Russell Watson

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Russell Watson
English tenor Russell Watson performing at Broadlands in Hampshire, England, in 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Russell Watson
Born	24 November 1966 (1966-11-24) (age 41)
Origin	Salford, Lancashire, England, UK
Genre(s)	Classical music, pop rock, operatic pop
Occupation(s)	Tenor
Years active	1998–present
Label(s)	Decca
Website	www.russell-watson.com

Russell Watson (born 24 November 1966) is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. The self-styled "People's Tenor" had been singing since he was a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club. He came to attention in 1999 when he sang the UK's national anthem at the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, "Barcelona" at the last match of the Premiership season between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford and a full set of songs at the final of the UEFA Champions League in Barcelona between Manchester United and Bayern Munich.

Watson's debut album entitled The Voice was released in May 2001; four others followed. However, an album planned for November 2006 was delayed due to the removal of a benign brain tumour. This album, entitled That's Life, was eventually released on 5 March 2007.

On 24 October 2007, it was discovered that there had been a regrowth of his brain tumour and bleeding into his brain. He underwent emergency surgery and was discharged from hospital on 31 October. He underwent an extensive rehabilitation programme, including radiotherapy. His sixth studio album, Outside In, was released on 26 November 2007.

Contents 1 Early career 2 2000–2005: The "People's Tenor" 2.1 Lawsuit 3 2006–present 3.1 First brain tumour: "This pain in my head" 3.2 Second brain tumour: "Just happy to be alive" 4 Criticism 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Singles 6 Personal life 7 Notes 8 Further reading 8.1 News reports 8.2 Books 9 External links

[edit] Early career

Watson was born on 24 November 1966 in Salford, Lancashire,^[1] England. Although he had been singing since he was a child, he never sought a career as a professional singer. He left school with no GCSEs, and started earning £90 a week on a Youth Training Scheme^[2] as a bolt-cutter^[3] in Irlam, Salford. Then married with a baby, to help support his young family he began to earn extra cash singing Elvis Presley and MC Hammer covers in north-west clubs.

The turning point in his career came at an engagement at Wigan Road working men's club one night, when the secretary suggested he try singing "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's Turandot. Although Russell Watson was not a classically-trained singer he continued to perform the aria, and was encouraged to try other classical pieces.^[4]

In 1998 he was invited to sing at Old Trafford during the interval at a memorial football match for the Munich air disaster, a huge privilege for a lifelong Manchester United fan. However, his appearance was cancelled at the last minute when player Eric Cantona requested that Mick Hucknall sing instead.

In 1999 he sang the UK's national anthem at the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, then finally got to sing at Old Trafford before the last match of the Premiership season between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. After the game, when his team had won the league championship, he returned on to the pitch to sing the Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé song "Barcelona", during which he tore off his dinner jacket to reveal a Manchester United shirt.

This appearance sealed his success, and only a week later he was invited to sing a full set at the final of the UEFA Champions League in Barcelona between United and Bayern Munich, duetting with Montserrat Caballé herself.

[edit] 2000–2005: The "People's Tenor"

Watson's debut album entitled The Voice followed in May 2001. A mixture of operatic arias and covers of pop songs, it topped the UK Classical Chart and eventually reached number five in the UK Albums Chart. Later, when released in the United States, the album took the number one spot and made history as the first time a British artist had held both the US and UK classical number one. The album contained perhaps Watson's most unusual collaboration to date, with former Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder who lent his vocals to the Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé song "Barcelona". The album also featured a duet with Cleo of girl group Cleopatra on the song "Someone Like You". Cleo later duetted with Russell again on his third album Reprise on the song "The Best That Love Can Be".

Prior to the formation of Velvet Revolver, Watson was asked by Slash (former guitarist of Guns N' Roses and currently in Velvet Revolver) whether he would be their singer. Watson turned down this opportunity, at least for the time being, to concentrate on his solo career.

Also in 2001, Watson sang the opening theme of Star Trek: Enterprise, "Where My Heart Will Take Me",^[5] which was written by Diane Warren. Watson also sang it live at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in England in 2002. In 2003, the song was remixed to produce a more upbeat version. In August 2007, the song was played as a wake-up call for American Mission Specialist Richard Mastracchio on Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-118.^[6]

In late 2002, Watson released the single "Nothing Sacred – A Song for Kirsty" to raise money for the Francis House children's hospice in Didsbury, Manchester. The campaign to raise £5 million was fronted by Kirsty Howard, a seven-year-old girl with a serious heart defect. The song reached number 17 in the UK Singles Chart.^[7]

The self-styled "People's Tenor",^[8] who is also known as "The Voice" after his first album, won the Album of the Year at the Classical BRIT Awards in both 2001^[9] and 2002,^[10] also collecting awards for Best-Selling Debut Album (2001) and Best-Selling Album (2002).

