Melanie Blatt

Melanie Ruth Blatt (born 25 March 1975), also known as Mel Blatt, is an English singer.

In 1986, Blatt was diagnosed as having scoliosis.

Since her parents were not satisfied with the treatment for the condition in the United Kingdom they decided to move to France, where a specialist inserted three metal rods in her back.

Blatt went to Fitzjohn's Primary School where her musical talent was immediately noticed by the music teacher David Joyner, who encouraged her parents to send her to a stage school.

In 1986, she attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School where she met Nicole Appleton.

The two girls became best friends.

During this period, Blatt also played young Eponine in Les Misérables for six months, and was the understudy for Cosette together with fellow Sylvia Young student Denise van Outen.

In 1993, Blatt sang under the name Melanie Guillaume in the band Drive with Julienne Davis.

They released one single, "Curfew", together.

She also did backing vocals for Dreadzone with Denise van Outen.

Later that year, Blatt met Shaznay Lewis at the Metamorphosis recording studio in All Saints Road, London.

Together, with Simone Rainford, they formed the group All Saints 1.9.7.5 which was later renamed to All Saints when Rainford left and Nicole and Natalie Appleton joined Blatt and Lewis.

She rose to fame in 1997 as a member of the girl group All Saints.

The group have gained five UK number-one singles, two multi-platinum albums and two BRIT Awards, and have sold over 10 million records worldwide.

In 1997 All Saints released their debut single "I Know Where It's At", and peaked at number 4 in the UK.

The same year the group released a second single, "Never Ever", which introduced the group to international success after topping the charts in the UK and Australia, and reaching the top ten across Europe, Canada and the United States.

The single sold over 1.2 million copies in the United Kingdom and was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.

The same year the group released their debut album All Saints, it reached number two in the United Kingdom and was certified platinum five times for sales of 1.5 million.

The group gained a further two number one singles the following year: "Under the Bridge / Lady Marmalade" and "Bootie Call".

In 2000 the group released new single "Pure Shores", which was used in the film The Beach and reached number one in the UK.

The single was certified platinum for sales over 600,000 copies.

The single was followed by their fifth number one single "Black Coffee", their second album Saints & Sinners was released shortly after and topped the chart in the United Kingdom.

The album was eventually certified double platinum by the BPI for sales over 600,000.

In 2000, Blatt appeared in the film Honest directed by Dave Stewart opposite Nicole and Natalie Appleton and in 2001 she played a small role in the independent British film Dog Eat Dog.

In early 2001, following the release of their single "All Hooked Up", the group split and reasons for this were later explained by Shaznay Lewis, who revealed details of tensions between the group.

Blatt's solo releases were of variable success; her most prominent being "TwentyFourSeven", a collaboration with the Artful Dodger, peaking at No 6 in September 2001.

Melanie began recording on her debut solo album in 2002, working with numerous producers including Sony Music production team Xenomania.

As a solo artist, Blatt released only two singles, "Do Me Wrong" (2003) and "See Me" (2005), and recorded an unreleased album on London Records.

In late 2003 she released her debut single "Do Me Wrong", it reached number 18 in the UK and led to Blatt being dropped by her label due to its low charting.

The album she was working on was scrapped, therefore the release of her upcoming single "Blue" was cancelled, but later included on British singer Amelia Lily's debut album Be a Fighter, on which she worked with Xenomania.

In 2005 Blatt made a return to music with new single "See Me", which was used in the Robots movie.

She began working on a new album with independent label Sowlen Ankle Ltd written with, and recorded by, Matt Hales from Aqualung.

During 2005, Blatt played small venues in the UK which featured songs from the album she was working on at the time and included unreleased songs like "In Your Arms," "I Don't Mind," "Now You're Gone," "No Lullaby" and "Love Sweet Love."

Blatt's solo record was shelved in favour of the All Saints reunion.

On 24 January 2006, it was announced that the band had reformed and signed a record deal with Parlophone.

They subsequently began work on their third studio album, Studio 1.

In 2013 and 2015, she was a judge on the television series The X Factor NZ.

Blatt was born at University College Hospital in the London Borough of Camden and is named after American folk singer Melanie Safka.

She has a French mother and a British father, David Blatt (known also as author of the book Manchester United Ruined My Wife), whose ancestors were from Poland and Russia and a younger sister named Jasmine.

She was brought up in both the UK and France.