BMG and management company 19 Entertainment and had to abandon his A level studies (he was studying music, English and maths) and his coveted place at the Northern College of Music (where he was accepted to study opera) to pursue his career in the pop industry.   His first single, a cover of Unchained Melody, entered the UK Top 40 at number one. The single was voted 2002's Record of the Year by ITV viewers and was the second biggest selling single of the year.  Two more number 1s followed in quick succession, Anyone of us (Stupid Mistake), which was the 6th biggest selling single of 2002 and The Long and Winding Road (duet with Will Young), a double A side with Suspicious Minds, used in the soundtrack to Disney’s successful Lilo and Stitch animated film. Gareth holds a number of records. He was the youngest male to enter at #1, (he was 17 years and 255 days old when he debuted at number 1 with "Unchained Melody" on 24th March 2002).  As well as being the youngest solo male artist to have four no 1s, Gareth was also the first male solo artist to have 4 no 1 singles in a 12 month period since Frank Ifield did so in 1965.         With The Kumars, Gareth sang the 2003 Comic Relief charity single, "Spirit in the Sky. This was his fourth number one and was the second best selling single of 2003. He also appeared in the charity's Celebrity Driving School.     He has had three successful arena tours, the first with Pop Idol in 2002, the second with Will Young and Zoe Birkett in 2003 and the third a solo tour in 2004 – which also continued on to Asia.                    Beyond the UK, Gareth has had considerable success in Europe and Asia, becoming the 2nd best selling western album artist (after Beyoncé) in the MTV Asia area in 2003. By 2004 Gareth Gates had become the best selling Western album artist in Taiwan.  He has had successful single and album releases in Scandinavia, across Europe and in India, Australia and South Africa.   He has won numerous awards including Best International Male at MTV Asia in 2004 and the same accolade for MTV Taiwan and MTV China, Record of the Year 2002 in the UK and various awards from Smash Hits, Disney and Capital FM as well as awards at the National Music Awards ceremony in 2002 and 2003. He also won the award for ‘Best International Pop Artist’ at the TMF Europe awards in Belgium in 2003.         Gareth has worked hard for a number of charities, using his profile to raise awareness of a number of causes important to him. He is patron of Body and Soul, a charity which helps young people, women and families affected by HIV and Aids, and has worked to raise awareness of HIV in Asia.  Closer to home, he also works with a number of Yorkshire based charities including the Chantelle Bleau Memorial Fund to raise awareness of the dangers of solvent abuse, and the special care baby unit at his local hospital.     A member of the Abundant Life Church in Bradford from the age of 5, Gareth continues to attend when he can and is involved in various church activities, such as Bradford's Bravest. He is an ambassador for the Restoration Trust, a church based charity.     Gareth is known for having a stammer, but with the help of the McGuire programme he is overcoming it. His progress has been so good that he has recently become the youngest UK person to qualify as primary coach and course instructor intern and after running workshops at a number of courses, co-led his first full course in February 2005 and a further course in Galway in 2006.     Gareth is currently in the studio recording his third album.  Refer to our News page, or the GPG fan forum for all of the latest news on Gareth Gates.