The B Positive Choir is a British choir. It contains 60 singers who suffer with the

sickle cell Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents. The most common type is known as sickle cell anaemia. It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red blo ...

disease or who have close friends or family suffering from it. The choir is led by Colin Anderson and Lurine Cato and features members from across the UK. The choir was formed by

NHS Blood and Transplant NHS Blood and Transplant is an executive non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom's Department of Health and Social Care. It was established on 1 October 2005 to take over the responsibilities of two separate NHS agencies: UK Transplan ...

as an initiative to help raise the awareness of the disease as well as attract new donors to give blood, which is essential to treating the disease, particularly amongst black and Asian communities who the NHS feel are under-represented. The choir performed at the Boisdale of Canary Wharf restaurant as a warm-up show for the 2017

MOBO Awards The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...

. They then performed at the awards show proper in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, with gospel artist Lurine Cato on 29 November. MOBO founder

Kanya King Kanya King, (born in Kilburn, London) is a British entrepreneur who is the founder of the MOBO Awards. Biography King was born in Kilburn, London, to an Irish mother and a Ghanaian father, being the youngest of their nine children. Her father ...

later said she was happy to support and work with the B Positive Choir and was pleased that their televised performance was popular. Following the performance, they were invited to perform Christmas songs at St Pancras railway station. They also released a charity single, "Rise Up" in late 2017. The B Positive Choir starred in the 12th season of ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloqui ...

''. They were selected to appear in the live show, and came in the top three of the second semi-final.

Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English actress, media personality, and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent show competition ''Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the ''Heart Brea ...

and

Alesha Dixon Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She gained recognition in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B, garage and hip hop group Mis-Teeq. The group disbanded i ...

voted for the choir, but

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

and

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Br ...

did not. The tie left it up to the audience, and the B Positive Choir were eliminated. However, they were later chosen as the judges' wildcard act, reinstating them into the final. The choir finished in 11th place. In 2019 the choir performed before members of the royal family at the annual Commonwealth Service at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

References

External links

This Mum Is Using Her Voice To Battle A 'Hidden Disability'
- case study on one of the choir members
B Positive on Bone Marrow transplants
- interviews with choir members about origins of group English choirs Musical groups established in 2017 Blood donation Britain's Got Talent contestants 2017 establishments in England {{UK-band-stub