Charlene Soraia Santaniello Jones, known as Charlene Soraia, is an English singer-songwriter. She first became known with a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of The Calling's "

Wherever You Will Go "Wherever You Will Go" is the debut single of American band the Calling. The song was released on May 22, 2001, as the first single from their debut studio album, ''Camino Palmero'' (2001). It remains their most renowned and their most successfu ...

", which peaked at number 3 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. She released her debut studio album, '' Moonchild'', in November 2011, which features "Wherever You Will Go" as a bonus track. She released her second studio album, '' Love Is the Law'', in September 2015, which features the singles "Ghost", "Broken", "Caged", and "I'll Be There".

Early life

Born and raised in

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Merid ...

in London, Charlene Soraia grew up with her parents. She first picked up her father's guitar at the age of 5, and played her first show at 8. She was inspired by artists such as

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

, Pink Floyd and

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

, and was very interested in the

prog-rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

genre. While still at school, Soraia used to appear at open mic night at The Studio,

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

in London around 2004, where her style and songwriting were still developing. She used the time before her performances to do her homework. She attended into the

BRIT School The BRIT School is a British performing and creative arts school located in Selhurst, Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, music technology, theatre, musical theatre, dan ...

alongside future chart artists

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

and

Kate Nash Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. Nash launched her music career in 2005. Her 2007 single " Foundations" became a hit and brought her to public attention in the UK. Her debut album, '' Made of Bricks ...

. While being there, she formed a rock band called Retrospect, with whom she released an EP entitled ''Long Hair, Short Memories''. She also joined a psychedelic blues band, Electriq Mistress. At the same time she released a solo EP, "Lemonade", which was mainly created to get her bookings. She began performing as a solo artist in 2008, releasing further EPs ''Daffodils and Other Idylls'' (March 2008); ''Postcards from iO'' later in the year and third in the series, ''One of the Sun''. The former reached the top of the UK Folk Chart on iTunes. An iTunes Live Sessions EP was also released after she performed at the festival in early 2008.

Career

Soraia became noticed by a mainstream audience in 2011 when her cover of "

" by The Calling was featured in a

Twinings Twinings () is a British marketer of tea and other beverages, including coffee, hot chocolate and malt drinks, based in Andover, Hampshire. The brand is owned by Associated British Foods. It holds the world's oldest continually used company log ...

commercial. The song was subsequently released as a digital download on iTunes and reached number 2 on the

UK Download Chart The UK Singles Downloads Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the music industry. Since July 2015, the chart week runs from Friday to Thursday, with the chart date given as the following Thursday. The main chart co ...

and number 3 in the

. The original version of the song, which itself peaked at number 3 in the UK in June 2002 from the album "Camino Palmero", also re-entered the top 40 as a result, this time reaching number 16. Her debut album '' Moonchild'', featuring the song as a bonus track, was released on 21 November 2011. On 10 January 2013, Soraia released the video for her song "Ghost". On 21 July 2014, she released another video for her song "Caged". And on 11 September 2015, she released her second studio album '' Love Is the Law''.

Personal life

Soraia has been diagnosed with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

, specifically stating that she suffers from

cyclothymia Cyclothymia ( ), also known as cyclothymic disorder, psychothemia/psychothymia, bipolar III, affective personality disorder and cyclothymic personality disorder, is a mental and behavioural disorder that involves numerous periods of symptoms of ...

. which she describes as a less severe form of bipolar disorder. .''I wrote song on the LP called'Bipolar' and it came out really upbeat and funny despite the fact I was actually in pieces.'' ..

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soraia, Charlene 1988 births Living people Singers from London Musicians from Lewisham English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English folk musicians English women guitarists English guitarists People with bipolar disorder People educated at the BRIT School Child pop musicians Musicians from Kent 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers 21st-century British guitarists Peacefrog Records artists 21st-century women guitarists