Alex Parks | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Alexandra Rebecca Parks |
| Born | 26 July 1984 |
| Origin | Mount Hawke, Cornwall, England |
| Genres | Folk-pop, alternative, indie rock |
| Years active | 2003–2006 |
| Labels | Polydor (2003–2006) |
Alexandra Rebecca Parks (born 26 July 1984) is a retired English singer-songwriter. In 2003 Parks won the second series of the BBC Television programme Fame Academy immediately followed by the release of her first album entitled Introduction , which went double platinum in the United Kingdom and gold in several other European countries. In 2005 she released her second album, Honesty , but was subsequently dropped by her record label in February 2006. [1]
Alex Parks was born in July 1984 and was raised in the village of Mount Hawke, Cornwall. She is the youngest of four siblings. [5] Parks attended college at The Hub in St Austell.
Parks began fronting a local band, One Trick Pony, which performed mostly cover songs by artists such as Joni Mitchell, Ani Di Franco and Michelle Branch. For two years they played in bars around Cornwall, but the momentum of the band gradually ran down, leaving Parks in her bedroom with a four-track tape machine and a bunch of her songs-in-progress.
Parks initially planned to move to Amsterdam to learn the art of clowning, but her career path changed when her father submitted an application for the second season of the BBC Television series, Fame Academy .
Parks is gay and before entering Fame Academy had a long-term girlfriend from Newquay. [5] [6] [7] [8]
Having been prompted by her father to take part in auditions for the show, which threw her in amongst 12,000 hopefuls, the 18-year-old Alex found herself the youngest student chosen for the two-month stay at Witanhurst House in north London.[ citation needed ]
The final showdown between Parks and Alistair Griffin was screened live and generated so many angry messages from viewers after Daniel Bedingfield who duetted with both finalists, made his feelings clear by urging viewers that they should "just vote for Alex". This outburst by Bedingfield led to claims of favouritism. The BBC was forced to close down the Points of View message boards as negative messages flooded the board. Bedingfield made a public apology to Griffin for his behaviour and outburst. The actual voting figures have never been publicly released. Parks went on to win the show.[ citation needed ]
Her song "Maybe That's What It Takes" was released on 17 November 2003 and peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart the following week. [9] Her debut album Introduction was subsequently released and sold over 500,000 copies. She expressed an interest in a recording career. [10]
Honesty was eventually released in October 2005, preceded by the lead single, "Looking For Water", in October 2005. The album peaked at No. 24 in the UK Albums Chart. [9]
After being dropped by her label, Polydor, Parks wrote a statement to her fans on her official website stating that she had almost no support from the media and that she was disappointed in how things had turned out. She was not sure whether she was not promoted well enough because they did not like her music, her personally or the fact she had become famous via a reality TV programme. [1]
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Sales and certification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [9] | Ireland | |||||||||
| 2003 | Introduction
| 5 | 54 | BPI sales: 600,000+ BPI certification: 2× Platinum Also went Gold in Italy, Germany, Greece and Australia among others. | ||||||
| 2005 | Honesty
| 24 | — | BPI sales: 50,000+ | ||||||
| " — " denotes albums that were released but did not chart. | ||||||||||
| Year | Title | Album | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [9] | Ireland | |||
| 2003 | "Maybe That's What It Takes" | Introduction | 3 | 26 |
| 2004 | "Cry" | 13 | 32 | |
| 2005 | "Looking for Water"1 | Honesty | — | — |
| 2006 | "Honesty" | 56 | — | |
1 On downloads only
James Richard Mullett, known professionally as James Fox, is a Welsh pop singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist. He represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Istanbul. In 2008, he wrote and recorded the Cardiff City F.C. FA Cup Final song, "Bluebirds Flying High".
Natasha Anne Bedingfield is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut album, Unwritten, in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed international success with more than 2.3 million copies sold worldwide. Bedingfield received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the title track "Unwritten", and at the 2005 and 2006 Brit Awards, she was nominated for Best British Female Artist. Unwritten also produced her only UK number one, "These Words".
Sarah Harding was an English singer, model and actress. Her professional career began in 2002 when she successfully auditioned for the ITV reality series Popstars: The Rivals, during which Harding won a place in the girl group Girls Aloud. The group achieved twenty consecutive top ten singles in the UK, six albums that were certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), two of which went to number one in the UK, and accumulated a total of five BRIT Award nominations. In 2009, Girls Aloud won "Best Single" with their song "The Promise".
Alistair Richard Griffin is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Already an established songwriter, he first became famous as a solo artist through his appearances on the BBC television show Fame Academy 2 in 2003, where he was mentored by Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. He subsequently had two top twenty hit singles and a top twenty album in the UK.
Alesha Anjanette Dixon is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B, garage and hip hop group Mis-Teeq, who had seven UK top 10 hits, two top 10 double platinum albums, and sold over 12 million records worldwide. After Mis-Teeq disbanded in 2005, Dixon pursued a career as a solo artist, signing a recording contract with Polydor Records. She released her debut solo studio album, Fired Up, in 2006, but due to poor record sales of its first two singles, "Lipstick" and "Knockdown", she was subsequently dropped from Polydor.
