Joe McElderry

Joseph McElderry (born 16 June 1991) is an English singer and songwriter.

This was the first time since 2004 that the X Factor winning single was denied the top spot for Christmas in the UK Singles Charts.

Simon Cowell stated that he was "gutted for Joe because a number one single meant a lot to him. But I have to congratulate Jon and Tracy [Morter, who started the Facebook campaign]."

McElderry auditioned for The X Factor in 2007 and made it to bootcamp.

At the time, he believed that he was too young compared to the other contestants and opted to walk away.

He was the Pride of South Tyneside's Young Performer of the Year in 2008.

He studied for BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts (Advanced Performance) at Newcastle College Performance Academy.

He won the sixth series of the ITV show The X Factor in 2009.

His first single "The Climb" reached number one on both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Charts.

In 2009, he took the role of 'Danny Zuko' in Grease which was performed at Harton Technology College.

He auditioned again in 2009 and sang Luther Vandross's "Dance with My Father".

Mentored by Cheryl Cole, he made it through to the live finals and was announced the winner on 13 December 2009, beating runner up Olly Murs with his version of "The Climb".

McElderry's prize, as winner, was a recording contract with Simon Cowell's Syco record label, whose parent company is Sony Music Entertainment.

The contract had a stated value of £1 million, of which £150,000 was a cash advance and the remainder allocated to recording and marketing costs.

Along with The X Factor finalists, McElderry recorded vocals for on a charity single, a cover of Michael Jackson's hit "You Are Not Alone".

It was released in aid of London's Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The finalists premiered the song live on the edition of 15 November of the programme; the single was available for digital download that day and a physical release followed the day after.

The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart.

McElderry performed the following songs during The X Factor 2009:

McElderry's debut single, "The Climb", was available to download at midnight on 14 December 2009 and was released physically on 16 December 2009.

According to industry sources, approximately 100,000 copies of the single were sold on the day of its release but it was not enough to knock Rage Against The Machine off the spot in the UK in its opening week.

On 18 December 2009, it was announced that McElderry secured the top spot in the Irish Singles Chart for 11–17 December 2009.

"The Climb" was a contender for 2009's UK Christmas number one, competing against, and losing to, Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name".

McElderry's single sold 450,000 compared to Rage Against the Machine's 502,000 after a Facebook-based campaign was started in protest of The X Factor's dominance of the Christmas number one title.

McElderry's single stayed at number one on the Irish charts for a second week securing him the Irish Christmas number one (18–25 December 2009), and the song moved up to the top spot in the UK Singles Chart on 27 December.

The single had the fifth highest sales of all UK singles released in 2009 staying one week at No. 1, and was the top-selling Irish single of 2009, where it remained at the top spot for four consecutive weeks.

"The Climb" was nominated in the British Single category at the 2010 BRIT Awards but lost out to fellow X Factor contestants JLS.

McElderry performed "Don't Stop Believin'" and presented an award at the 15th National Television Awards in London on 20 January 2010.

In January 2010, he participated in the Helping Haiti charity single, a cover of "Everybody Hurts" arranged by Simon Cowell in order to raise money for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

He was also the winner of the second series of Popstar to Operastar in 2011 and the first series of The Jump in 2014.

As of 2014, McElderry had sold over two million records worldwide.

Joseph McElderry was born in South Shields, England, McElderry is the only child of Jim and Eileen (née Joyce) McElderry.

The couple separated when McElderry was a child.

He was raised in a small flat in South Shields.

McElderry attended Harton Technology College in Lisle Road, South Shields, before joining South Tyneside College to study AS level school qualifications.

Subsequently, he joined Newcastle College to study performing arts.

In 2015, McElderry played the lead role of Joseph in the touring production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

In 2022, McElderry was set to perform a tour in tribute to George Michael.

To date, McElderry has released five top 20 albums – two of them reaching the UK top three.

He was the first X Factor contestant to release a fourth album.