[edit] Lawsuit

In 2003, Ian Boasman, a businessman from Preston, Lancashire, and Keith Chadwick, an entrepreneur, launched a High Court action through Union Music Ltd. (a company set up by Boasman) and a related firm Arias Ltd., claiming that they had transformed Watson from a cabaret club entertainer into an internationally-famous star and that they had been wronged when Watson signed with Decca Records and cut them out of the deal. Union Music and Arias sought 51% of Watson's earnings since he joined them, as well as the return of cash they said was invested in Watson early in his career. The plaintiffs' solicitors, Wacks Caller, estimated legal costs at that stage at £750,000.^[2][11]

The plaintiffs claimed that Boasman spotted Watson singing at the Princess Diana Memorial Hall in Manchester in spring 1998 and agreed to be his manager. Boasman and Chadwick then set up Union Music. A separate firm, Arias, was incorporated, with Watson holding a directorship and 49% shareholding and Union Music holding the remaining 51%. Watson was given a wage of £3,000 a month, an Audi A4 car, and cash for dental work and a gym membership.^[2]

Watson countersued, claiming that advice that the firms gave had cost him money.^[2] The outcome of the case is not currently known.

[edit] 2006–present

In addition to his recording work, Watson played Parson Nathaniel in the stage adaptation of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds which toured the UK in early 2006. In the same year, he also took part in the BBC reality TV show Just the Two of Us. The programme involved eight couples, including Sian Reeves and Watson, competing in a duet-singing showdown, complete with a live band, a panel of judges and viewer voting, to see who would be crowned champions. A wide array of music was performed, from country and western to rock. The scores each week were tallied from both a judging vote (the judges were Lulu, Trevor Nelson, Stewart Copeland and Cece Sammy) and a public phone-in vote. Watson, a late arrival to the competition replacing Reeves' original partner Rick Astley who had pulled out, took the crown despite the low scores awarded by the judges to their performances. Following the competition Reeves and Watson released a victory single, "Can't Help Falling In Love". Russell Watson was scheduled to defend his title in the 2007 series with a new celebrity partner, Loui Batley, but had to withdraw at the last minute due to serious health problems.

[edit] First brain tumour: "This pain in my head"

In 2005, Watson began having headaches, which he described as "like a knife being pressed into the bridge of my nose". He consulted a specialist who told him there was nothing to worry about as he was suffering from stress and should find ways of relaxing. When his peripheral vision began to be affected in late 2006, he visited another specialist who also said he was suffering from stress. Watson told him, "The only thing that's stressing me is this pain in my head."

In September 2006, Watson flew to Los Angeles, California, to record his album That's Life. On the flight, he told his producer that he was experiencing terrible pressure inside his skull. When they landed, his producer suggested a game of tennis to clear his head. Watson could not see the ball at all. After a visit to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and an MRI scan, he was advised that he had a developing pituitary adenoma, a type of brain tumour, which was the size of two golf balls. According to Watson, "Since an early age I've had an in-built premonition, a vision that I wouldn't make 40. For the previous seven years I'd have a recurring nightmare in which my head exploded. And here I was with a brain tumour on the eve of my 40th birthday; I thought, 'This is it, I was right, I knew it'." Watson recalled that the tumours were "like a figure of eight, one filling the frontal cavity of my skull, the other forced through into the top of my nose." He stayed in Los Angeles for two days and continued recording his album while tests confirmed whether the tumour was malignant or not – it turned out to be benign.^[8]

Watson then returned to the UK, and had a five-hour emergency operation to remove the eight-centimetre lump at St George's Hospital in Tooting, South London, on Monday, 24 September 2006. As the tumour was pressing against his optic nerve, the surgeon removed the tumour through his nose.^[12]

