Ketevan "Katie" Melua is Georgian, she's British, she's a singer, she's a songwriter, she's a musician, she's talented, she's gifted, she has an amazing voice and she's beautiful.
If ever you've had a troubled day and you need to leave it all behind you, just grab any of Melua's albums, pop it into the CD deck, press play, pour yourself a glass of wine (or other drink of choice), sit in your favorite chair and let Melua's soothing voice wash all of your troubles away...
When I listen to Melua I am immediately reminded of Dido. Her voice is particularly reminiscent of her fellow country woman. On other songs, her sound is comparable to Carly Simon, Cyndi Lauper, Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand.
She began her career in 2003 at the age of 19 by releasing her first studio album Call Off the Search signed to the small Dramatico record under the management of Mike Batt. Batt released the album on his label since he could not attract the attention of the major record labels. The album was mainly pushed/marketed by a local radio station but many listeners were sold on the young artist and as a result, the album was a huge success for Melua reaching #1 on the UK Charts and selling over 1.8 million copies in the first five months. The first single of the album was promoted by Sir Terry Wogan, whose breakfast show on BBC Radio Two was at the time the most listened-to radio show in Europe with 9 million listeners.*As per the comment by anonymous below.*
She followed up with Piece by Piece in September 2005 and this album has proven to be her biggest success to date having gone platinum (selling 1,000,000 copies) four times! In October 2007 Melua released her third album Pictures and announced that it would be her last record under the Dramatico label. Melua has reported that she needs a fresh start. Pictures sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide and over 450,000 copies in the UK alone in the first eight months became certified Platinum and was the 49th Best Selling Album in 2007. She will release a compilation album - a Best of Collection on 3 March 2009.
In 2007 at the age of 23 Melua was the bestselling British female artist in the world. Sales from her first two albums alone were over 7.5 million. Her music has been described as emotionally dark, mainly poetic and sincere and falls into the pop/jazz category.
The artist has a reputation for being sweet and wholesome yet has been described as an adrenaline junkie. She enjoys roller coasters, paragliding and hang gliding, she has skydived four times and has taken several flying lessons. A major highlight of her thrill seeking (risky) adventures was achieved in 2004 when she was lowered from a 200 meter building in New Zealand at 60 mph. She has also raced at 160mph around the Grand Prix circuit Silverstone.
The young artist can boast of many achievements including having toured America coast to coast, she has met and played for Nelson Mandela in South Africa for his Aids charity, is a dedicated Goodwill Ambassador for Save The Children, learned to dive and parachute freefall and she earned a spot in the Guinness World Record for playing the deepest underwater concert 303 meters below sea level on Statoil's Troll A platform in the North on 2 October 2006.
Her career thus far has yielded a number of various prestigious awards within Europe, including a World Music Award, a Golden Kamera Award - Pop International Solo (2006) and two German ECHO Awards - Best International Female Artist (2007) and Best International Newcomer (2005).
Katie is a very humble person. She has come from a modest background and admits that she has not fully come to grips with her celebrity status. There are times when she looks around the plush hotel rooms and have a hard time grasping that she has gained such status looking back on her common background.
I expect that this young superstar will continue to grow and be successful in her career. It is obvious that she is at a point in not only her career but her life as well where she needs to be in control of her own destiny. Her split from former manager Batt will allow her the time and space to reflect on exactly where she is in her life and career and to choose a path which she feels is fitting to take her to the next level. She is searching to find her own common ground and deeper creative energies. Melua is of the opinion that her best is yet to come, she has a desire to go to the next level and I wish her all the best in sorting her thoughts and ideas out and taking the bold step to attain the level of personal success and satisfaction that she is after.
