Louise Elizabeth Redknapp (née Nurding, born 4 November 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and media personality. She was a member of

Eternal Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to: * Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state * Immortality or eternal life * God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism Comics, film and television * ...

, an R&B girl group which debuted in 1993 with their quadruple-platinum studio album '' Always & Forever''. In 1995, she departed from the group for a solo career, in which she released the albums ''

Naked Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

'' (1996), '' Woman in Me'' (1997) and '' Elbow Beach'' (2000). Aside from music, Louise has presented several television shows and was a judge on the UK version of ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and ha ...

''. She was married to the English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

Jamie Redknapp Jamie Frank Redknapp (born 25 June 1973) is an English former professional footballer who was active from 1989 until 2005. He is a pundit at Sky Sports and an editorial sports columnist at the ''Daily Mail''. A technically skillful and creat ...

. In 2016, Louise reached the final in the fourteenth series of

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

's ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 j ...

''. In January 2020 following a 17-year hiatus from recording Redknapp released '' Heavy Love'' to critical acclaim. To date, Louise has sold over 5 million records in the UK and 15 million records worldwide. On 4 March 2021, Redknapp's memoir entitled ''You've Got This: And Other Things I Wish I Had Known'' was released.

Early life and education

Louise Elizabeth Nurding was born in Lewisham, London. Her father was a builder and her mother worked at

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after ...

. Louise and her two younger brothers grew up in

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards o ...

, London, and

Oxted Oxted is a town and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is south south-east of Croydon in Greater London, west of Sevenoaks in Kent, and north of East Grinstead in West Sussex. Oxt ...

, Surrey. She describes herself as having come from a single-parent family with her mum. At the age of 11, Louise won a scholarship to the

Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is a performing arts conservatoire based in Woking, England. It was founded in 1911 by Italia Conti, an actress. The first production at Italia Conti Academy was the play '' Where the Rainbow Ends''. F ...

in London, where she met her future Eternal colleague

Kéllé Bryan Kéllé Bryan (born 12 March 1975) is an English singer and actress, known as a member of girl group Eternal. In 2018, she began portraying the role of Martine Deveraux in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', a role she played until 2022. Sh ...

on her first day.

Music career

1989-1995: Career beginnings and Eternal

While out clubbing at the age of 15, Louise met the music producer Denis Ingoldsby, who was forming an all-girl group. She subsequently introduced Denis to Kéllé Bryan. Kéllé and Louise, together with sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett, formed the band Eternal in 1992. The group performed R&B, and recorded a number of hits during the 1990s. Eternal's debut single "

Stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tri ...

" entered the UK charts at number sixteen and climbed to number four. Louise left the group in 1995 to pursue a solo career, amid unsubstantiated rumours that she was forced to leave because a radio station in the United States dedicated to

black music Black music is a sound created, produced, or inspired by black people, people of African descent, including African music traditions and African popular music as well as the music genres of the African diaspora, including Caribbean music, Lat ...

would not promote the racially mixed group. Redknapp says that she left because she was miserable and homesick.

1995-1997: ''Naked'' and ''Woman in Me''

In late 1995, Louise signed a record deal with First Avenue management and EMI Records. Now professionally known simply as "Louise", her debut solo single was the orchestral ballad " Light of My Life" (which reached number eight on the UK charts). Her second solo release, " In Walked Love" (previously a hit from the self-titled 1992 album by the dance/pop group Exposé), fared less well and missed the UK top ten. However, Louise's third single, "

", turned things around and became her biggest hit to date, peaking at number five in the UK. Louise's debut solo album, also entitled ''

'', was subsequently released in 1996 on the back of the single's success. The album received lukewarm reviews, but nevertheless peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart. It was later certified Platinum by the BPI for over 400,000 copies sold in the UK alone and over a million copies worldwide. Two further singles were released: " Undivided Love" (UK No. 5) and " One Kiss from Heaven" (UK No. 9). In 1997, Louise returned with the single " Arms Around the World", which reached number four in the UK. Her second solo album, '' Woman in Me'', peaked at number five in the UK and went on to gain platinum status in the UK and sold over a million units worldwide. The album also made an impact across Europe, charting in a number of countries. To support and celebrate the success of the album, Louise embarked on a UK-wide 'sell-out' arena tour of over twenty dates, including Wembley Arena. " Let's Go Round Again" (a cover of a song by the Average White Band) was the second single released from the album, which reached number ten. She was voted "Sexiest Woman in the World" by the readers of '' SKY Magazine'' in 1997.