After the operation, Watson could barely walk, and the tumour had affected his pituitary gland which controls hormone levels: "My mood swings went from ecstatic to suicidal. I remember one night standing on the balcony, full of dark thoughts and self-pity, thinking 'God, this is f**king terrible, why me?' I went back to bed, couldn't sleep, got up again. I thought I'd had enough. If it hadn't been for the girls [his daughters]..." His energy levels were very low and he did not leave his house for two months: "I couldn't deal with more than one person at a time or with multitasking and I cried easily."^[8] Watson was readmitted to hospital in Manchester for tests on 6 October 2006 after complaining of dizziness, headaches and blurred vision.^[13]

Upon recovering, Watson returned to the recording studio to finish his album That's Life. Originally due out in November 2006, it was subsequently released on 5 March 2007. On the advice of his doctors, his latest UK tour, which had been due to start in late October 2006, was also postponed until March 2007 to coincide with the album release.^[14] The rescheduled tour met with huge approval throughout the country, with night after night of standing ovations to a visibly-moved Watson. On 19 May 2007, Watson sang the UK's National Anthem at the 2007 FA Cup Final.

[edit] Second brain tumour: "Just happy to be alive"

Whilst in the middle of the studio recording of his album Outside In on 24 October 2007 Watson suddenly became incapacitated, with multiple symptoms including a dramatic deterioration of vision. An MRI scan showed he had a regrowth of his tumour with bleeding into his brain. He underwent emergency surgery to remove the tumour at the Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, and was for a while in critical condition in the hospital's Intensive Therapy Unit.^[15] On 26 October 2007 a hospital spokesman said that Watson was "recovering well" from his surgery and was in a stable condition, although the recovery process might be "a long haul".^[16] Watson was discharged from hospital on 31 October 2007, telling reporters "I'm just happy to be alive and be with my children at the moment", and paying tribute to messages of support from his fans, calling them "amazing". A statement from Watson's management added: "We would like to pass on Russell's heartfelt thanks for the overwhelming amount of messages and gifts from his fans." Watson later underwent an extensive rehabilitation programme including radiotherapy.^[17] He released his sixth studio album, Outside In, on 26 November 2007.^[18]

[edit] Criticism

Some critics have said that Watson's untrained tenor voice is not up to operatic standards;^[19] Rupert Christiansen, music critic of The Daily Telegraph has, for instance, called him a "karaoke crooner".^[20] Watson has responded that it "[d]oesn't bother me. Seven years ago classical crossover didn't exist – putting Italian lyrics to pop songs in a big ballsy way. Now every bugger's doing it. I've transcended all that bickering and bitching." Watson's career ambition is "[l]ongevity, that's the most important thing. I want to be a musical force for a good long while."^[8] On 5 June 2008 Watson released his autobiography Finding My Voice.^[21]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• The Voice (2001)
• Encore (2002)
• Reprise (2003)
• Amore Musica (2005)
• The Ultimate Collection (2006)
• That's Life (2007)
• Outside In (2007)

[edit] Singles

• "Swing Low '99" (1999) (official song of the England team in the 1999 Rugby Union World Cup)
• "Someone Like You" (2002) (with Faye Tozer, formerly of Steps)
• "Nothing Sacred – A Song For Kirsty" (2002) (to raise money for the Francis House hospice)
• "Can't Help Falling in Love" (April 2006) – Just the Two of Us victory single

[edit] Personal life

Watson has two daughters: Rebecca and Hannah.^[22] He is divorced,^[8] having separated from his former wife soon after the release of his first album.^[4] Watson has been reported as saying: "It [his first brain tumour] changed my priorities. Made me appreciate the importance of relationships, of friends and family and, most of all, my two daughters. My fear for them if I died – that was the worst part."^[8]

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

[edit] News reports

• Moir, Jan (2001-12-21), “'Ha! ha! Of course I can sing'”, The Daily Telegraph, <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2001/12/21/bmruss21.xml> .
• Motts, Sue (2002-05-03), “Singer Russell Watson stands where sport ends and theatre begins”, The Daily Telegraph, <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2002/05/03/sfnmot04.xml> .

[edit] Books

• Watson, Russell (2008), Finding My Voice, London: Ebury Press, ISBN 0091922917 (hbk.) .

[edit] External links

• Official website of Russell Watson
• Russell Watson at ClassicalX
• Russell Watson at the Internet Movie Database.
• Russell Watson UK – a fansite
• Russell Watson.info – a fansite

Persondata
NAME	Watson, Russell
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	British tenor from English
DATE OF BIRTH	24 November 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH	Salford, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH