Natasha Bedingfield
Natasha Anne Bedingfield is a British and New Zealand singer. She released her debut studio album, Unwritten, in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed international success with more than 2.3 million copies sold worldwide. Bedingfield received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the title track "Unwritten", and at the 2005 and 2006 Brit Awards, she was nominated for Best British Female Artist. Unwritten also produced her only UK number one, "These Words".
Her second studio album, N.B., yielded the UK top 10 singles "I Wanna Have Your Babies" and "Soulmate". In North America, a heavily reworked reissue of the album was released in 2008 under the name Pocketful of Sunshine, which spawned the singles "Love Like This" and "Pocketful of Sunshine", the latter of which peaked at number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became her best-selling single in the United States. In December 2010, Bedingfield released her third studio album in North America, Strip Me. Bedingfield has sold over 10 million albums and 10 million singles worldwide, totalling over 20 million records worldwide. In 2012, VH1 ranked Bedingfield number 66 on the list of 100 Greatest Women in Music.
Early life
Natasha Anne Bedingfield was born in England to New Zealander parents and grew up both in London and Auckland, New Zealand. Later she attended Lynfield College. When Bedingfield was a teenager, she and her siblings, Daniel and Nikola, formed a dance/electronic group, The DNA Algorithm. The group provided Bedingfield with the opportunity to explore different musical genres and expand her songwriting abilities. She provided vocals for the group which primarily performed dance-pop music about independence and empowerment, themes that would later be found in her own solo compositions. At age 14, Bedingfield sang vocals on Origins Refined Intricacy.Bedingfield attended a year at the University of Greenwich, where she studied psychology, then left to concentrate on singing and songwriting. At first, she recorded demos in the garages of friends who had recording studios, which she presented to record companies. In the early 2000s, Bedingfield composed, wrote and recorded songs for Hillsong Church UK. Her songs appeared on the live albums Blessed, Shout God's Fame and the children's album Jesus Is My Superhero by Hillsong Music Australia.
Career
2003–2006: professional career and ''Unwritten''
Bedingfield was introduced to Phonogenic founder and A&R Paul Lisberg by the artist's manager Gary Wilson. Lisberg was initially hesitant, later telling HitQuarters: " were good but weren't right for us... " However, it was when, at a meeting together, Lisberg heard her singing ability and creative vocal ad-libbing first-hand that he became excited by Bedingfield's potential. Label interest was later confirmed when a trial studio session together with writers Steve Kipner and Andrew Frampton produced songs that were in keeping with Lisberg's vision for Phonogenic. Bedingfield signed a recording contract with BMG UK & Ireland, through its imprint Phonogenic Records, in July 2003.Her debut studio album Unwritten was released in September 2004 and featured collaborations with Steve Kipner, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lachey, James Reilly, Andrew Frampton, Wayne Wilkins, Kara DioGuardi, Guy Chambers, Patrick Leonard and the rapper Bizarre. The album contained uptempo pop-rock songs and influences from R&B music. Bedingfield's lyrics focused on independence, opportunism and female empowerment. Reviews of the album were generally positive, and it was described as a "well-made pop album for the new millennium" by Allmusic. The album debuted on the UK Albums Chart at number one and reached the top thirty in the U.S. It sold well, reaching multi-platinum status in the UK and Gold status in the U.S. The first single released from the album was "Single", which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. The song's lyrics and accompanying music video depict Bedingfield's single lifestyle. "These Words" was released as the album's second single. The song became Bedingfield's first UK number one and US top twenty single. "Unwritten" was released as the album's third single in 2004: the song reached number six on the UK Singles Chart and it also became the second most played song on US radio in 2006. "I Bruise Easily" was released as the album's fourth single, it did not perform as well as its predecessors but was still a moderate success, reaching number twelve on the UK Singles Chart.
At the 2005 Brit Awards, Bedingfield was nominated for four awards, though did not win any of her nominated categories. She was also nominated for an award at the 2006 Brit Awards, and in 2007, she was nominated for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" at the 2007 Grammy Awards, though was again unsuccessful in winning in any of her nominated categories.
