Paul Begaud | |
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Background information | |
Born | Sydney, Australia |
Genres | |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1996–present |
Labels |
Paul Begaud is an Australian born, US and UK #1 songwriter, record producer and singer. He has written and/or produced songs for artists including Delta Goodrem, Tina Arena, Human Nature, Terri Clark, Honeyz, R&B Singer Selwyn, Donny Osmond and country hall of fame star Wynonna Judd. Begaud's most notable songs include the US Country #1 "Now That I Found You" [1] recorded by Terri Clark and the UK R&B #1 "End of the Line" [2] (Top 5 UK Singles Chart) recorded by UK girl group Honeyz. Begaud also composed the song "Dare to Dream" for the Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony performed by Olivia Newton-John and John Farnham before a global audience of 4.5 billion. [3] [4] Begaud is a 3 x ARIA Producer Of The Year nominee. [5] [6] [7]
Begaud started singing and performing professionally at age 12 as a member of Australian children's group "The Keane Kids". The group performed in clubs and on television throughout Australia. Other notable members of the group included TV celebrity Toni Pearen.
Begaud went on to sign a solo recording contract with the Ariola label of BMG releasing music in Australia and also under the pseudonym Paul Bennett [8] (Bennett is Begaud's mother's maiden name) in Asia and Germany, and leading to a nomination for the Bravo Otto award for best male singer alongside Michael Jackson and Prince. His best known song is "Forevermore" which was a number 1 hit in Asia. "Forevermore" has amassed more than 3 million views on YouTube. "Forevermore" was covered by Filipino singer Jed Madela on his 2007 album Only Human.
Paul Begaud's debut solo single, released under his real name, was the track "Everybody (Celebrate The Night Away)" [9] on the BMG label. The accompanying maxi-CD and 12" vinyl [10] featured a selection of New York remixes by Acar S. Key, also renowned for his work with artists like Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, and C+C Music Factory. The release also included the song "Run and Hide," an original composition written and produced by Begaud.
Begaud's other solo releases (under the pseudonym Paul Bennett) include the singles "This Is Real Love" [11] , "I Don't Wanna Cry Again" [12] , as well as the full-length album "Forevermore" [13] , which was also accompanied by a single of the same name. [14]
Begaud's first success as a record producer came with Australian boy band Human Nature. Begaud worked with the group for a year before they were signed to Sony Music, co-writing their songs and developing their sound. Human Nature's first album "Telling Everybody" went 4 x Platinum and was a major success for the band and Begaud. Begaud co-wrote and produced 7 tracks on the album, including hit singles "Got It Goin’ On", "Tellin’ Everybody", "Whisper Your Name" and "Don’t Say Goodbye". "Don't Say Goodbye" was nominated for Highest Selling Single at the ARIA Music Awards. Begaud has contributed on several Human Nature hit albums.
Begaud's US Country #1 "Now That I Found You" (Terri Clark) was co-written with US #1 songwriters Vanessa Corish and JD Martin. The song was awarded ASCAP and BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) performance awards along with the prestigious BMI Million-Air award which denotes in excess of 1 million airplays in the US alone. [15]
Begaud, along with songwriters Vanessa Corish and Wayne Tester composed "Dare To Dream" especially for the Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. Olivia Newton-John and John Farnham walked among the Olympic competitors in what is remembered as a memorable and emotional Olympic moment. [3]
Begaud, again along with writing partner Vanessa Corish composed and produced the Song Of Peace for the 2006 Asian Games held in Doha, Qatar. The song entitled "Reach Out" was performed at the Opening Ceremony by renowned Bollywood playback singer Sunidhi Chauhan. [16] The Asian Games are the largest sporting event in the world after the Summer Olympic Games, and are watched by an estimated 3 billion people across Asia and the world, making the Ceremonies of the Doha 2006 Asian Games the biggest branding exercise ever undertaken by any Arab nation. [17]
Begaud has also written and/or produced songs for a number of Australia's top selling country artists including Golden Guitar winners Troy Cassar-Daley, Melinda Schneider, and Felicity Urquhart.
On 27 March 2015 Begaud's song "End of the Line" (Honeyz) was selected by UK's Official Charts website as the number one "Ultimate Goodbye Song". [2] Runner-up songs on the list included Beyonce's "Irreplaceable", Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby", Spice Girls "Goodbye" and N-Sync's "Bye Bye Bye".
In 2023, Australian Indigenous singer Jess Hitchcock recorded and released Begaud's song "I Don't Have The Heart", co-written with Vanessa Corish and Tina Arena. The song was the first single from Hitchcock's album "Unbreakable" and was described by The Music (magazine) as "an arena sized pop ballad". [18]
Begaud has provided A&R consultancy services to major music labels, discovering new talent, offering creative advice and developing artists. [19]
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Human Nature are an Australian pop vocal group, which formed in 1989, as a quartet featuring Toby Allen, Phil Burton and brothers, Andrew and Mike Tierney. Originally they were established as a doo-wop group, called the 4 Trax, when the members were schoolmates.
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"End of the Line" is a song by British girl group Honeyz. It was released as the group's second single on 7 December 1998 and peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart, spending 16 weeks in the top 100 to become Honeyz' longest-charting single. It also reached number one on the UK R&B Chart and became the group's second top-40 hit in Australia, Iceland, Ireland, and Sweden. The single has sold 360,000 copies in the UK alone.
Telling Everybody is the debut album by Australian boy band and pop vocal group Human Nature released on 2 December 1996 by Columbia Records owned by Sony Music Entertainment Australia.
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"Now That I Found You" is a song written by Paul Begaud, Vanessa Corish and J.D. Martin, and recorded by Canadian country music artist Terri Clark. It was released in April 1998 as the first single from her album How I Feel. On July 17, 1998, the song reached number one on the US Radio & Records chart, number 2 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart in July 1998 and number 2 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
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"Don't Say Goodbye" is a song by Human Nature, released as the fourth single from their album Telling Everybody on 9 March 1997 by Sony Music Records and Columbia Records. It nominated the 1997 ARIA Music Award for Highest Selling Single along with Wishes but lost to Savage Garden's Truly Madly Deeply. The song peaked at No. 8 in Australia, becoming their second top ten single.
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