Ward Thomas are an English modern country-pop duo, composed of twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas from

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. The band has been called "Britain's first country stars". Cartwheels, their second studio album became the first album by a UK country act to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart surpassing the previous record by The Shires. It has since gone gold in the UK.

Early life

Catherine and Lizzy are twins, born two minutes apart, who grew up on a farm in rural Hampshire, England, and were educated at Alton Convent, a local

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

day school, where they acquired the nicknames "Scruff 1" and "Scruff 2" because they were "so bad at being neat and tidy". Their brother Tom Ward-Thomas is an actor and playwright. Their father is Anthony Ward-Thomas (born 1958), who in 1985 founded his own eponymous removals business now with an annual turnover of £22 million (2015), also an amateur jockey and racehorse owner, Catherine actually rode in a point to point at the age of 16 and both the girls share a passion with their father for horses, Anthony is also the eldest son of the novelist Evelyn Anthony (1926-2018) (Mrs Evelyn Ward-Thomas),

High Sheriff of Essex The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the ...

in 1994. Their mother Amanda Ward Thomas is an artist. Catherine Ward Thomas married in May 2022.

Career

2014–2015: ''From Where We Stand''

They co-wrote the songs for their debut album '' From Where We Stand'', which was released on 20 July 2014. It peaked at number 41 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, number 1 on the UK Country Chart, number 7 on the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rel ...

and number 36 in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The album won UK Album of the Year at the British Country Music Awards and sold over 25,000 copies. They have toured the UK multiple times, with shows at venues including

Islington Assembly Hall Islington Assembly Hall is a live music venue and events space on Upper Street, Islington, London. It forms part of the Islington Town Hall complex. It has a capacity of 890 for live events, including seating for 200 in its balcony. Events other ...

and

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in Hull, East Yorkshire. In 2014, they performed on the

BBC Introducing BBC Music ''Introducing'' is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. It gives artists the opportunity to be played on Local BBC Radio and nationally on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, ...

stage at the BBC Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park festival, returning to the festival in 2015 to perform on the main stage alongside The Shires; a performance which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 2.

2016–2017: ''Cartwheels'' and ''A Shorter Story''

In June 2016, Ward Thomas announced a joint venture with Sony Music and that their second album, '' Cartwheels'', would be released in September 2016. Lead single "Carry You Home", described by ''The Times'' as "chirpy country pop" was released in June, followed by the singles "Guilty Flowers" and "Cartwheels", all of which were added to the Radio 2 playlist. Cartwheels reached number 1 in the UK Albums Chart, making Ward Thomas the first UK country act to top the charts and officially making them the most successful UK country act. It has since gone gold in the UK. In September 2016, Ward Thomas were confirmed to play at the 31st edition of

Eurosonic Noorderslag Eurosonic Noorderslag is an annual four-day music showcase festival and conference held in January in Groningen, Netherlands. The first three days of the festival (Eurosonic) feature artists from all over Europe, the last day of the festival (N ...

in Groningen and in March 2017, Ward Thomas were announced as the official opening act for the Country to Country 2017 festival. On 28 October 2016, Ward Thomas released the single version of "Cartwheels", featuring a cover of Lenny Kravitz's song " Fly Away" which was also featured on the TV show " Countrywise". On 31 March 2017, Ward Thomas released their first EP, '' A Shorter Story'', which features the duo covering five of their favourite songs. In 2017, they supported American country superstar

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

on the UK leg of her Highway Vagabond Tour.

2017–present: ''Restless Minds''

In July 2018, Ward Thomas announced that they will release their third album, ''Restless Minds.'' The announcement coincided with the release of lead single "Lie Like Me", a biting indictment of lives faked online. During the 2019 C2C: Country to Country festival, the duo were surprised by

Cam Calmodulin (CaM) (an abbreviation for calcium-modulated protein) is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca2+, and the bin ...

at the CMA Songwriter's Event with the Jeff Walker Global Achievement Award from the Country Music Association, making them only the second UK country act to receive the award.Ward Thomas Receive Prestigious CMA Jeff Walker Global Artist Award
, Music News, March 7, 2019, by Laura Klonowski

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Country pop duos English country music groups British country singers Twin musical duos Female musical duos