Melanie Blatt
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Melanie Ruth Blatt (born 25 March 1975) is an English singer. She rose to fame in 1997 as a member of the girl group All Saints. The group have gained five number one singles, two multi-platinum albums, two
BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
and have sold over 10 million records worldwide. Blatt began recording a solo album in 2003, working with numerous producers including
Xenomania Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenoman ...
and released her debut solo single " Do Me Wrong" in 2003. Blatt was later dropped by her record label, and her solo album was cancelled. In 2005, she made a return to music with her single " See Me", and began recording another album independently which was later shelved and cancelled in favour of the All Saints reunion. In 2013 and 2015, she was a judge on the television series ''The X Factor NZ''.


Early life

Blatt was born at
University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College London ...
in the
London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and St ...
and is named after American folk singer
Melanie Safka Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk (born February 3, 1947), professionally known as Melanie or Melanie Safka, is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for the 1971–72 global hit "Brand New Key", her cover of " Ruby Tuesday", her compositi ...
. She has a French mother and a British father, David Blatt (known also as author of the book ''Manchester United Ruined My Wife''), whose ancestors were from Poland and Russia and a younger sister named Jasmine. She was brought up in both the UK and France. In 1986, Blatt was diagnosed as having
scoliosis Scoliosis is a condition in which a person's spine has a sideways curve. The curve is usually "S"- or "C"-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others, it increases over time. Mild scoliosis does not t ...
. Since her parents were not satisfied with the treatment for the condition in the United Kingdom they decided to move to France, where a specialist inserted three metal rods in her back. Blatt went to
Fitzjohn's Primary School Fitzjohn's Primary School is a community primary school in Hampstead, London. The school was established in 1953. The school took over the school buildings and some of the grounds that were previously part of the estate belonging to the Royal ...
where her musical talent was immediately noticed by the music teacher David Joyner, who encouraged her parents to send her to a stage school. In 1986, she attended the
Sylvia Young Theatre School Sylvia Young Theatre School is an independent school in Marble Arch, London, England. It is a specialist performing arts school named after its founder and principal, Sylvia Young OBE. Outline The Sylvia Young Theatre School was founded in ...
where she met
Nicole Appleton Nicole Marie Appleton (born 7 December 1974) is a Canadian singer and television presenter. She is a member of the British girl group All Saints and Canadian duo Appleton with her elder sister Natalie Appleton. Early life Appleton was born i ...
. The two girls became best friends. During this period, Blatt also played young Eponine in ''
Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...
'' for six months, and was the understudy for Cosette together with fellow Sylvia Young student Denise van Outen.Biography All Saints A to Z
Accessed 2 January 2006


Career


1993–2001: Career with All Saints

In 1993, Blatt sang under the name Melanie Guillaume in the band Drive with Julienne Davis. They released one single, "
Curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
", together. She also did backing vocals for
Dreadzone Dreadzone are a British electronic music group. They have released eight studio albums, two live albums, and two compilations. Career Dreadzone were formed in London, England in 1993 when ex-Big Audio Dynamite drummer Greg Roberts teamed up ...
with Denise van Outen. Later that year, Blatt met
Shaznay Lewis Tricia Marie "Shaznay" Lewis (born 14 October 1975) is an English singer, songwriter and a member of the girl group All Saints. She has co-written most of the group's songs, including number one singles: "Bootie Call", "Pure Shores" and internat ...
at the Metamorphosis recording studio in All Saints Road, London. Together, with Simone Rainford, they formed the group All Saints 1.9.7.5 which was later renamed to All Saints when Rainford left and
Nicole Nicole may refer to: People * Nicole (name) * Nicole (American singer) (born 1958), a contestant in season 3 of the American ''The X Factor'' * Nicole (Chilean singer) (born 1977) * Nicole (German singer) (born 1964), winner of the 1982 Euro ...
and
Natalie Appleton Natalie Jane Appleton Howlett (born 14 May 1973) is a Canadian singer. She is a member of the British girl group All Saints and the duo Appleton with her younger sister Nicole Appleton. Appleton joined All Saints in 1996, becoming the fourth ...
joined Blatt and Lewis. In 1997 All Saints released their debut single "
I Know Where It's At "I Know Where It's At" is a song by English-Canadian girl group All Saints, released in August 1997 as their debut single from their first album, '' All Saints'' (1997). The song debuted on the National Lottery Live 9 August 1997 and was first ...
", and peaked at number 4 in the UK. The same year the group released a second single " Never Ever, which introduced the group to international success after topping the charts in the UK and Australia, and reaching the top ten across Europe, Canada and the United States. The single sold over 1.2 million copies in the United Kingdom and was certified double platinum by the
British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...
. The same year the group released their debut album '' All Saints'', it reached number two in the United Kingdom and was certified platinum five times for sales of 1.5 million. The group gained a further two number one singles the following year: " Under the Bridge / Lady Marmalade" and "
Bootie Call "Bootie Call" is a song performed by English-Canadian girl group All Saints from their debut album, '' All Saints'' (1998). The song was co-written by group member Shaznay Lewis in collaboration with its producer, Karl Gordon. "Bootie Call" ...
". In 2000 the group released new single "
Pure Shores "Pure Shores" is a song by English-Canadian girl group All Saints, released by London Records on 14 February 2000 as the lead single from '' The Beach: Motion Picture Soundtrack'' and the group's second studio album, '' Saints & Sinners'' (20 ...
", which was used in the film '' The Beach'' and reached number one in the UK. The single was certified platinum for sales over 600,000 copies. The single was followed by their fifth number one single " Black Coffee", their second album '' Saints & Sinners'' was released shortly after and topped the chart in the United Kingdom. The album was eventually certified double platinum by the BPI for sales over 600,000. In early 2001, following the release of their single "
All Hooked Up "All Hooked Up" is a song by English-Canadian girl group All Saints from their second album, '' Saints & Sinners'' (2000). London Records released the song as the third and last single from the album on 15 January 2001. Composition and lyrical ...
", the group split and reasons for this were later explained by Shaznay Lewis, who revealed details of tensions between the group. In 2000, Blatt appeared in the film '' Honest'' directed by Dave Stewart opposite Nicole and Natalie Appleton and in 2001 she played a small role in the independent British film ''Dog Eat Dog''.


