Emma Gillespie (born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland), better known by her stage name Emma's Imagination, is a Scottish singer. She came to prominence after winning the

Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

TV talent contest '' Must Be the Music''. She was signed to

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having writ ...

's music label

Future Records Future Records was a music imprint, based in London, England. It was founded in 2009. The label was closed in 2012. History In 2009, it was announced that Gary Barlow had been given his own music label, Future, by Universal as a reward for ma ...

. She released her debut solo album, '' Stand Still'' in January 2011.

Early years

Emma Gillespie was born in

and grew up in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

where she attended St Joseph's College. She lived with her mother Sharon and stepfather. Gillespie was in the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

in India at the time of the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the sci ...

. She then went on to travel in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand, with many of her ideas for music originating while travelling. Gillespie took up playing guitar when aged 16. Before coming to public attention, she spent time

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...

on the streets of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, to which she had moved a year before her breakthrough. She also spent time honing her skills performing in New York.
Gillespie released her debut single, "Stamp Your Feet", in September 2009, on independent label Up Next Records, based in Glasgow.

Music career

2010–11: ''Must Be the Music''

Emma's Imagination entered ''Must Be the Music'', broadcast on

Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989 ...

and Sky 1 HD. In the initial televised audition phase, as well as the three semi-finals and final, contestants sang in front of the judges,

Jamie Cullum Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Dizzee Rascal, is a British rapper and MC. He is often credited as a pioneer of British hip hop and grime music and was ranked by ''Complex'' as one of the greatest British ...

, and

Sharleen Spiteri Sharleen Eugene Spiteri (born 7 November 1967) is a Scottish singer–songwriter and guitarist who has a contralto vocal range, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Texas (band), Texas, who rose to prominence in 1989 with the release ...

. The auditions took place in early August 2010 with musicians allowed to play their own compositions. The live finals were held at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

with a live audience behind the judges. During the finals, the public voted for their favourite act, which was Emma's Imagination. After appearing on the show, her first single, "

This Day ''This Day'' is a Nigerian national newspaper. It is the flagship newspaper of Leaders & Company Ltd., and was first published on 22 January 1995. It has its headquarters in Apapa, Lagos State. Founded by Nduka Obaigbena, the chairman and edit ...

", was released for sale by download and debuted at number 10 on the United Kingdom Singles Chart and number 2 on the Indie Chart. The single also charted on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

, where it reached number 9 and on the

Scottish Singles Chart The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, ...

, where it debuted at number 7. Emma's Imagination won the final on Sunday 19 September 2010, and received a prize of £100,000.

2011: ''Stand Still''

Following victory on the show, Emma's Imagination's second single, "Focus", debuted in the United Kingdom at number 7, her second British Top 10 placing. The single also debuted at number 1 on the Indie Chart, number 8 in Ireland and number 5 in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Her debut album '' Stand Still'' was released in January 2011 and peaked at number 14 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 ...

. In 2012,

announced that he was closing his record label.

2013-present: Independent career

In 2013, Emma's Imagination released independently a 6-song EP, ''Underway'', produced by

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

. This would be Emma's last release under the name Emma's Imagination, and she has used her birth name for subsequent releases. Gillespie released her second full-length album, ''Pier Siamese'', in April 2016. Emma's singing gained a wider audience when it featured in

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

Bedtime Hour series ''Hushabye Lullabye'' in 2020.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Notes

* ¹ "Stamp Your Feet" did not chart when it was first released, it charted in October 2010 at the same time she was announced winner of the ''Must Be the Music'' contest.

Promotional singles

*2010 – "Faerie Lights"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emma's Imagination Musicians from Dumfries Musicians from Edinburgh 21st-century Scottish women singers Scottish pop guitarists Scottish pop singers Living people People educated at St Joseph's College, Dumfries Year of birth missing (living people)