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Katie Melua
Ketevan Melua was born in Kutaisi, Georgia in 1984 and spent most of her childhood in the town of Batumi, Ajaria where her father worked as a heart specialist. In 1993, the family moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland; her father had won a position at the prestigious Royal Victoria Hospital. Katie attended St. Catherine's Primary School and Dominican College, Fortwilliam. Katie loved living in Northern Ireland and found the people she met there extremely warm. She made close friends at St. Catherine's Primary School and Dominican College. Katie attended catholic schools in Northern Ireland while her younger brother went to a protestant school. Her ambition in her younger years was to be a politician or a historian, not a singer or songwriter. The family lived in Belfast for five years before moving to South East London. When Katie was fifteen she entered a television competition called Stars Up Their Nose. She sang Mariah Carey's Without You. She won the competition which was a bedroom makeover and an arm chair. After finishing high school she attended the British School for Performing Arts. During her time at the Brits School she discovered different styles of music including American, British and Irish folk music and Indian music. On hearing an Eva Cassidy song Katie was blown away. When she discovered that Eva Cassidy was no longer alive Katie wrote the song Faraway Voice as a tribute to her. Her big break came when Mike Batt visited the school looking for musicians to form a jazz band. Katie decided to perform Faraway Voice for Mike Batt and the composer/ producer related to her music immediately. He signed Katie to his record label Dramatico, and she remained at the Brits School to complete her studies while working on her debut album. She graduated in July of 2003. After graduation Katie and Mike Batt teamed up in the studio where Mike's great knowledge and established song-writing talent worked well with Katie's fresh approach, and extraordinary voice. The resulting album housed original songs by both Katie and Mike as well as some carefully chosen covers. The end of 2003 was a thrilling time for Katie. She was invited to perform at the Royal Variety, where she met the Queen who reportedly said to her, "I have heard your record on the radio, it is very nice." In November 2003 Katie headlined her own gig at the Shepherds Bush Empire and it was at that venue that her new fans got a real glimpse of her natural talent for performing. Her debut album Call Off the Search was released in November of 2003 and reached number one on the United Kingdom's charts. It ultimately went four times platinum. Her second album, Piece by Piece, was released on September 26, 2005. It includes the single Nine Million Bicycles, which was released on September 19 of the same year. Auctions | |||||||||||||||||
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