Matthew Sheridan Cardle (born 15 April 1983) is an English pop singer. He was born in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and grew up in

Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011 Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. Cardle has been involved in music since his early teens and has been a member of two different bands; Darwyn and

Seven Summers Seven Summers is a British rock band from Essex. The band members are Alex Baker (drums), Jon Holland (bass), Matt Cardle (vocals and guitar) and Neillo (guitars). Career The band released their self-titled debut album on 22 January 2010 whic ...

. Cardle rose to fame after winning the seventh series 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 ...

'', and received a £1 million recording contract with

Syco Music Syco Music is a defunct division of Syco Entertainment founded by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. Originally founded as S Records, the label launched while Cowell was still employed by BMG, the label oversaw music relea ...

and later signed a deal with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. Following Cardle's victory on ''The X Factor'', the winner's single and his debut single, "

When We Collide "Many of Horror" is an alternative rock song written by Simon Neil of Scottish band Biffy Clyro for their fifth studio album ''Only Revolutions''. The song was released as the fourth single from the album on 18 January 2010. The song was record ...

", was released. The track was made available to purchase on 12 December 2010, shortly after the show had ended. On 19 December 2010, the track debuted at number one on 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 ...

, as well as on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

. The track also became the second biggest-selling single of 2010 with 815,000 copies sold within two weeks. In June 2012, it had sold 1 million copies, the fourth single by an ''X Factor'' contestant to have done so. " Run for Your Life" was the follow-up single released by Cardle which charted at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. Cardle went on to release his debut album, ''

Letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

'', in 2011, which debuted at number two 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 C ...

and the

Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by the ...

. The album saw two more singles released, "

Starlight Starlight is the light emitted by stars. It typically refers to visible electromagnetic radiation from stars other than the Sun, observable from Earth at night, although a component of starlight is observable from Earth during daytime. Sunligh ...

" and " Amazing". Cardle then parted ways with record labels

and

, and signed a recording contract with So What Recordings in early 2012. He released his second studio album, '' The Fire'', which charted at number eight on the UK Albums Chart. In October 2013, Cardle released his third album, ''

Porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...

'', in association with Absolute Marketing as an independent release. It reached number 11 on the UK Albums Chart. The lead single was a duet with Melanie C, called " Loving You", which was released on 18 August and reached number 14 on the

. Cardle is a guitarist, and plays frequently on tour and other performances. He also plays other instruments including drums and piano. He has toured the United Kingdom and Ireland on his

Letters Tour The Letters Tour was the debut concert tour by Matt Cardle in support of his debut solo album. It included 23 dates across the UK and Ireland in early 2012. The tour sold out causing an extra date to be added. It received largely positive re ...

in 2012, Unplugged Tour in 2013,

Porcelain Tour The Porcelain Tour was a 19 date concert tour by Matt Cardle in support of his 2013 album ''Porcelain''. It took place over Ireland and the UK through April 2014, ending in Telford on 25 April. Background The tour was announced on 30 October 2 ...

in 2014 and Intimate and Live Tour in 2016. Cardle has combined album and single sales of over 2 million.

Life and career

Early life and career beginnings

Cardle was born in

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

, to David and Jennifer Cardle (née Horner) on 15 April 1983. He has an older brother called Dominic with whom he has a close relationship. His family lived in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

before moving to

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. He started playing guitar and writing songs at aged 11 and knew from that point that music was what he wanted to do with his life. At this time he also started singing lessons but stopped going after missing a class. He attended a summer band camp through his teens and played in bands. He attended the independent Stoke College in Suffolk, then studied a music course at the Institute in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

. He then went on to do a media course at Braintree College. Cardle is a keen skateboarder and spent a lot of his college years at skate parks instead of studying and therefore felt that education wasn't the right path for him. When he was a young adult, he interviewed for a music course at Bournemouth University but he didn't make it. He said he was "probably rubbish at the time." In 2005, Cardle joined alternative rock/pop band Darwyn and the band recorded an 11-track album, ''When You Wake'', the band also released a follow-up EP, ''Little Sunlight'' in 2006. The band described themselves as an acoustic rock band. The band's first album contained tracks "Violet" and title track "When You Wake". They were awarded an

