Catherine Porter (born 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She is a former member of The Brian May Band and has appeared in several musicals and films. To date, Porter has released one album of solo material, '' Something Good'', in 2002, and has also worked as a back-up singer for

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

Tony Hadley Anthony Patrick Hadley (born 2 June 1960) is an English pop singer. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of the New wave music, new wave band Spandau Ballet and launched a solo career following the group's split in 1990. Hadley retur ...

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the num ...

Kiki Dee Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English pop singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records. Dee is best known f ...

Paul Rodgers Paul Bernard Rodgers (born 17 December 1949) is an English-Canadian singer. He was the lead vocalist of numerous successful rock bands, including Free (band), Free, Bad Company, The Firm (rock band), the Firm and The Law (English band), the L ...

, Sam Moore,

Mel B Melanie Janine Brown, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Mel B or Melanie B, is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the mid 1990s as a member of the Pop mus ...

and

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

Early career

Her first big job was touring with

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English actor, comedian and singer. Crawford is best known for playing the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom '' Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', Cornel ...

in '' The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber'', before being asked by

Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...

, to join his

backing band A backup band or backing band is a Band (music), musical ensemble that typically Accompaniment, accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a Studio recording, recording session, and the ...

on an American tour supporting

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. She later retained the role on the UK leg of the tour, and appeared on both the 1993 live album ''Live at the Brixton Academy'' and his later 1998 solo record '' Another World''. Porter also sang backing vocals on the 1995 Queen track " Let Me Live". Her work with May brought Porter to London, which became her home for the following decade. She appeared in the West End in such plays as ''Only the Lonely'', ''

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

'' (opposite John Barrowman and later

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian and British actor, singer, and producer. Beginning in theatre and television, Jackman landed his breakthrough role as Wolverine in the ''X-Men'' film franchise and the Marvel Cinem ...

), '' Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens'' and

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's '' Tonight's the Night''.

Jingles

Since 1996, Porter has been working with AJ Music Productions in New York, as a jingle singer, providing vocals for many radio packages, including Heart 106.2 FM London (2003), Capital Gold, Whitechapel AM,

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

: for ' Steve Wright's Saturday Show' (1996-99), ' Ken Bruce', ' Steve Wright's Sunday Love Songs' (1996-present), ' Jonathan Ross on Saturday' (1999), ' Steve Wright in the Afternoon' (1999-2022). Porter continues to work with AJ to make personal cuts of these jingles for collectors around the world. Her vocals also feature on production music published by AJ's sister company, Music Candy.

Recent career

In 2000, she attempted to become the United Kingdom's entry into the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, with two songs shortlisted. Her composition "The Answer" was eliminated in a radio semi-final, but "Crazy" was selected for the TV heats. She failed to win the bid, losing out to

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, who went on to finish 16th at the Eurovision final. Throughout this period, Porter wrote songs having landed a deal with

Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...

. However, after the release of one single and ''

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'', Porter parted ways with Jive. After relocating back to New York, getting married and becoming a mother, she recorded an album of standards with James Pearson, released as '' Gems for Ruby'' on the Swing Cafe label. One of the tracks is a cover of

's " Somebody to Love", featuring

, which was released as a single. On December 13, 2010, she joined the cast of the Broadway production of ''

Next to Normal ''Next to Normal'' is a 2008 American rock musical with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. The story centers on a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effects that managing her illness has on her fam ...

'' as the stand-in for the role of Diana.

Other work

Porter has also made brief excursions into films, making cameo appearances in '' Die Another Day'' and ''

Batman Begins ''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy), Bruce Wayne / B ...

''. She also performed the title song for the BBC television sitcom '' All About Me''. In 2001, she appeared on stage with comedian Rich Hall, singing three tracks with his character Otis Lee Crenshaw - a performance released on DVD, VHS and audio CD.

Discography

Albums * 2002: '' Something Good'' * 2009: '' Gems for Ruby'' Singles * 2002: " She's So Cool" * 2009: " Somebody to Love" (

cover), featuring

* 2011: ''Journeyman'' The Brian May Band * 1993: '' Live At The Brixton Academy'' album and VHS * 1998: '' Another World'', backing vocals on ''On My Way Up'' Guest Appearances * 1994: Roger Taylor, '' Happiness?'' - backing vocals on ''Old Friends'' * 1995:

, '' Made in Heaven'' - backing vocals on '' Let Me Live'' * 2001: Otis Lee Crenshaw & The Black Liars, ''London not Tennessee'' - duet vocals on "Trailerland" and "Conjugal Visit"

References

External links

Catherine Porter's official websiteCatherine Porter's official myspace site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Catherine American women singers Living people 1965 births 21st-century American women