Katherine Jenkins

Katherine Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer.

She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.

After winning singing competitions in her youth, Jenkins studied at the Royal Academy of Music, modelled, and taught voice lessons.

Katherine Jenkins was born in Neath on 29 June 1980, the daughter of factory worker Selwyn John Jenkins and Susan, an NHS radiographer.

She has a sister named Laura.

She attended the Church in Wales' Alderman Davies primary school in Neath, Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School, and Gorseinon College.

She received A grades in her GCSEs and A Levels and participated in productions such as Calamity Jane and Guys and Dolls.

She studied vocal performance with John Hugh Thomas and passed her Grade 8 examinations with distinction in both singing and piano.

Her father, Selwyn, who was twenty-three years older than his wife and took early retirement to look after his children when their mother returned to work, died of lung cancer at age 70 when Jenkins was 15.

She has dedicated each award she has received to him.

Between 1991 and 1996, Jenkins was a member of the Royal School of Church Music Cathedral Singers and passed the St Cecilia Award, the highest RSCM award for female choristers.

She was also a member of the National Youth Choir of Wales for three years, won the BBC Radio 2 Welsh Choirgirl of the Year contest (twice), and the BET Welsh Choirgirl of the Year competition.

She was also awarded the Pelenna Valley Male Voice Choir Scholarship for the most promising young singer.

At the age of 17 she won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with honours and receiving a music teacher's diploma.

After working as a freelance voice coach, a tour guide on the London Eye and as a model, she entered a modelling competition and became the Face of Wales 2000.

She then decided to follow a musical career.

Universal Classics and Jazz heard her demo and she was invited to an interview where she sang Rossini's "Una voce poco fa".

Universal offered Jenkins a six-album deal, the most lucrative in the United Kingdom's classical recording history, reportedly worth £1 million.

She came to wide public attention in 2003 when she sang at Westminster Cathedral in honour of Pope John Paul II's silver jubilee.

Since 2004, she has released numerous albums that have performed well on British and foreign charts.

Six out of seven of Jenkins's studio albums reached number one in the UK classical charts between 2004 and 2008, selling a total of more than 4 million copies.

After her first album, Premiere, made her the fastest-selling mezzo-soprano to date she became the first British classical crossover artist to have two number one albums in the same year.

In both 2005 and 2006, her albums received Classic Brit Awards as Album of the Year.

She has been seen widely in concert and has performed for British Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She has sung at sporting events, on television shows, and in support of many charities.

She is the first female artist to win two consecutive Classical BRIT Awards: her second album, Second Nature, reached number 16 in the UK Albums Chart, and was Album of the Year in the 2005 BRIT Awards.

Jenkins's Italian-language version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" ("L'Amore Sei Tu"), first performed live at Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire on 28 August 2005, was the first cut on her third album Living a Dream.

After that album was released, uniquely, she held the top three positions in the classical crossover music chart.

The album held the number one position for nearly a year and reached number four in the pop album charts.

Jenkins repeated the success of Second Nature with her Living a Dream album when she won the classical BRIT award for Album of the Year for a second time.

Her fourth album, Serenade was released on 6 November 2006 and reached number five in the mainstream charts selling more than 50,000 copies in its first week, a record in the genre.

The top four albums on HMV's classical charts were hers.

Her fifth album, Rejoice, was released on 19 November 2007 and included songs written specially for her, two by Take That's Gary Barlow.

The album entered the pop album charts at number three, beating the Spice Girls and Girls Aloud.

Jenkins commented "I never imagined when I was a young girl listening to them on the radio that I would outsell the Spice Girls and Celine Dion. It’s almost too much to take in. I can’t thank my fans enough for all their support."

On 20 October 2008 Jenkins released Sacred Arias, which is her last album with Universal Music.

On 19 October The Daily Telegraph stated that Jenkins had signed the biggest classical recording deal in history, for US$10 million (£5.8 million), with Warner Music.

Jenkins released her next album, Believe, on 26 October 2009, the first with Warner Music.

This album featured Andrea Bocelli and other musicians like André Rieu and Chris Botti.

She made various TV appearances such as GMTV, Something for the Weekend and Piers Morgan's Life Stories on 24 October 2009 and on The Graham Norton Show on 2 November 2009.