Kate Ryan

Kate Ryan

born on 22/7/1980 in Tessenderlo, Belgium

Kate Ryan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Kate Ryan

Kate Ryan (born Katrien Verbeeck on 22 July 1980[1]) is a Belgian World Music Award winner. She began her singing career in 2001 and later found fame with a string of dance hits. These included covers, mostly of Mylène Farmer and France Gall, such as "Désenchantée", "Libertine", and "Ella, elle l'a" as well as new material. Ryan represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with "Je t'adore" coming in 12th place in the semi-final.

Biography

200104: Different

Ryan was born in the small village of Tessenderlo, Belgium. She grew up in a musical family, and reflected a talent for music at a very early age. At eight years old she learned to play piano and guitar. She received singing and piano lessons from her aunt who teaches at a conservatory. She studied at an art school, specialising in jewellery design. Ryan played frequently in bars and cafés as a teenager, and one night she was offered a recording deal. She became a member of a pop group called Melt at the age of 16.[2] The group was active for two years, but they did not release any material commercially. When she met producer Andy Janssens, she left Melt and the pair began to write music together. Their debut single "Scream for More" was released in 2001, and it became a chart success. Later that year Ryan's second single, "UR (My Love)", cemented her position in Belgian charts.

She gained international prominence with a cover of Mylène Farmer's "Désenchantée", which was a hit in various European pop music charts. She signed in with Belgian department of EMI and released her first album Different in 2002 exclusively in Europe. The album went Gold and Platinum in a number of countries, selling more than 250.000 copies throughout Europe. Two final singles off Different, "Mon cur résiste encore" and "Libertine" (the first one being a French version of "Scream for More", the latter a second cover of Farmer's number) also turned out a chart success. Ryan's records were released in the USA under Robbins Entertainment label.

200407: Stronger and Alive

In 2004, Ryan released a second album in Europe, titled Stronger, that also contained her remarkable dance-pop style. The album's lead single, "Only If I", met with a modest success across Europe. A cover of Cock Robin's "The Promise You Made" became the second single, earning even greater success. It was also recorded in French as "La Promesse". Pop ballad "Goodbye" was released as the third single, meeting with considerable success. In 2005 Kate Ryan's music appeared in North America on Water Music Records.

In 2006 the singer participated in Eurosong '06, the national final to select the entrant for Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. She was selected as the entrant after placing first in the Eurosong final on 9 March 2006. Ryan represented Belgium at the Eurovision semi-final held on 18 May 2006 in Athens singing "Je t'adore". However, she did not qualify for the final, finishing two places outside the advancing Top 10 (12th) with 69 points. She was later voted best dressed performer by Eurovision's independent website esctoday.com for her 14.000 outfit, later sold to raise charity funds.[3] The following single was "Alive", taken from the album of the same name, which also featured French versions of several tracks including "Je t'adore", "Alive", and the third single, "All for You". The album, although critically acclaimed, did not repeat the success of the two previous ones.

2007-08: Free and Essential

In 2007, Ryan had some success with the double-sided single "Voyage, voyage"/"We All Belong". The track "Voyage, voyage" was a cover of the 1986 European smash hit by Desireless, and "We All Belong" was selected as the official anthem for the EuroGames 2007 in Antwerp. In 2008, Ryan released two singles: "L.I.L.Y. (Like I Love You)" and then "Ella, elle l'a", a cover of France Gall's song. Both tracks (as well as "Voyage Voyage" and "We All Belong") were included on her album Free, which was released in the middle of the year. The album also included a duet with Spanish singer Soraya Arnelas. Ryan's first best-of album, Essential, was released in July. It included songs recorded throughout her EMI period. In August she took part in Polish Sopot Hit Festival. During the show she received a Gold award for the Free album in Poland. On 9 November 2008 in Monaco, Ryan won the World Music Award for Best Selling Benelux Artist. Two more singles promoted Free, including "I Surrender".

2009-11: French Connection

2009 saw the release of the concept album French Connection. It was a compilation consisting of only French-language material, including Ryan's previous hits, and adding some new recordings. "Évidemment" and "Babacar", both from France Gall's repertoire, were released as singles, but met with limited success, as did the album. The singer announced that French Connection was the end of an era, and from now on she will only release material written by her. She received a Multi-Platinum award from Spain for selling more than 300.000 digital songs.

2011-12: Electroshock

Ryan announced via Facebook that her next album, Electroshock, would be released in 2011, preceded by a single "LoveLife".[4] Another single "Broken" was released on 7 October 2011. On 9 December 2011, she appeared as musical guest on The Voice of Romania.[5]

The album, which was delayed, was released on 25 June 2012.[6] The album is entirely containing songs in English and has no cover version included. On 12 May 2012, another single, entitled "Robots", was released. Kate Ryan is largely suspected to be the lead singer of masked Belgium group Day One.

2013-present: "Light in the Dark" and "Heart Flow"

After Electroshock was released, Ryan expressed via Facebook her intention to only release non-album singles, which she did with the non-album singles Light in the Dark, released via iTunes on 24 May 2013, and Heart Flow, released on 13 August 2013. Heart Flow was also the anthem of the World Outgames 2013.[7]

Discography

Main article: Kate Ryan discography

Studio albums

  • 2002: Different
  • 2004: Stronger
  • 2006: Alive
  • 2008: Free
  • 2012: Electroshock

References

  1. Kate Ryan Free listening, videos, concerts, stats, & pictures at Last.fm. www.last.fm. Retrieved on 2009-08-09.
  2. Kate Ryan gwiazd pierwszego dnia Sopot Hit Festiwalu 2008! (Polish). www.tvp.pl. Retrieved on 26 July 2011.
  3. News - esctoday.com awards - the costumes and more results. www.esctoday.com. Retrieved on 2009-11-20.
  4. Hi everybody, sorry.... www.facebook.com. Retrieved on 2010-10-08.
  5. CE APARITIE! Kate Ryan ne-a purtat intr-o calatorie plina de VOIE BUNA si SEX APPEAL la Vocea Romaniei (Romanian). Pro TV (9 December 2011).
  6. Hi Everyone! From.... www.facebook.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-23.
  7. "Heart Flow (World Outgames 2013 Anthem)", SoundCloud.

External links

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This page was last modified 31.03.2014 19:53:04

This article uses material from the article Kate Ryan from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.