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

grant which they used to record the EP ''Little Sunlight''. The band played at many festivals including Stortford Music Festival and Brownstock Festival and regularly played at the venue and recording studio Highbarn in

. Cardle and Darwyn band member Ali McMillan also played as a two-piece under the name Darwyn, playing acoustic cover versions of popular songs in venues in and around the Suffolk area and videos of them playing together have gained many views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. In 2009, Cardle became the lead singer and guitarist of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band called

. The band performed live on Sue Marchant's BBC radio program, in December 2009. They released their self-titled album in January 2010. The album featured alternative rock, pop, urban and folk influences. The album included the songs "Youngblood", "Way to Be" and "Dirt" and the follow-up single "Picture of You". Although the band did not have a recording contract and they distributed their music independently, they reached No.30 on the Official UK Album Downloads Chart and No.11 on the Official UK Independent Album Charts for week ending 25 December 2010, and No.1 on the Official UK Independent Album Breakers Charts for week ending 25 December 2010. Following Cardle's success on ''The X Factor'', the band saw an upsurge in popularity, with their music videos gaining large numbers of views on

2010: ''The X Factor'' era

In 2010, Cardle auditioned for the seventh series of ''

'' in front of

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 t ...

Cheryl Cole Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstar ...

and

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s. He later be ...

, singing

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

's "

You Know I'm No Good "You Know I'm No Good" is a song written and performed by English singer Amy Winehouse from her second and final studio album, ''Back to Black'' (2006). "You Know I'm No Good" was released as the second single from ''Back to Black'' on 5 Januar ...

". At the Bootcamp stage of the show he sang "

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who later became his wife. At the time, the couple were lovers, although MacColl was still married to his ...

", a performance which prompted Simon Cowell to say "Why haven't we noticed him before?" and Louis Walsh to say "He's the biggest surprise of today for me!" He was moved to the boys category when the age limit was raised to 28, making

Dannii Minogue Danielle Jane Minogue () is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. She initially gained recognition for her appearances on the television show ''Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988) and for her role as Emma Jackson on th ...

his mentor. Cardle was favourite to win from before the live shows until the end of the series, with some of the shortest odds the show had ever seen. On the first live show he sang "

When Love Takes Over "When Love Takes Over" is a song by French record producer David Guetta with vocals by American singer Kelly Rowland, from Guetta's fourth studio album, ''One Love''. It was released as the lead single from the album on 21 April 2009 by Virgin Re ...

" which received high praise from all four judges. In week 5 he performed "

" again, which earned him the first standing ovation from all four judges of the series. It remains his most viewed performance on YouTube with over 29 million views to date. In the semi-final he had to withdraw from a secret X Factor gig in London due to throat problems which saw him almost have to miss the show that weekend. In the final he performed a duet with

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

. Cardle was announced the winner on 12 December 2010, after receiving 44.61% of the vote. He received the most votes every week from week 2, being beaten only by Mary Byrne in week 1. The week after the series final, Cardle's cover version of "

Many of Horror "Many of Horror" is an alternative rock song written by Simon Neil of Scottish band Biffy Clyro for their fifth studio album '' Only Revolutions''. The song was released as the fourth single from the album on 18 January 2010. The song was recor ...

" originally recorded by Scottish rock trio

Biffy Clyro Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil (guitar, lead vocals), James Johnston (bass, vocals), and Ben Johnston (drums, vocals). Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have r ...

and retitled as "

", topped the

to become the 2010 Christmas number 1 and remained there for three consecutive weeks. The song was nominated in the Best British Single category at the

2011 BRIT Awards Brit Awards 2011 was the 31st edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music show, the Brit Awards. The awards ceremony was held on Tuesday 15 February 2011 at The O2 Arena in London for the first time in its history, moving fro ...

. In June 2012 the song reached the one million sale mark, making it the 123rd single to sell a million copies in the UK and the fourth by an X Factor contestant. In Ireland it is the fourth best selling single of all time, and the best selling single of the century so far, as of 31 December 2015. Cardle remains good friends with fellow contestant

Aiden Grimshaw Aiden Samuel Grimshaw (born 4 December 1991) is an English singer, songwriter and actor who is better known by his stage name Butterjack. He successfully made it to the live shows in the seventh series of ''The X Factor'' in 2010 and finished ...

and mentor

. On 15 March 2011, it was reported that Cardle signed a record deal with

Syco Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment company, headquartered in London, founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2005 through So ...

Music in a joint venture with

, becoming the first ''The X Factor'' winner not to be exclusively signed to Simon Cowell's label. Beyond singing on ''The X Factor'', Cardle says he tries to watch the show in his spare time.

2011–2012: ''Letters''

On 18 August 2011, Cardle revealed that his debut album, ''

'', would be released in the UK on 17 October 2011. Cardle said he was nervous about releasing his album as previous male ''X Factor'' winners have not been very successful, and female winners

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...

and

Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is a British singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the British television series ''The X Factor'' in 2008, and has been signed to Epic Records, RCA Records and Syc ...

enjoyed massive success. Whilst working on the album Cardle collaborated with various writers including

Eg White Francis Anthony "Eg" White (born 22 November 1966) is a British musician, songwriter and producer. He started his career in the cowpunk band Yip Yip Coyote in the 1980s and then formed Brother Beyond with his brother, David White, in the late ...

and James Walsh. The album's first single, " Run for Your Life," written by Gary Barlow, was premiered on

The Chris Moyles Show ''The Chris Moyles Show'' is the title given to two differing versions of a radio programme hosted by Chris Moyles, originally broadcast as Radio 1 Breakfast from 5 January 2004 to 14 September 2012 before transferring three years later on 21 ...

on 5 September 2011. Cardle appeared on the BBC Breakfast show on 1 September to give a preview of the video. The video was then premiered in full on 5 September on his YouTube channel. The single was released on 9 October 2011, Cardle performed the song on The X Factor on the same day. He also performed another track from the album, "All For Nothing", on ITV2 show '' The Xtra Factor''. " Run for Your Life" peaked at number 6 on the UK Top 40 Chart. Prior to the album release Cardle went on a five date tour ending on 3 October at Koko in London. ''

'' was released on 17 October and debuted at number 2 on the UK Albums chart and spent 16 consecutive weeks in the top 40. A second single, "

", was released on 4 December 2011. It had been originally intended as the first single before "Run for Your Life" was sent to him and was generally better received by fans and journalists. Despite this, it only charted at number 185 but sparked a boost in album sales which saw "Letters" return to the top 25 on the album charts shortly after "Starlight"s release. The third and final single to be released from "Letters" was Amazing which was released as an EP, containing a new track called "All Is Said", which Cardle wrote with James Walsh, a new recording of "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and a live version of the album track "Slowly" recorded at the album launch. In February 2012 he embarked on a sell out tour, the

. The tour ended on 29 March 2012 at

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ham ...

. In September 2012 he said this was his favourite gig so far in his career.

2012–2013: New record label and ''The Fire''

On 20 May 2012, Cardle announced on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that he had parted ways with Columbia Records. In October 2012, Cardle explained he left Sony through his own choice because he wasn't a priority. "I would just have been left to get on with it while

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...

ruled the planet. Which is brilliant for them – I'm so proud of them – but I needed to be a bit selfish. I asked Sony to let me go and they said okay." Later, in October 2013 he stated another reason for leaving was because of the lack of control he had with decisions such as "Run for Your Life" being released as his first single instead of "Starlight" which he'd written and preferred. On 9 September 2012, So What Recordings, part of the Silva Screen Music Group, announced that Cardle's second album, '' The Fire'' would be released on 29 October 2012 on their label. On 11 September 2012, the lead single, "

It's Only Love "It's Only Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written mostly by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first released in 1965 on the ''Help!'' album in the United Kingdom and on the ''Rubber Soul'' album in the ...