2007–2008: ''N.B.'' and ''Pocketful of Sunshine''
Bedingfield's second album, N.B., was released in Europe in April 2007. The album received mixed reviews by critics and peaked at number nine in the UK. "I Wanna Have Your Babies", the album's lead single, was moderately successful, reaching number seven in the UK, number eight in Ireland and the top fifty in various other markets. "Soulmate" was released as the album's second single on 2 July 2007 and also peaked at number seven in the UK. To promote N.B., Bedingfield performed as the opening act for several dates during Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveShow tour beginning in May 2007. She was also scheduled to embark on a solo UK tour to promote the N.B., but it was cancelled twice, with the singer citing promotional commitments in the United States. On 1 July 2007, Bedingfield performed "Unwritten" at the Concert for Diana held at Wembley Stadium, London, an event which celebrated the life of Princess Diana almost ten years after her death.Following the relative commercial disappointment of N.B., Bedingfield's American label Epic Records chose to postpone the release of a single and the album in the United States. After multiple delays, the album was released in the country on 22 January 2008 as a heavily reworked reissue titled Pocketful of Sunshine, featuring six songs originally from N.B. alongside several new songs. Its lead single, "Love like This", was released in September 2007 and charted at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The title track was released as the second single in February 2008 and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. In August 2008, Bedingfield was featured on the single "Just Stand Up!" as part of an all-star female charity supergroup to support "Stand Up to Cancer".
2009–2017: ''Strip Me'', ''Strip Me Away'', and other projects
Bedingfield began work on her third studio album in early 2009.In 2010, she confirmed that she was working with Brian Kennedy, Wyclef Jean, Sam Sparro and Mike Elizondo and that the album would be released by the end of the year. That year, Bedingfield appeared as a featured artist on "Last Chance" by Nicki Minaj from Pink Friday, and on "Easy" by Rascal Flatts from Nothing Like This, the latter of which was released as a single. She was also a celebrity judge for Avon Voices.
Bedingfield's third studio album, Strip Me was released exclusively in North America on 7 December 2010. It was preceded by the singles "Touch" on 18 May 2010 and "Strip Me" on 21 September 2010. The album was not released in Europe until the following year on 13 May 2011 under the title Strip Me Away. In Europe, the album was preceded by the first European single release of "Pocketful of Sunshine" on 15 April; the song had been originally released as the second single from her US album Pocketful of Sunshine three years prior. On 26 April 2011, Bedingfield was featured on Simple Plan's single "Jet Lag", the first single from their fourth studio album Get Your Heart On!. That year, Bedingfield co-wrote the song "Lighthouse" for Filipino singer Jake Zyrus's second studio album Infinity. In November 2011, Bedingfield released the Christmas song "Shake Up Christmas", which was featured in television advertisements for Coca-Cola that aired during the 2011 holiday season.
In April 2012, Bedingfield announced that she was working on her fourth studio album, originally titled The Next Chapter. The album was said to feature production from RedOne, Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco, Paul Williams and Marshall Altman, but a release of an album under that name never materialized following several delays. In September 2012, Bedingfield was featured on Lifehouse's single "Between the Raindrops". On 13 May 2013, she appeared as a guest judge on the New Zealand version of The X Factor alongside her brother Daniel Bedingfield.
In 2013, Bedingfield composed the music of "Non mi ami", a single by Italian singer-songwriter Giorgia, included on the album Senza Paura. In 2014, Bedingfield contributed to the soundtrack for the Disney animated film, The Pirate Fairy, with a track titled "Who I Am". On 13 January 2015, Bedingfield released a charity single with Philosophy Skin Care titled "Hope". Later in 2015, Bedingfield contributed to Band of Merrymakers' album Welcome to Our Christmas Party and toured with the group in 2015 and 2016. Bedingfield also collaborated with Belgian record producer Basto during this time. The duo released a single titled "Unicorn" in March 2016.
Bedingfield toured Europe in late 2016 with Night of the Proms. In January 2017 it was announced that Bedingfield would open for Train's 2017 summer concert tour. On 10 March 2017 she appeared on the soundtrack of Tangled: Before Ever After in the track "More Of Me".