Gareth Paul Gates wasborn 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 labelBMG 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 worked 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. He continues to instruct and lead courses.
He is very involved in raising awareness, and around the time of the release of "The King's Speech" he was often asked to speak about the film and discuss living with a stammer, which included writing an article for The Sun newspaper.
In 2006, Gareth appeared in a television documentary for ITV called Whatever Happened to Gareth Gates? which dealt with his experiences in the music industry and his life outside it. The documentary was screened in December 2006, and confirmed a new record deal and a new album as well as showcasing snippets of the new material. This marked the start of his return to the music scene.
On 30 March 2007, Gareth appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, the first time he participated in an interview for a mainstream television chat-show since his speech improvement.
The first single from Gates' third album was "Changes" which was released on 9 April 2007. A second single, "Angel on My Shoulder", was released on 18 June 2007. Gareth’s third album, Pictures of the Other Side, was released on 25 June 2007.
During his time working with Judie Tzuke, (one of the many people he wrote with for the album) Gareth co-wrote the song "Christmas and I'm Home" with her. It was first premiered live by Gareth in 2004 in Bradford, and Tzuke recorded the song with pianist Haim Cotton. Tzuke's version was released commercially in November 2008, as a charity single.
In 2009, Gareth moved into musical theatre, initially playing the title role in the West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at the Adelphi Theatre. He then went onto an eighteen month stint as Marius, firstly in the touring production and then in the West End production of Les Misérables, where he won rave reviews. A live recording of the tour production featuring Gareth is available.
Gareth has also been involved in a number of musical theatre concerts including A Spoonful and Stiles and Drew (July 2008) where he previewed the role of Robbie in their new musical Soho Cinders, appearing on the live CD of the same name. Other appearances include Broadway to West End in October 2009, A Grand Night Out in July 2010, A Very Musical Evening for the Teenage Cancer Trust in September 2010 and two Valentine's concerts, Valentine’s At The Musicals in February 2011. In addition Gareth performed songs from Les Mis and other musicals on Radio Two’s Friday Night is Music Night in May 2010 and on BBC 1’s Songs Of Praise Big Sing in October 2010.
Gareth is also a successful DJ – and regularly shows off his skills on the decks across the country.
Gareth currently lives in Chiswick, West London, with Suzanne, his wife. Gareth and Suzanne were married on 18 July 2008 in a private ceremony for family and friends. They had their first child on 6 April 2009, a girl they named Missy.
Outside music, Gareth has been involved in a wide variety of other challenges. For example in 2008, he appeared on ITV 1's Dancing on Ice with skating partner Maria Filippov, finishing fourth. On 7 September 2008, Gareth played for England against The Rest of the World in Soccer Aid 2008 at Wembley in aid of UNICEF. England won 4-3!!
Showing just how much his speech has improved, Gareth also provided the voice-over for a CBBC documentary, Toy Soldiers. Broadcast in December 2010, the show highlighted the impact on young children of having a parent away serving our country in the armed forces.
Gareth played Prince Charming in the pantomime 'Cinderella' at New Wimbledon Theatre, from December 2008 to January 2009. Further pantomimes followed - the Prince in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Woking in 2010-11 and Aladdin in Milton Keynes in 2011-12.
He is also very involved in charitable work. Gareth continues to be a patron of Body and Soul and of the Bobby Moore Fund, which supports research into bowel cancer. He took part in the 2009 Cosmo Everyman campaign to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancer.
In December 2009, Gareth took part in ITV's All Star Family Fortunes, along with Suzanne, Wendy, Nicola and his friend Matt, and won £30,000 for the Bobby Moore Fund for bowel cancer. Other TV and sporting activities for charity have included an appearance on Sky's 'Don't forget the Lyrics' and ITV's ‘Mr and Mrs’ again for the Bobby Moore Fund and various golf events for the Rhys Daniels Trust
Working with Jonathan Wilkes, his wife Suzanne and Jonathan’s wife Nikki, Gareth has set up the Gates and Wilkes Academy of Performing Arts for young people from 5-18, in Barnes and his home town of Bradford, building on the successful academies in Stoke and Swindon already run by Jonathan and Nikki. The first intake is in September 2011.
Gareth is currently taking a break from musical theatre to write and record a new album, with a band that he has put together. In the meantime he is gigging around the country and abroad, getting involved in many charitable activities, acting again as course leader on McGuire programme courses and appearing in panto!
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