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| Birth Name(s) : Kate Tunstall |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Musician |
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Full KT Tunstall Biography
Kate "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer and songwriter. She broke into the public eye with a performance on Later with Jools Holland of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree". She has enjoyed commercial and critical success since, selling over 4 million albums and picking up three BRIT Awards and a Grammy nomination.
Tunstall was born in Edinburgh on 23 June 1975, and was adopted eighteen days later. Her birth mother had been born in Edinburgh to a Chinese mother and a Scottish father. KT's birth father, whom she has never met, is Irish. Her adoptive father was a physics lecturer at the University of St Andrews, and her adoptive mother a school teacher. Tunstall's family also included an older brother named Joe and a younger brother named Daniel.
Throughout her twenties, she mostly played in independent bands including Elia Drew and Tomoko, and focused on songwriting. She toured with the Klezmer band Oi Va Voi, and featured on their debut album, Laughter Through Tears. Her debut album, Eye to the Telescope, was released in late 2004. Tunstall's style of music varies from folk to pop. In Edinburgh and St Andrews, she played in a band called Red Light Stylus, which was regarded as one of the better bands to emerge from the limited Fife scene.
Tunstall's first appearance of note was a solo performance of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later with Jools Holland. The performance was notable as she had only 24 hours to prepare after scheduled performer Nas cancelled. Her performance caught the eye of many viewers, upstaging more established acts such as The Cure, Embrace, and The Futureheads; she then went on to top the post-show poll on the website for that episode.
Shortly after the "Later" appearance, Eye to the Telescope was re-released and shot up the UK charts, eventually peaking at #3 (on its first release it had entered at #73); it was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize. It was released in the U.S. on February 7, 2006.
Tunstall released a new acoustic album in May 2006, KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza, which was first only available via mail order from her website. The album was re-released in stores worldwide in October 2006.
Since her debut appearance on Later with Jools Holland, she has returned to the show to perform "Suddenly I See," "Under the Weather," "Tangled up in Blue" (she performed the same song, as well as "Simple Twist of Fate" and "This Wheel's on Fire" on a BBC 4 Bob Dylan tribute), and an Ella Fitzgerald song ("Ain't Misbehavin'" by Fats Waller) with Jools Holland on piano.
She ended 2005 on Hogmanay by performing at Edinburgh's Concert in the Gardens alongside Scottish band Texas, being broadcast on BBC Scotland's Hogmanay Live show also. Tunstall said prior to that performance that "This is the gig of a lifetime... This Hogmanay party is probably the best-known and best-loved in the world, and I've been here a few times over the years dreaming of being the one entertaining the crowds. Until we're on that stage I won't believe we're allowed on it."
On January 22, 2006, she was awarded a European Border Breakers Award, which awards the top-selling EU artists, discounting sales in their home state (in this case, discounting UK sales). Also, in 2006 she won the Ivor Novello Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Suddenly I See" along with Scottish Style Awards "Most Stylish Band or Musician - Interview here."
She received a 2007 Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", but the award went to Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man."
Tunstall appears on the Sophie Solomon song "Lazarus", on the album Poison Sweet Madeira, and provided guest vocals for three tracks, "Ladino Song," "Refugee," and "Yesterday's Mistake," on the Oi Va Voi album Laughter Through Tears (2003). She has also performed "Get Ur Freak On" by Missy Elliott, "Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead and The Prayer by Bloc Party at Live Lounge. Tunstall's seventh single, "Another Place to Fall," featured a cover of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees". She appears in the 2006 album Wave of the Japanese singer Yuki, where she wrote "Yume Miteitai" and "Birthday".
Excerpts from other tracks were subsequently used in Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, and Will & Grace. The singer's breakthrough hit "Suddenly I See" was used in the opening scene of the 2006 fashion satire The Devil Wears Prada.
"Suddenly I See" was also used as a backing track on the first series of American dance competition show So You Think You Can Dance and was featured in the September 2007 Next television advert 'Ali's Party'.
Even though Tunstall has expressed her gratitude to her gay and lesbian following in an interview with a daily newspaper, and wore a pair of rainbow patterned braces on her record cover, despite rumours otherwise, she is not a lesbian.
Since 2003, Tunstall has been dating Luke Bullen, the drummer in her band. She has indicated her intention to live in Edinburgh with Bullen.
In April 2007, Tunstall underwent surgery to address a problem with her kidney, which was undersized due to an infection during her childhood.
Video:
- "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" for Austin City Limits (PBS)
- Austin City Limits interview (PBS)
- CBS Sunday Morning interview: Scotland, her home town, parents, and getting started 2007/09/16 (CBS)
- K.T. Tunstall Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos |
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