" was released online on Cardle's YouTube channel as an audio only video. The video for the song was premiered on 3 October. Even though the song was promoted as being the lead single, it was not released as a standalone product and was only made available to buy at the same time as the album, and therefore it did not enter the singles chart. ''The Fire'' debuted at number 8 in the

UK album 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 ...

, giving Cardle his second top 10 album. He said the album is more like what he did before The X Factor than ''Letters'', and feels more honest. "I'm getting closer to myself, and getting back to what I do and what I've always done." A second single, "Anyone Else" was released on 31 December 2012. On 10 December 2012 an Unplugged Tour was announced on Cardle's website. Tickets went on general sale on 12 December with some dates selling out on the first day. The tour ran through April and May 2013 over the UK and Ireland.

2013–2014: ''Porcelain''

On 16 April 2013 Cardle confirmed he was in the process of making his third album in a video message to his fans on Facebook. In July 2013, Music Week announced he has teamed up with Absolute Marketing for the album, which is an independent release, having moved on from So What Recordings. The title, ''Porcelain'', was revealed on 19 August 2013, with 28 October 2013 as the release date. It is described as incorporating "everything from Rock, Funk, Soul, Gospel, Pop and Blues to create his most musically diverse piece of work yet." The first single, a duet with Melanie C called " Loving You", premiered on ''The

Ken Bruce Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a British broadcaster who is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 from 1986 to 1990, and then again since 1992. Early life and career Bruce was born a ...

Show'' on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

on 2 July. It was released 18 August 2013 and had a positive response on the charts in UK. It reached number 14 on the single chart, number 2 on the Independent charts, number 11 in the Scottish charts and top 50 in the Irish charts. The second single, " When You Were My Girl", was released on 13 October 2013. On 8 October 2013 Cardle announced he has signed a worldwide publishing deal with

BMG Chrysalis Chrysalis Group was a UK media company that was founded by Chris Wright, chairman, and Terry Ellis. Wright was named in '' Sunday Times Rich List 2009'' of the 1,000 richest persons in the UK. Previously having interests in television, books a ...

. ''Porcelain'' reached number 11 on the UK Albums chart. On 25 February 2014, he announced the next single from the album would be "Hit My Heart". On 28 September, Cardle performed a cover of "

" at the ''

Miss World 2013 Miss World 2013, the 63rd edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 28 September 2013 at Bali International Convention Center, South Kuta, Bali, Indonesia. It was the first time in Southeast Asia and it also was the first time in the page ...

'' in

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. The

in support of the album was announced on 30 October 2013, beginning in April 2014. On 20 June 2014, Cardle performed a free gig at the Portadown's Got Talent awards, hosted in the People's Park of

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The event is part of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland and is supported and backed by the EU.

2015–2018: Musical theatre and ''Time to Be Alive''

On 11 May 2015, it was announced Cardle would take over the lead role of Huey Calhoun in a production of ''

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

'' from 6 July 2015 until the end of its run in October. It was his first acting role. In August 2014, Cardle confirmed he was working on his fourth album. In 2016, he embarked on a summer tour, entitled the Intimate and Live Tour, to promote the new material and to test it live before recording. A limited edition live album recorded from the tour was released shortly after. Cardle explained the longer than usual gap in between albums was because he was "running on empty" around the release of his last album and that he needed to recharge. "What has been brilliant for me this time around is the more relaxed nature of the writing and recording process. I've had gaps where I've been able to live, recharge and become inspired again." He describes it as a lot more electronic than his previous albums. His fourth album, '' Time to Be Alive'', was released through Sony on 27 April 2018. The lead single "Desire" was premiered on

on 13 March 2018. Cardle returned to the West End on 31 July 2018, playing the role of Wally Strand in ''

Strictly Ballroom ''Strictly Ballroom'' is a 1992 Australian romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Baz Luhrmann in his feature directorial debut. The film is the first in his "Red Curtain Trilogy" of theatre-motif-related films; it was followed by 1996 ...

'' until it closes on 27 October 2018. Cardle played the role of Pilate in ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' at the ''

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

'' from 4 July until 24 August 2019. Later in the year he reunited with his former band Seven Summers for a gig in Chelmsford, and they have begun to work to new music together.

2021: Fifth album

After moving to

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

in 2019, Cardle announced the release of "Purple Crayon" on 12 January 2021, ahead of the release of his fifth studio album. The song was released digitally on 15 January 2021. Cardle says, "Purple Crayon is song about my struggles with addiction to Valium and the escape I found through using it. The song's emotions are intertwined with imagery from my favourite children's book Harold and the Purple Crayon." On 26 March 2021, Cardle released the second single from his upcoming album, "We're the Butterflies".

Artistry

Music and voice

Cardle is a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

with a vocal range of around B2-F5. Being a fan of heavy metal music from a young age, he had tried to emulate the singing style of his rock heroes such as Kurt Cobain, but found it was damaging his vocal cords. After taking advice from the owners of Highbarn, a venue in Essex he'd often played at in the past, he had vocal coaching, which helped increase his range and soften his sound. He is known for his falsetto and being able to reach notes typically unusual for a male singer. Upon Cardle winning ''

'' he has been involved in what type of music he would like to record, which led to the release of his debut album ''

''. Cardle co-wrote eleven of the tracks which appeared on the album and a reviewer noted Cardle's "impressive falsetto".

Influences

Cardle says he is influenced by everything he has ever listened to, being a fan of a range of music "I love Dave Matthews and

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...

are one of my favourite bands, but then again I also love

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

and

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, so kind of all sorts really. It's a pretty weird mix." He cites "

Thank U "Thank U" is a song by Canadian-American recording artist and songwriter Alanis Morissette from her fourth studio album, ''Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie'' (1998). The song was written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, who produced h ...

" by

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...

as the first song he was really inspired by and is a big fan of hers, he has covered this song on tour as well as another of her songs, " Uninvited". Other artists Cardle has cited as favourites when he began singing include

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

and

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

. While recording his debut album, ''

'', Cardle took many different artists as an influence; reviews compared tracks to those by artists such as

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (musician), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, ...

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

as well as

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, pianist, rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Devon, he went to Univ ...

Discography

* ''

'' (2011) * '' The Fire'' (2012) * ''

'' (2013) * '' Time to Be Alive'' (2018)

Tours

* ''The X Factor'' Live Tour (2011) *

(2012) * Unplugged Tour (2013) *

(2014) * Intimate and Live Tour (2016)

Copyright lawsuit

In 2012, Cardle published the song "Amazing", co-written by himself, with

Martin Harrington Martin Harrington is a British songwriter, record producer and music publisher. He has written songs for many music artists including Emma Bunton, Five, Celine Dion, Ed Sheeran, Natalie Imbruglia and Blue. See also *Music of the United Kingdom ...

, Tom Leonard,

Ash Howes Biffco is a music production and songwriting team from Brighton, England, formed by Richard "Biff" Stannard, Julian Gallagher, Ash Howes. The group have worked with a number of high-profile artists, including Kylie Minogue, One Direction, Atomi ...

and Richard Stannard. The chorus of the song was claimed to be plagiarized by

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

in the chorus of his song, "

Photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

", written in 2013. The lawsuit, ended in 2017, by Harrington and Leonard, which led to a $20,000,000 (£16,000,000) victory.

Publications

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardle, Matt 1983 births Living people English pop rock singers English male singer-songwriters English tenors Musicians from Essex People from Halstead The X Factor winners The X Factor (British TV series) winners 21st-century English singers 21st-century British male singers