1998-2001: ''Elbow Beach'' and ''Changing Faces''

At the start of 1998, Louise's career was at a high point: her second album had gone platinum, she was on the cover of magazines such as ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' and '' GQ'', and she had been voted Sexiest Woman in the World by the readers of ''

FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...

'' magazine. In 1998, Louise focused on making what she described as her "most personal album to date", '' Elbow Beach'', released in 2000. Louise was more involved in the process of this album than her previous two, co-writing all 12 tracks and co-producing most of them. The lead single from ''Elbow Beach'', the R&B-styled " 2 Faced" went straight into the charts at number three, and became Louise's highest-charting single. Despite initial hype and critical praise, total sales for ''Elbow Beach'' were weaker than the previous two productions, and the album peaked at number twelve. The same year, Louise was hired to 'sex up' the 2000 National Egg Awareness Campaign. After ''Elbow Beach'' was released, Louise had one album left on her five-album deal with EMI (including Eternal's '' Always and Forever''). In 2001, the label decided to release a greatest hits compilation, incorporating all of her top ten hit singles (including those she had performed with Eternal), called '' Changing Faces – The Best of Louise''. The collection featured three new tracks, including a cover of Five Star's 1987 hit "

The Slightest Touch "The Slightest Touch" is a 1987 single by the British pop group Five Star. It reached No. 4 in the UK singles chart, becoming the group's final Top 10 hit to date. Taken from their second album, '' Silk & Steel'', Five Star chose legendary remix ...

". The album peaked at number nine in the UK, and she embarked on the second solo tour of her career. EMI later released a second greatest hits album entitled ''Finest Moments'', with a slightly different track listing.

2002-2016: Music hiatus

In 2002, Louise signed a £1.5 million contract with her manager Oliver Smallman's Positive Records (a division of

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and it ...

) to record her fourth solo album. The album was due for release in 2004 alongside the single "Bounce Back". However, due to the singer becoming pregnant with her son Charley, the album was never released. The only single released from the album was the double A-side "Pandora's Kiss"/"Don't Give Up", which peaked at number five and raised money for Tickled Pink/

Breast Cancer Care Breast Cancer Care is the only specialist UK-wide charity in the UK providing care, support and information to anyone affected by breast cancer. The charity's headquarters are in London, with additional offices in Sheffield, Cardiff, and Glasgow. ...

. The unreleased album saw Louise work with the likes of Sylvia Bennett Smith and Marc 'M2E' Smith, Mark Hill and Pete Martin. The album would also have included Louise's first duet with boy band

3rd Wish 3rd Wish was an American R&B all-male group. The group consisted of Ricky Gonzales (who is of Puerto Rican ancestry), Justin Martin and Alex Acosta (who is of Cuban ancestry). They have had a Top 10 hit with "Obsesión", and are known for the ...

on the track "Don't Ever Change". In the July 2004 edition of ''

'' magazine, Louise was named the " Sexiest Woman of the Decade".

2017-present: Return to music and ''Heavy Love''

In August 2017, Louise posted a picture of herself in the recording studio on her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account, showing that she had been working on new music. On 13 September 2017, Louise revealed she would be returning to the music industry by announcing her first live show in more than 15 years at Under The Bridge in London on 22 December 2017. Titled 'Intimate & Live', the show had enough demand for tickets selling out in under 5 minutes, leading promoters and Louise to announce additional dates for January 2018 in Manchester, Glasgow, and Birmingham. On 1 February 2018, Warner/Chappell UK confirmed Louise had signed a deal with them to release new material later in the year. In February 2019, Louise announced she had signed a global record deal with ADA / Warner Music. On 25 March 2019, Louise announced that her fourth solo album '' Heavy Love'' would be released on 18 October 2019. The lead single, "Stretch", was released on 26 March 2019 to critical acclaim. She then released follow-up singles "Lead Me On", "Small Talk", "Breaking Back Together", "Not the Same" and "Hurt" as a bonus single after announcing ''Heavy Love'' was to be pushed back to a 2020 release. On 10 November 2022, Louise released the single "Super Magic". In an interview with ''Fault'' magazine, Louise shared, "I wanted to make music I loved rather than just ticking a box for what worked in the industry. I think I’ve forever had to fight to prove myself ..I’m still fighting to prove myself. I feel that the hardest hurdle is to keep on knocking down those doors to prove myself." "Super Magic" is Louise's first release under BMG. It debuted at number 89 on the UK Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100 on 18 November 2022.

