Russell Watson

Russell Watson is an English tenor from Salford, United Kingdom, working in classical, classical crossover, opera, operatic pop and pop. He is known for recording operatic-style songs and for moving between classical and mainstream material.

Career

Watson’s debut album, The Voice, is released in 2001. It combines operatic arias with covers of pop songs and reaches number five in the UK album chart after topping the UK classical music chart. When the album is later issued in the United States, it reaches number one there and makes him the first British artist to hold both the UK and US classical number one at the same time.

Across his early solo career, he releases singles and albums including The Voice and Reprise. A planned album is delayed after he undergoes surgery to remove a benign brain tumour.

In 2001, he records the theme song for Star Trek: Enterprise, “Where My Heart Will Take Me”, written by Diane Warren. The song is originally sung by Rod Stewart for Patch Adams and is later remixed in a more upbeat version. Watson also performs it live at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in England in 2002.

He releases “Nothing Sacred - A Song For Kirsty” in late 2002 to raise money for Francis House children’s hospice in Didsbury, Manchester. The campaign supports a £5 million appeal fronted by Kirsty Howard, a seven-year-old girl with a serious heart defect, and the single reaches number 17 in the UK singles chart.

Collaborations and appearances

Watson’s debut album includes a duet with Cleo from Cleopatra on “Someone Like You”. Cleo also appears with him on “The Best That Love Can Be” on his third album, Reprise. Another notable collaboration is with Shaun Ryder, formerly of Happy Mondays, who sings on Watson’s version of Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé’s “Barcelona” on The Voice.

Before Velvet Revolver forms, Slash asks Watson whether he would join as singer, but Watson declines in order to continue his solo career.

He also plays Parson Nathaniel in the stage adaptation of Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, which tours the UK in 2006.

Awards

Watson wins Album of the Year at the Classical Brit Awards in 2001 and 2002. He also receives the awards for Best-Selling Debut Album in 2001 and Best-Selling Album in 2002.