"Unwritten" is a song by English singer Natasha Bedingfield for her debut studio album of the same name. It was released on 29 November 2004 as the third single from the album. The song was written by Bedingfield, Danielle Brisebois, and Wayne Rodrigues and produced by Rodrigues and Brisebois. The single was released as the album's third UK single and second US single. In 2006, "Unwritten" became the theme song for the MTV reality television series The Hills. It reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first top-10 hit in the United States.
Introduction is Alex Parks' debut album, released on 24 November 2003. Recorded and released within only two weeks of Parks winning the BBC's Fame Academy, it included seven original compositions, mostly co-written with songwriters Helen Boulding, Gary Clark and Boo Hewerdine, as well as six cover songs from John Lennon, Tears for Fears, R.E.M., Christina Aguilera, Eurythmics and Coldplay.
Honesty is Alex Parks' second album, co-written with producers Greg Wells, Alan Branch, John Reynolds and Peter-John Vettese, as well as songwriters Judie Tzuke, Karen Poole and Marcella Detroit. It was released on 24 October 2005.
This second series of Fame Academy was broadcast in the UK over thirteen weeks from July to October 2003. It was won by Alex Parks. The judging panel of the show consisted of Richard Park, Carrie Grant, David Grant and Robin Gibb during the live shows. Jonathan Ross was a judge on the final giving his opinions on the acts.
Carolynne Willey is a British singer-songwriter, actress and former model from Leeds, England. She is a founding member of the Carolynne Good Band, based in Leeds and London. She is best known for finishing in third place on the second series of the BBC singing competition Fame Academy in 2003. In 2011, Willey was a contestant on The X Factor and made it to the judges' houses' stage of the competition. She returned to the show the following series in 2012 and made it to the live shows, but was eliminated after the first live show following a sing-off against Rylan Clark.
Helen Boulding is an English. She is originally from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and is now based in London. Her first album, New Red Dress, was released in February 2008.
"If You're Not the One" is a song by New Zealand-British singer Daniel Bedingfield. It was released on 25 November 2002 as the third single from his debut studio album, Gotta Get Thru This (2002). The single entered the top 20 on the majority of charts that it appeared on, including becoming a number-one hit on the UK Singles Chart and reaching number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"I Wanna Have Your Babies" is a song by British recording artist Natasha Bedingfield. It was written by Steve Kipner, Andrew Frampton, Wayne Wilkins and Bedingfield for her second album, N.B. (2007). The song's musical-style and production was inspired by hip hop music, and its lyrics discuss a woman's battle to stop herself from rushing into relationships in an effort to find the right man to be the father of her children.
N.B. is the second studio album released by British singer Natasha Bedingfield. It was released in the United Kingdom on 30 April 2007 through Phonogenic Records. In the United Kingdom it produced two top ten hits, "I Wanna Have Your Babies" and "Soulmate". In January 2008, the album was released in the United States and Canada under the name Pocketful of Sunshine with new packaging and an alternative track listing featuring only six of the original songs. The US version's title song became a top-five hit whilst the lead single, "Love Like This" with Sean Kingston, became a top-fifteen hit. US critics said that the album felt inorganic and awkwardly assembled.
Bring It On is the debut album by British singer/songwriter Alistair Griffin. Released in January 2004 on the UMTV label, it reached #12 in the UK album charts.
"Maybe That's What It Takes" is a song by English singer-songwriter Alex Parks, taken from her debut album, Introduction (2003). It was released as her debut single on 17 November 2003, shortly after she won the second series of Fame Academy, and peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart and number 26 in Ireland.
"Cry" is the second and final single from English singer-songwriter Alex Parks' debut album, Introduction (2003). The song was released on 16 February 2004, peaking at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and number 32 on the Irish Singles Chart.
Rachel Lauren Stevens is an English singer, businesswoman, model and actress. She has been a member of the pop group S Club, which was active from 1998 to 2003, and has reformed once again since 2023. She released her solo debut studio album Funky Dory in September 2003. The album reached number nine on the UK album chart and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded it with a gold certification in October 2003. Two singles, "Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex" and "Funky Dory", were initially released from the album: "Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex" peaked at number two in the UK and received a silver certification from the BPI.
Fame Academy is a British television programme that ran for two series, in 2002 and 2004. The show was produced for the BBC in a reality television format. The winners of the show, David Sneddon and Alex Parks, were awarded music recording contracts to allow them to release music and live like top recording artists for a year. Sneddon had a run of three top-20 hits, including his debut single "Stop Living the Lie", which peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart in January 2003. David Sneddon signed to major music publisher Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2009 as a songwriter. Parks' debut single "Maybe That's What It Takes" charted at number three in November 2003.
All Saints are a British girl group formed in London in 1993. They were founded as All Saints 1.9.7.5 by music manager Ron Tom. with members Melanie Blatt, Shaznay Lewis, and Simone Rainford. The group struggled to find commercial success upon being signed to ZTT Records and were dropped by the label shortly after Rainford left the group. In 1996, the group were joined by sisters Nicole and Natalie Appleton and signed to London Records under their shortened name.
| International | |
|---|---|
| Artists | |
