Laura Critchley (born 27 March 1984) is an English singer and songwriter.

Biography

Laura Critchley was born in Little Sutton,

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

. With a voice described as that from a love child of

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

and Stevie Nicks, Critchley started singing when she was 7 years old. She wrote her first song, "Change", at the age of 16. It received radio play on

BBC Radio Merseyside BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 203,000 ...

on the Billy Butler and Jimmy McCracken show. She got to the last 50 in '' Fame Academy'' in 2001, and appeared as

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Simpson (born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, entrepreneur and philanthropist. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, ''Swee ...

on '' Stars in Their Eyes''. In 2006, she moved to London and within three months was signed to independent record label, Big Print Records, owned and run by

Andrew Gemmell Andrew Douglas Gemmell (born February 20, 1991) is an American competition swimmer who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. He swam for the University of Georgia, helping then to place 5th in the NCAA in 2014, and was a member of the ...

and Jeremy Marsh (RCA Telstar). She toured with the

Sugababes Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...

in March 2007, with Ray Quinn in October 2007, with Deacon Blue in November 2007, and with Boyzone in May 2008. Critchley's début album, ''Sometimes I'', was released on 19 November 2007. Radio 2 Terry Wogan has praised Critchley saying that her single was an excellent single and that she was one to look out for. Also in 2007, she recorded three songs with

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stu ...

. In December she sang at

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career s ...

's cancer research ball, and also duetted with him on a version of "Last thing on my mind". Her first single, "Sometimes I" was released on 21 May 2007. Produced by Steve Power, the man who worked on many of

' hits with him, the single did not chart, but did well on the video channels. The second single "What do we do" was on the Radio 2 playlist on the Terry Wogan show, and was released on 12 November 2007. Her third single is a remix of "Sometimes I", by Ash Howes (who has worked with

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a ...

and the

) and was released on 25 February 2008. Critchley's fourth single "Today's Another Day" was released on 16 June 2008 and was a radio hit, reaching number 4 in the independent charts. On 6 July 2009, Critchley released her single "Feel Proud" which she wrote with UK troops in mind. Profits went to the Help For Heroes charity. Critchley's songs have been on the Radio 2 playlists as well as many regional stations such as Radio Ulster. Having supported The Sugababes, and Boyzone on their respective arena tours, duetted with Ronan Keating and sung for Robbie Williams, She won the best live performance award at the Irish Entertainment Awards in October 2008. Critchley performed her debut American showcase on 1 May 2008, to which many record execs went. Jeff Arch (the Sleepless in Seattle writer) also directed her video for the single "Today's Another Day". A 10 part series for

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

called ''Kenwood Glamour Puds'' has used Critchley's music as the title music and sound beds. Glamour puds, featuring Critchley's music, has since been shown on Channel 4 on daytime TV. In 2010, Critchley was picked by

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer * Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...

to be one of his two backing singers during his worldwide performances and promotion of his album, '' Praise and Blame''. She appeared on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

'' as well as many other shows around the world with Jones.

Other work

Critchley was chosen as the face of new airline

Fly Pink Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

. She is a

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

charity Wishing Well House. Screenwriter

Jeff Arch Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

has written a scene for Critchley in his upcoming film ''The Chelsea Story'' set to star

John Cusack John Paul Cusack (; born June 28, 1966)(28 June 1996)Today's birthdays '' Santa Cruz Sentinel'', ("Actors John Cusack is 30") is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and political activist. He is a son of filmmaker Dick Cusack, and his o ...

and Naomi Watts. He has since also asked her to write the title track for the film as well. Laura has also accepted a request from the Duchess of York, to be one of her charity's (Children in Crisis) celebrity ambassadors for 2008.

Discography

"Sometimes I" is the second single by Critchley that launched her music career from her MySpace page. It was released on 21 May 2007. It was produced by Steve Power, the man behind many of

hits, the single did not chart, but did well on the video channels. A re-mix of the song was released as Critchley's fourth single on 25 February 2008.

Albums

*''Sometimes I'' – (19 November 2007)

Singles

; from ''Sometimes I'': *"Don't Say" – (26 March 2007) *"Sometimes I" – (21 May 2007) *"What Do We Do" – (12 November 2007) *"Sometimes I" (re-mix) – (25 February 2008) *"Today's Another Day" – (16 June 2008) ; non-album single: *"Feel Proud" – (6 July 2009)

References

External links

Get Ready To Rock.com Review of Sometimes I
{{DEFAULTSORT:Critchley, Laura 1984 births Living people 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers