Rhydian Roberts
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Rhydian James Roberts (born 14 February 1983), also known mononymously as Rhydian, is a Welsh
baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
singer, television presenter and musical theatre actor. He rose to fame in series 4 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'' (2001–200 ...
'' (2007). Rhydian Roberts retired from performing in February 2023 with a farewell album, with a final Greatest Hits album to follow in February 2025."X Factor star Rhydian Roberts announces retirement as he reflects on turning 40"
Sam Cook, Wales Online, 18 Feb 2023. Accessed 9 September 2023
He is currently an artist manager at Neil O'Brien Entertainment.


Early years

Born in Sennybridge, Rhydian attended the Pontsenni Cylch Meithrin in Brecon and then Ysgol y Bannau Welsh medium school. He played
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
for the Gwernyfed rugby football club as a junior and later for his school, as well as
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
for Powys County Junior teams. Following a gap year teaching in a small school in South Africa, Rhydian won a bursary to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire at the University of Central England.


Career


''The X Factor''

Rhydian has said: "I'm very proud of what I achieved on ''
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'' (2001–200 ...
''. I'm a showman and it gave me the chance to put on a show". Amongst other songs, he sang: * A full theatrical account of " The Phantom of the Opera" * " Get the Party Started" * " Go West" During the live stages of competition, eventually his "trademark white hair and flamboyant dress sense made him an audience favourite."Rhydian biography from Classic FM website
Retrieved 16 March 2010.
His version of " The Impossible Dream" became the keynote track on his first album.


Recordings

* 2008's highest-selling album by a male newcomer (600,000 copies), was Rhydian's
eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...
ous debut, '' Rhydian''. It incorporated material by Jim SteinmanApple iTunes website
Accessed 21 April 2014.
* His second, '' O Fortuna'' (2009), co-produced by composer Karl Jenkins, included duets with Kiri te Kanawa and Bryn Terfel. Rhydian was a guest on Morriston Orpheus Choir's CD ''To Where You Are'' (Sain, 2011). * There were two further albums during 2011: ''
Waves United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. It was established on July 21, 1942, ...
'', with covers of classic 1980s pop"X-factor's Rhydian to go from Opera star to pop star,"
Rachel Mainwaring, ''Wales on Sunday'', 24 July 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
and ''Caneuon Cymraeg'' (''Welsh Songs''), a mix of classic Welsh songs and original songs. * Returning to his core repertoire of classics and pop anthems, Rhydian's fifth album, '' One Day Like This'' featured duets with Kerry Ellis and Bonnie Tyler. Within a week of release, it topped the Official Classical Album Chart, occupying the spot for ten weeks. It also reached 19 in the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
,The Classic FM Chart
Classic.fm, Retrieved 28 April 2014.
and topped the Classic FM Chart. * In 2015, he released ''Carry the Fire'', an album inspired by the Rugby World Cup 2015. It included his version of " World In Union" - which was the official song of the Rugby World Cup - and songs related to all of the Home Nations. * His seventh album, ''The Long Road'', was released in 2018 and added to Spotify in 2020. It includes covers of " Castle on the Hill" 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 ...
, and " The Sound of Silence" by
Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...
. * Rhydian's eighth album was released in February 2023, and became his second album to top the UK Classical Albums Chart (after ''One Day Like This''). He has announced it will be his final studio album, before ending his recording career with a Greatest Hits album later in the year.


Concerts, galas and solo tours

* Rhydian toured the UK in 2008, 2013 and 2014–15. His third tour was named after his fifth record album, "One Day Like This". * During 2018 he toured the UK in ''Les Musicals'', co-starring with Jonathan Ansell.


Stage

* Rhydian made his debut in the 2010 European tour of ''The War of the Worlds – Live on Stage!'' (Parson Nathaniel), * He then toured the UK in musical theatre. From 2010 to 2013 he appeared in ''
We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song by the British rock band Queen from their 1977 album '' News of the World'', written by guitarist Brian May. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA it p ...
'' (Khashoggi, Chief of Police), '' Grease'' (40th anniversary tour, playing "Teen Angel") and ''
Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to various B movies associated with the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror genres from the 193 ...
'' (Rocky). * He played
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...
leads in ''Beauty and the Beast'', praised for carrying the show "rather spectacularly" with "remarkable gravitas", and ''Cinderella''. * In 2015 he played
Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...
in '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' and in 2016 the Dentist in '' Little Shop of Horrors''. During Christmas 2017, he appeared in ''Aladdin'' at the SSE Arena, Belfast.


Television

* During 2009, ''Rhydian, One Year On'' was aired by S4C. * In 2011, Rhydian presented an eight-part television entertainment series for S4C, with his album ''Caneuon Cymraeg'' (''Welsh Songs'') being released to tie in with it.


Final albums

In February 2023, Rhydian Roberts announced his retirement from singing and released a final album:
"I’ve enjoyed my career. It's been 15 years since The X Factor, I’ve released eight albums already, and I just wanted to sign off my singing career with a couple of releases. One classical album and then later on in the year I'm doing a Best Of which has all my favourite songs from the pop world, musical theatre, and classical. That’ll be it then – I'm hanging up my recording voice."
In February 2025, he released his tenth and last album, ''The Very Best of My Life'', a goodbye Greatest Hits collection. Roberts went on to work as an artist manager at Neil O'Brien Entertainment.


Discography


References


External links


Rhydian Roberts at BBC WalesRhydian Roberts biography from BBC Wales MusicWhat's On Wales interview"Rhydian's new album"
movie video at YouTube
Rhydian on Premier Christian TV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Rhydian 1983 births Living people Welsh-language singers Welsh operatic baritones Opera crossover singers British male musical theatre actors British pop singers British television presenters The X Factor (British TV series) contestants People educated at Llandovery College Alumni of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire 21st-century Welsh male singers