Karen Harding
| Karen Harding | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 November 1991 |
| Origin | Consett, County Durham, England |
| Genres | House, R&B, pop, 2-step garage |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Labels | Method, Capitol |
| Associated acts | MNEK, Tom Aspaul, Blonde, Arches |
Karen Harding (born 1991) is an English singer from Consett, County Durham. She released her debut single, "Say Something", in January 2015. It peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart.
Early life
Born to an English father and Filipino mother,[1] Harding grew up in Consett and attended Moorside Community Technology College.[2] She used to work at her parents' oriental food store, and in 2008, won a regional music competition called Music Means Life.[3] One of her first recordings was a cover of the anti-racism song "Strange Fruit" (made famous by Billie Holiday).[4]
Career
In 2010, she competed on the television programme Eurovision: Your Country Needs You, the national final deciding who would represent the United Kingdom in that year's Eurovision Song Contest.[5][6][7] She was eliminated in the penultimate round after singing Kylie Minogue's "What Do I Have to Do".[8] Harding was a contestant on the tenth series of the television singing competition The X Factor, but was eliminated at the boot camp stage during the controversial six-chair challenge.[9][10]
Following The X Factor, Harding was approached by producer MNEK, who had seen a video she uploaded onto the internet of her covering Disclosure's "Latch".[11] She was subsequently signed by Disclosure's record label, Method Records.[12] Her debut single, the MNEK-produced "Say Something", was released in January 2015 via Method and Capitol Records[13] and attracted notice from Fact magazine, MuuMuse, Noisey, and The Singles Jukebox.[14][15][16][17] "Say Something" entered and peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart, accompanied by frequent airplay on BBC Radio 1 and its sister station, 1Xtra.[18][19][20]
Harding has been working with producers and songwriters such as Tom Aspaul, CocknBullKid, Mark J. Feist, Rodney Jerkins, Jimmy Napes, and Richard Stannard.[12] She is featured on house duo Arches' single "New Love", which premiered in April 2015,[21] and on Blonde's single "Feel Good (It's Alright)", released in August.[22] Harding played at several festivals during mid 2015, including Birmingham Pride, Ibiza Rocks, Lovebox, Manchester Pride, and Parklife.[23]
Harding's influences include female solo artists such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, and Lisa Stansfield, as well as dance and garage acts Artful Dodger, Craig David, and Madison Avenue.[1][10] She has also cited house music of the 1990s as an influence.[11]
Discography
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [24] |
IRE [25] | ||||
| 2015 | "Say Something" | 7 | 73 |
|
N/A |
| 2016 | "Open My Eyes" | ||||
As featured artist
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [24] |
IRE [25] | ||||
| 2015 | "New Love" (Arches featuring Karen Harding) |
— | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Feel Good (It's Alright)" (Blonde featuring Karen Harding) |
76 | — | |||
References
- 1 2 "Get To Know: Karen Harding". HUNGER TV.
- ↑ Barry Nelson. "Music provides life – and a recording contract for Karen". The Northern Echo.
- ↑ Barry Nelson. "Music provides life – and a recording contract for Karen". The Northern Echo.
- ↑ "Serving up a top 10: Former Sunderland takeaway worker Karen Harding reaches number seven in the charts". sunderlandecho.com.
- ↑ "BBC - Karen from Consett will sing on Your Country Needs You".
- ↑ Katie Davies (6 March 2010). "Singer Karen Harding aiming for Eurovision". nechronicle.
- ↑ "Eurovision hopeful has previously beaten Joe McElderry in a singing contest". Dailystar.co.uk.
- ↑ "Josh flying the flag for United Kingdom in Oslo". Eurovision.tv.
- ↑ John Plunkett. "X Factor viewers complain over 'cruel' bootcamp twist". the Guardian.
- 1 2 "Karen Harding X Factor MNEK Debut Single 'Say Something' - Entertainment - Grazia Daily". Grazia Live.
- 1 2 Simon Duke (27 January 2015). "Consett singer Karen Harding heading for the top 10 with Say Something". nechronicle.
- 1 2 "The 405 meets Karen Harding". The 405.
- ↑ "iTunes - Music - Say Something - Single by Karen Harding". iTunes.
- ↑ Bradley Stern. ""Say Something" Video: Karen Harding Takes Over The Dance Floor". MuuMuse.
- ↑ "The Singles Jukebox".
- ↑ "PREMIERE: Karen Harding - "Say Something"". NOISEY.
- ↑ "Stream Wookie’s remix of newcomer Karen Harding’s ‘Say Something’".
- ↑ "Uptown Funk scores 7th week at Number 1". officialcharts.com.
- ↑ "BBC - Radio 1Xtra - Playlist". Radio 1Xtra.
- ↑ "BBC - Radio 1 - Playlist". Radio 1.
- ↑ "Premiere: Arches "New Love" ft Karen Harding - Wonderland Magazine". Wonderland Magazine.
- ↑ "VIDEO: Blonde Feat Karen Harding ‘Feel Good (It’s Alright)’ - Music - DropoutUK.com". Dropout UK.
- ↑ "Karen Harding". loveboxfestival.com.
- 1 2 "Karen Harding > UK Charts". Officialcharts.com/. Official Charts Company.
- 1 2 Hung, Steffen. "Discography Karen Harding". Irish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
- ↑ "Certified Awards Search" (To access, enter the search parameter "Karen Harding" and select "Search by Keyword"). British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
External links
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