Laura Critchley (born 27 March 1984) is an English singer and songwriter.

Biography

Laura Critchley was born in Little Sutton,

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. With a voice described as that from a love child of

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

and

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

, Critchley started singing when she was 7 years old. She wrote her first song, "Change", at the age of 16. It received radio play on BBC Radio Merseyside on the Billy Butler and

Jimmy McCracken Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

show. She got to the last 50 in ''

Fame Academy ''Fame Academy'' was a British television talent competition to search for and educate new musical talents. The winner received a chance to become a successful music artist and part of the international franchise ''Star Academy'' known under va ...

'' in 2001, and appeared as

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, '' Swe ...

on ''

Stars in Their Eyes ''Stars in Their Eyes'' is a British television talent series, based on Joop van den Ende's Dutch format ''Soundmixshow''. It featured a singing contest in which members of the public impersonate showbiz stars. The show premiered on 21 July 1 ...

''. In 2006, she moved to London and within three months was signed to independent record label, Big Print Records, owned and run by

Andrew Gemmell Andrew Douglas Gemmell (born February 20, 1991) is an American competition swimmer who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. He swam for the University of Georgia, helping then to place 5th in the NCAA in 2014, and was a member of the ...

and Jeremy Marsh (RCA Telstar). She toured with the

Sugababes Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...

in March 2007, with

Ray Quinn Raymond Arthur Quinn (born 25 August 1988) is an English actor, singer, dancer and carpet layer. He is best known for his role as Anthony Murray in ''Brookside'' from 2000 to 2003. He achieved more public recognition when he auditioned for the ...

in October 2007, with

Deacon Blue Deacon Blue are a Scottish pop rock band formed in Glasgow during 1985. The line-up of the band consists of vocalists Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, keyboard player James Prime and drummer Dougie Vipond. The band released their debut albu ...

in November 2007, and with

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...

in May 2008. Critchley's début album, ''Sometimes I'', was released on 19 November 2007. Radio 2

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekd ...

has praised Critchley saying that her single was an excellent single and that she was one to look out for. Also in 2007, she recorded three songs with

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

. In December she sang at

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career start ...

's cancer research ball, and also duetted with him on a version of "Last thing on my mind". Her first single, "Sometimes I" was released on 21 May 2007. Produced by Steve Power, the man who worked on many of

' hits with him, the single did not chart, but did well on the video channels. The second single "What do we do" was on the Radio 2 playlist on the

show, and was released on 12 November 2007. Her third single is a remix of "Sometimes I", by Ash Howes (who has worked with

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...

and the

) and was released on 25 February 2008. Critchley's fourth single "Today's Another Day" was released on 16 June 2008 and was a radio hit, reaching number 4 in the independent charts. On 6 July 2009, Critchley released her single "Feel Proud" which she wrote with UK troops in mind. Profits went to the

Help For Heroes Help for Heroes (H4H) is a British charity which provides lifelong recovery support to British Armed Forces service personnel who have been wounded or injured in the line of duty, and to their families, originally only since 11 September 2001, th ...

charity. Critchley's songs have been on the Radio 2 playlists as well as many regional stations such as

Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. It is ...

. Having supported The Sugababes, and Boyzone on their respective arena tours, duetted with Ronan Keating and sung for Robbie Williams, She won the best live performance award at the Irish Entertainment Awards in October 2008. Critchley performed her debut American showcase on 1 May 2008, to which many record execs went. Jeff Arch (the Sleepless in Seattle writer) also directed her video for the single "Today's Another Day". A 10 part series for

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

called ''Kenwood Glamour Puds'' has used Critchley's music as the title music and sound beds. Glamour puds, featuring Critchley's music, has since been shown on Channel 4 on daytime TV. In 2010, Critchley was picked by Tom Jones to be one of his two backing singers during his worldwide performances and promotion of his album, ''

Praise and Blame ''Praise & Blame'' is the 38th studio album by Wales, Welsh musician Tom Jones (singer), Tom Jones, released 26 July 2010. The album was Jones' first release with Island Records and was recorded in 2009 at the Real World Studios in Wiltshire, E ...

''. She appeared on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'' as well as many other shows around the world with Jones.

Other work

Critchley was chosen as the face of new airline Fly Pink. She is a

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

charity Wishing Well House. Screenwriter Jeff Arch has written a scene for Critchley in his upcoming film ''The Chelsea Story'' set to star

John Cusack John Paul Cusack (; born June 28, 1966)(28 June 1996)Today's birthdays ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', ("Actors John Cusack is 30") is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and political activist. He is a son of filmmaker Dick Cusack, and his ol ...

and

Naomi Watts Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British actress. After her family moved to Australia, she made her film debut there in the drama '' For Love Alone'' (1986) and then appeared in three television series, '' Hey Dad..!'' (1990), '' ...

. He has since also asked her to write the title track for the film as well. Laura has also accepted a request from the Duchess of York, to be one of her charity's (Children in Crisis) celebrity ambassadors for 2008.

Discography

"Sometimes I" is the second single by Critchley that launched her music career from her MySpace page. It was released on 21 May 2007. It was produced by Steve Power, the man behind many of

hits, the single did not chart, but did well on the video channels. A re-mix of the song was released as Critchley's fourth single on 25 February 2008.

Albums

*''Sometimes I'' – (19 November 2007)

Singles

; from ''Sometimes I'': *"Don't Say" – (26 March 2007) *"Sometimes I" – (21 May 2007) *"What Do We Do" – (12 November 2007) *"Sometimes I" (re-mix) – (25 February 2008) *"Today's Another Day" – (16 June 2008) ; non-album single: *"Feel Proud" – (6 July 2009)

References

External links

Get Ready To Rock.com Review of Sometimes I
{{DEFAULTSORT:Critchley, Laura 1984 births Living people 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers