Jump to content

Shayne Ward

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by AnemoneProjectors (talk | contribs) at 21:44, 5 December 2006 (dab). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Infobox musical artist 2 Shayne Thomas Ward (born 15 October 1984 in Manchester) is an Anglo-Irish pop singer who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom after becoming the winner of the 2005 series of the talent show The X Factor. Although born and raised in Manchester, he considers himself Irish, as both his parents are from Ireland.

Ward has six siblings, including a twin sister. Prior to his participation in The X Factor, Ward was in a band called Destiny with two women named Tracy Murphy and Tracey Lyle. They performed at pubs, clubs and weddings. Ward also reached the final thirty of Popstars: The Rivals.

During The X Factor competition, Ward was mentored by manager Louis Walsh. The Bookies' favourite to win the show, he defeated duo Journey South and singer Andy Abraham in the final, screened by ITV1, by a margin of 1.2% of the vote, out of a reputed 10.8 million phone votes cast by viewers (since the programme was watched by an audience averaging 9.2 million people, it is likely that some viewers cast multiple votes for all finalists).

His first single, "That's My Goal", was released in the UK on Wednesday, December 21 2005 and became the Christmas number one in 2005. It sold 313,000 copies on its first day of sales, making it the fourth fastest selling single of all time (behind Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" and Will Young's "Anything Is Possible/Evergreen", which sold 685,000 and 400,000 copies in their first days of sale respectively, and Gareth Gates' "Unchained Melody").

Ward became a controversial figure in the final weeks of the competition when it emerged that his father, Martin Ward, is serving an eight-year prison sentence for rape. Ward has acknowledged his father's crime in recent interviews with the British press.

His second single "No Promises" (a cover of a Bryan Rice song) was released on 10 April 2006, and it reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart. His album was released on Monday April 17, and it sold over 95,000 copies on the first two days of release. By the end of the week, the album sold 201,266 copies at #1. The album sold 71,396 copies in its second week, and fell to #2.

Ward's third single "Stand by Me" failed to set the charts alight like the previous two, entering the UK top 20 at #14. It fared slightly better in the Irish charts, reaching #9.

Sony BMG released Ward's debut album on 14 July 2006 in Taiwan and other Asian countries. He is currently enjoying major success there and across Scandinavia and South Africa.

In August 2006, it was reported that Ward had developed vocal cord nodules — the same condition that stopped the singing career of Julie Andrews — and was to be flown out to Los Angeles in early September to a specialist surgeon. His manager, Louis Walsh, released a statement that he was confident Ward would be fine and would be back at work by the end of the month.

In recent months, Ward has had a gruelling schedule of performances and appearances across the Far East, Australia and South Africa, where the album was very well received. In November 2006, he released his autobiography entitled 'My Story' which has also sold very well.

Ward is currently working on a new album to be released in early 2007. His manager, Louis Walsh, has said that the new material is 'superb' and that it 'will take many people by surprise'.

Prior to the release of the new album, Ward is due to make his eagerly awaited tour across the United Kingdom and Ireland in early 2007, taking in 19 concerts in 28 days from late January to mid Feburary.

Discography

Album cover Album information
Shayne Ward

Trivia

  • In the Doctor Who episode entitled "Fear Her", which is set in the year 2012, a poster for Shayne Ward's supposed future Greatest Hits album is seen. In the Doctor Who Ghostwatch game, three messages refer 'moira' requesting Shayne Ward's new song to be played.

See also

Preceded by X Factor Winners
Series 2 (2005) 		Succeeded by
TBC
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shayne_Ward&oldid=92310794"