Gareth Gates

U.K. teen pop sensation Gareth Gates attended an audition for the top-rated TV show Pop Idol in Manchester holding a backround in singing, piano, and classical guitar. After a second audition the newcomer managed to get through to the final and came in second on February 9, 2002. Simon Cowell... Read More

U.K. teen pop sensation Gareth Gates attended an audition for the top-rated TV show Pop Idol in Manchester holding a backround in singing, piano, and classical guitar. After a second audition the newcomer managed to get through to the final and came in second on February 9, 2002. Simon Cowell signed him as a solo artist.

After participating in a collection of classic traditional pop and vocal pop songs from the 1950s and 1960s called Pop Idol: Big Band Album, covering "Mack the Knife" and "Oh Look at Me Now," Gareth Gates climbed to the top in the U.K. Top 40 singles chart with a contemporary version of the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody"; setting the record for the youngest British male artist to have a number one single. "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)" followed in July 2002. ~ Drago Bonacich, All Music Guide