Russell Watson

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24th November 1966 -

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Biography: “Good evening Wembley”

And a capacity crowd scream their lungs out. And then Russell Watson wakes up. And he’s on stage and... and... and... well, he has only stood in front of a capacity crowd screaming their lungs out at Wembley. How did that happen?

In four years he has gone, in his own words, “from walking on stage at a working men’s club with five people there, spilt beer and cigarette smoke and joking to them ‘Good Evening Wembley’ to actually saying the same thing to 15,000 people crammed into Wembley Arena”.

It has been some journey.

It started with The Voice. A debut album that went double Platinum in several territories, stayed at number one in the UK classical charts for 52 weeks and announced the arrival of a major new talent. A year later, his second album, Encore, knocked The Voice off the top of the charts and sold over 1.7 million copies.

They are both still in the classical Top 20. And now we have Reprise.

“What are you going to call your tenth album?” I ask him. “Requiem,” he says, before pausing and then cracking a smile. “Or maybe R.I.P. ... I haven’t made my mind up yet.” The decision is not pressing.

In the twelve months since Encore went to the top of the charts Watson has played in front of the 43rd President of the United States, the Queen, Pope John Paul II and over one billion people who tuned into the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester this summer.

He has also played at the Sydney Opera House and both of the big Halls. That is, Carnegie and Albert. It seems like he might have made it. “I’d been told to expect polite applause when I walked onto the stage (at Carnegie Hall), but the roar was like a wall of sound which almost knocked me off my feet... as soon as I feel like the audience are up for it then I’ll respond and for the rest of that night I was on fire.”

His success has walked hand-in-hand with a coming of age in terms of musicianship. There is a new depth to his voice, to the voice. “This album is more classical than either of the others”, he says, “but the way we’ve done it is to take a completely different angle to Pavarotti or Plácido Domingo.”

“On tracks like Granada and the Neapolitan love songs we’ve brought in Nick Dodd to make everything more epic. He is a phenomenal orchestrator and turns any ‘song’ into a ‘big song’. The pop is still on there and a bit more poppy, Cleopatra is back with me doing a duet and, as I have said before, it’s a progression.”

Reprise is the next step. “The Voice was special because it was my first recording” he says. “Encore was a better recording but Reprise is the best thing I have done so far... this album has something for everybody.”

He’s not wrong, you know.
Contributed by: © Decca

Releases:

Albums

 The Voice2000
 Encore2001
 Reprise2003
 Amore Musica2004
 

Singles

 Barcelona2000
 Nothing Sacred2002
 

Appearances:

Compilation Albums

 Caruso - The Classical Album 20012001
 Fedora: Amor ti vieta - For The One You Love2001
 Funiculi, funicula - Classical Brit Awards2001
 Nella fantasia - Classical Hits2001
 Barcelona (Friends Until The End) - Victory - The World Champions2002
 Bridge Over Troubled Water - Voices2002
 Bridge over troubled water - Voices2002
 Nabucco: Va, pensiero - Voices2002
 Somewhere - Classical Brit Awards 20022002
 Va, pensiero - Classics 20032002
 Nella fantasia - Number One Classical Album2003
 Swing Low - World in Union 20032003
 Swing Low 99 - Land of my Fathers2003
 Va, Pensiero Verdi - Pure Classics2003
 Amore E Musica - Classical Album 20052004
 Bridge Over Troubled Waters - Unforgettable2004
 Celeste Aida - Number One Opera Album 20042004
 II Gladiatore - Voices The Ultimate Collection2004
 Santa Lucia - Voices The Ultimate Collection2004
 That's Amore - Voices 32004
 Va pensiero - Number One Opera Album 20042004
 Ave Maria - Canto The Spirit of the Voice2005
 Caruso - Be My Love2005
 I'll Walk With God - Songs of Praise2005
 Nella Fantasia - Be My Love2005
 Nella Fantasia - Canto The Spirit of the Voice2005
 Nella Fantasia - Total Classics2005
 The Magic of Love with Lionel Richie - Canto The Spirit of the Voice2005
 Torna a Surriento - Total Classics2005
 Volare - Be My Love2005
 You Raise Me Up - Songs of Praise2005
 

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