Television career

On television, Louise has presented editions of ''

SMTV Live ''SMTV Live'' (an abbreviation of ''Saturday Morning Television Live'', and also stylised as ''SM: LIVE'') was a British Saturday morning children's television programme, produced by Blaze Television for ITV. Operating on a similar format to ...

'', '' CD:UK'', ''

Soccer Aid ''Soccer Aid'' is a British annual (formerly bi-ennial) charity event that has raised over £38 million in aid of UNICEF UK, through ticket sales and donations from the public. The televised event is a friendly-style football match between tw ...

: Extra Time'', '' This Morning'', three series of the revived ''

The Clothes Show ''The Clothes Show'' is a British television show about fashion that was broadcast on BBC One from 1986 to 2000, and from 2006 on UKTV Style and Really. At its height, ''The Clothes Show'' had around 9 million viewers every Sunday night. It al ...

'' for

UKTV Style HGTV (formerly Home) is a British free-to-air television channel interior home and garden-orientated lifestyle television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland, currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel originally ...

, and in March 2007 the controversial documentary '' The Truth About Size Zero'' for ITV. In 2003, Louise published a

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

called ''

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The mos ...

'', aimed solely at professional sports stars and celebrities with Jamie Redknapp and former footballer

Tim Sherwood Timothy Alan Sherwood (born 6 February 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1987 until 2005, notably as captain of Blackburn Rovers' Premier Leagu ...

. They later sold the magazine to another publisher. Louise has been seen as the face of a number of

advert Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

ising campaigns: the "Safe and White" campaign for Boots,

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. ...

's "Omega 3" products, Boots and BT. She became brand ambassador for Orbit gum in 2007 and a model for Avon. In autumn 2007, Louise was unveiled as the new face of Triumph lingerie for 2007, 2008 and 2009. In November 2008, her family were also unveiled as the Nintendo Wii Family for their Christmas 2008 advertising campaign, followed by The Louise Redknapp Nintendo Wii Fit Campaign in March 2009. In 2010, Louise and then-husband Jamie fronted a new campaign by Thomas Cook promoting their holidays on TV and throughout the media. In 2009, Louise filmed a follow up documentary ''The Truth About Super Skinny Pregnancies'' displaying the pressures on women to stay in shape during and after their pregnancies. Later that year in September 2009, Redknapp presented '' The Farmer Wants a Wife'' for

Five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

, a relaunch of a series that originally appeared on ITV in 2001. In 2009 Louise was also announced as the face of online fashion retailer Fashion Union. The following year in January 2010, Louise took over as the full-time presenter of the BBC Sunday morning programme '' Something for the Weekend'' for two years. Louise was a judge on the UK version of ''

'', broadcast on

. In 2011, Louise Redknapp made her acting debut alongside

Ray Winstone Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is perha ...

as Diana Smith in the feature film ''

The Hot Potato ''The Hot Potato'' is a 2012 British comedy crime thriller film. It was directed and written by Tim Lewiston and stars Ray Winstone, Colm Meaney and Jack Huston in the lead roles. The film is a throwback to the crime caper films that were pop ...

''. Louise had a cosmetic range named Wild About Beauty, which she launched with make-up artist Kim Jacob; which she sold in 2017. On 15 August 2016, Louise was announced as a contestant for the fourteenth series of ''Strictly Come Dancing''. She reached the 2016 finals with professional dancer Kevin Clifton. In April 2018, Louise made her radio debut, guest-presenting two evening shows on

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as ca ...

, on Sunday 8 April and Sunday 15 April. On 23 October 2018, Louise recorded herself narrating

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

's '' The Enormous Crocodile'' for an

audio cassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Otte ...

release. In May 2021, Louise appeared on '' The Masked Dancer'' masked as Flamingo. She was the second celebrity to be unmasked. That same month, Louise appeared on the first series of BBC game show ''

I Can See Your Voice ''I Can See Your Voice'' (abbreviated ''ICSYV'' and stylized as ''I Can See Your Voice — Mystery music game show'') () is an international television mystery music game show franchise that originated in South Korea. History In 2012, prod ...

'', performing " Let's Go Round Again".

Personal life

Louise married football player

at a ceremony in

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on 29 June 1998. They have two sons. Prior to giving birth to her first son, Redknapp suffered from

endometriosis Endometriosis is a disease of the female reproductive system in which cells similar to those in the endometrium, the layer of tissue that normally covers the inside of the uterus, grow outside the uterus. Most often this is on the ovaries, fa ...

which was treated with laser surgery. The couple confirmed in September 2017 that they had separated. A family court in central London granted a

decree nisi A decree nisi or rule nisi () is a court order that will come into force at a future date unless a particular condition is met. Unless the condition is met, the ruling becomes a decree absolute (rule absolute), and is binding. Typically, the condi ...

for divorce after 19 years of marriage on 29 December 2017. In 2003, Louise single "Pandora's Kiss"/"Don't Give Up", was released to raise money for Breast Cancer Care's "Tickled Pink" campaign. She also participated in a celebrity edition of ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with various professional backg ...

'' in 2008, to raise money for charity. Louise organised a charity sale of celebrity designer clothes at the London department store

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridg ...

for the charity Mothers4Children in November 2009.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Other tracks

*1995 "Real Love" ("Light of My Life"

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

) *1996 "All of You" ("In Walked Love" B-side) *1996 "Do Me Right" ("Naked" B-side) *1996 "Keep the Lovin' In" ("Naked" B-side) *1996 "How in the World" ("Undivided Love" B-side) *1996 "Better Next Time" ("Undivided Love" B-side) *1997 "Don't Be Shy" ("Arms Around the World" B-side/'' Woman in Me'' album track) *1997 "Intimate" ("Arms Around the World" B-side) *1997 "Just When I Thought" ("Let's Go Round Again" B-side) *1997 "How You Make Me Feel" ("Let's Go Round Again" B-side) *1997 "Distraction" (Japanese ''Woman in Me'' album bonus track) *1998 "Woman in Me (Live)" ("All That Matters" B-side) *1998 "When Will My Heart Beat Again (Live)" ("All That Matters" B-side) *1998 "If I Can't Have You" (''A Tribute to the Bee Gees'' album track) *2000 "Say Yes" ("2 Faced" B-side) *2000 "Lost" ("2 Faced" B-side/''Elbow Beach'' album track) *2000 "Clear Water" ("Beautiful Inside" B-side) *2000 "Better Back Off" ("Beautiful Inside" B-side)

Awards and nominations

{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" , + Awards and nominations received by Louise Redknapp ! scope="col" , Award ! scope="col" , Year ! scope="col" , Category ! scope="col" , Nominee(s) ! scope="col" , Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable", , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2,

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, rowspan=2, British Female Solo Artist , rowspan=6, Herself , , , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=3,

NME Awards The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine '' NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding ...

, rowspan=2, 1998 , Best Solo Artist , , rowspan=3, , - , Most Desirable Person , , - , 1999 , The Pop Personality You Would Most Like To Be Marooned On A Desert Island With , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=5,

Smash Hits Poll Winners Party The Smash Hits Poll Winners Party was a British awards ceremony which ran from 1979 (as the Smash Hits Readers' Poll) to 2005. Each award winner was voted by readers of the '' Smash Hits'' magazine. It ended with the closure of the magazine in F ...

, rowspan=3, 1996 , Best Female Singer , , rowspan=3, , - , Best Album , rowspan=2, ''

'' , , - , Best Album Cover , , - , rowspan=2, 2000 , Most Fanciable Female , rowspan=2, Herself , , rowspan=2, , - , Best Dressed Female ,

Notes

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Redknapp, Louise 1974 births Living people English dance musicians English women pop singers Eternal (band) members Association footballers' wives and girlfriends Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts People from Lewisham Singers from London Musicians from Kent British contemporary R&B singers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers British hip hop singers British women hip hop musicians Louise EMI Records artists Warner Records artists