2002–2006: Solo musical releases

Blatt's solo releases were of variable success; her most prominent being " TwentyFourSeven", a collaboration with the ''
Artful Dodger Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist''. The Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that occupation. He is the leader of the gang of child criminals ...
'', peaking at No 6 in September 2001. Melanie began recording on her debut solo album in 2002, working with numerous producers including
Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
production team
Xenomania Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenoman ...
. In late 2003 she released her debut single " Do Me Wrong", it reached number 18 in the UK and led to Blatt being dropped by her label due to its low charting. The album she was working on was scrapped, therefore the release of her upcoming single "Blue" was cancelled, but later included on British singer
Amelia Lily Amelia Lily Oliver (born 16 October 1994) is an English singer and television personality. In 2011, she became a finalist on the eighth series of ''The X Factor'', where she finished in third place. In 2017, she finished as runner-up on the t ...
's debut album '' Be a Fighter'', on which she worked with Xenomania. In 2005 Blatt made a return to music with new single " See Me", which was used in the ''
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'' movie. She began working on a new album with independent label Sowlen Ankle Ltd written with, and recorded by, Matt Hales from Aqualung. During 2005, Blatt played small venues in the UK which featured songs from the album she was working on at the time and included unreleased songs like "In Your Arms," "I Don't Mind," "Now You're Gone," "No Lullaby" and "Love Sweet Love." Blatt's solo record was shelved in favour of the All Saints reunion.


2006–2007: All Saints reunion

On 24 January 2006, it was announced that the band had reformed and signed a record deal with
Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...
. They subsequently began work on their third studio album, '' Studio 1''. The first single, "
Rock Steady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...
" (released in November 2006), reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. ''Studio 1'' entered the albums chart at number forty and sold 60,000 copies according to the BPI, being certified silver. A second single, " Chick Fit" failed to reach the top 200. Blatt discussed the reunion's failure in an interview with '' i-D'' magazine in 2012: "I don't think it was done for the right reasons... I know that I did it for the money. We got signed before we had even made music again, it wasn't like we felt we had something to give back to the world... we were given an opportunity and took it, without really thinking about it too hard". She also said she never felt comfortable with the success the band had and that "it was not necessarily the plan at the beginning; there was a lot of compromise involved".


2007–2014: Television

Since 2007 Blatt presents the TV show ''
The Hot Desk ''The Hot Desk'' is a British music interview show that has been hosted by a number of presenters including Nicole Appleton, Melanie Blatt, Dave Berry, Emma Willis, Laura Whitmore, Sarah Jane Crawford and Alice Levine. The show was produced f ...
'' on
ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...
with co-hosts
Nicole Appleton Nicole Marie Appleton (born 7 December 1974) is a Canadian singer and television presenter. She is a member of the British girl group All Saints and Canadian duo Appleton with her elder sister Natalie Appleton. Early life Appleton was born i ...
, Dave Berry,
Emma Willis Emma Louise Willis (née Griffiths; born 18 March 1976) is an English broadcaster. She is known for her television and radio work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV, and Heart FM.
and
Jayne Sharp Jayne Sharp is an English broadcaster who is a former host of '' Bingo Night Live'' on ITV. Early life Sharp is from Durkar in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Before presenting, Sharp went to the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside to stud ...
. Between 2009 and 2010 she was reporter of
Angela Griffin Angela Mellissa Griffin (born 19 July 1976) is a British actress and television presenter who has been active on British television since the early 1990s. She is best known for portraying the roles of Fiona Middleton in the ITV soap opera '' ...
's show ''
Angela and Friends ''Angela and Friends'' is a British talk show which was produced by Crackit Productions for Sky1. The show aired at 12pm, Monday to Friday, and was presented by actress Angela Griffin, who was joined by three "friends" in each show to discuss t ...
''. In January 2013 it was announced Melanie Blatt would join
Daniel Bedingfield Daniel John Bedingfield (born 3 December 1979) is a New Zealand-British singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the eldest brother of fellow singers Natasha Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle. He was a judge on '' The X Factor New Z ...
,
Stan Walker Stan Walker (born 23 October 1990) is an Australian-born New Zealand singer, actor, and television personality. In 2009, Walker was the winner of the seventh and last season of '' Australian Idol''. He subsequently signed a recording contrac ...
and
Ruby Frost Jane de Jong (born 1987), known professionally as Ruby Frost, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter from Auckland. In 2009, she won the nationwide music competition MTV ''42Unheard'', giving her a recording contract with Universal Music New Zea ...
as a judge/mentor on the New Zealand version of ''
The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
'': "I can't wait to see what kind of artists and voices we are going to find in New Zealand." Blatt will be mentoring the Groups category. It was reported that she and her daughter Lilyella will live in the country for the duration of the series. In February 2013, Blatt revealed she is "making music" and when asked about a solo comeback she said she is going to do something she never thought in a million years she would do. On 11 September 2014 MediaWorks announced both Blatt and
Stan Walker Stan Walker (born 23 October 1990) is an Australian-born New Zealand singer, actor, and television personality. In 2009, Walker was the winner of the seventh and last season of '' Australian Idol''. He subsequently signed a recording contrac ...
would return to judge the second season of the
X Factor NZ ''The X Factor'' was a New Zealand television reality music competition, originating from the The X Factor (UK TV series), original UK series and based on the The X Factor (Australian TV series), Australian ''The X Factor'' production format. The ...
alongside returning host
Dominic Bowden Dominic Joseph Bowden (born 15 December 1977) is a New Zealand television personality, host and voice actor. He is best known as the host of New Zealand reality series including ''New Zealand Idol, Dancing with the Stars New Zealand and The X ...
. Blatt and Walker would be joined by new husband-wife duo
Willy Moon William George Sinclair (born 2 June 1989), better known by his stage name Willy Moon, is a New Zealand musician, singer, songwriter and producer. He is known for his 2012 single " Yeah Yeah" which appeared on the 2012 Apple iPod advert and peak ...
and
Natalia Kills Natalia Noemi "Teddy" Sinclair (née Cappuccini; born 15 August 1986), is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She has recorded music under various aliases, most famously as Natalia Kills and Verbalicious. She is currently the lead vocali ...
until their sacking, and replaced by
Natalie Bassingthwaite Natalie Bassingthwaighte (; born 1 September 1975) is an Australian recording artist, actress, and television personality. Born and raised in Wollongong, New South Wales, she began her career in musical theatre. She later pursued an acting car ...
and Shelton Woolwright. Blatt mentored the Over 25's and placed 5th with her contestant Steve Broad.


2014–present: Second All Saints reunion

In 2014, All Saints reformed to support the
Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The gr ...
for five dates across the UK and Ireland in 2014. On 27 January 2016, it was confirmed that All Saints will release their fourth studio album '' Red Flag'' on 8 April 2016. The lead single from the album, " One Strike", preceded the album on 26 February 2016.


Personal life

On 20 November 1998 Blatt gave birth to daughter Lilyella, whose father is Stuart Zender,
Jamiroquai Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in the ...
's former bass player.New member for All Saints
Accessed 2 January 2006
They broke up in early 2006.


Filmography


Discography


Singles


Featured singles


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blatt, Melanie 1975 births Living people All Saints (group) members English film actresses People from Camden Town English people of French descent English people of Polish descent English people of Russian descent Alumni of the Sylvia Young Theatre School English women pop singers Feminist musicians English expatriates in New Zealand