Charlene Soraia

Charlene Soraia
Birth name	Charlene Soraia
Born	19 July (age 23) 1988 Sydenham, Lewisham, Greater London, United Kingdom
Origin	London
Genres	Acoustic, Pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter,
Instruments	Vocals, Guitars
Years active	2008—present
Labels	Peacefrog Records (2011-present)
Website	charlenesoraia.com

Charlene Soraia is a London-based singer-songwriter. She is known for her cover of "Wherever You Will Go" by The Calling, which was used in an advert for Twinings tea in the UK. It was released on iTunes for Digital download and reached a peak of number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. She is due to release her debut studio album, Moonchild in November 2011, which features "Wherever You Will Go" as a bonus track.

Early life

Born and raised in Sydenham, Lewisham in London, Charlene grew up with her parents. She first picked up her dad's guitar at the age of 5. Her father purchased a guitar for her and she taught herself to play. She was inspired by artists such as David Bowie, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and King Crimson, and was very interested in the prog-rock genre.

While still at school, Charlene used to appear at open mic night at The Studio, Beckenham, Kent around 2004, where her style and songwriting were still developing. She used the time before her performances to do her homework.

She was accepted into the BRIT School despite not having a GCSE in music, alongside future chart artists Adele and Kate Nash. While being there, she formed a rock band called Retrospect, with whom she released an EP entitled Long Hair, Short Memories. She also joined a psychedelic blues band called Electriq Mistress. At the same time she had a solo EP called "Lemonade" which was mainly created to get her gigs. She began performing as a solo artist in 2008, releasing further EPs Daffodils and Other Idylls (March 2008); Postcards from iO later in the year and third in the series, One of the Sun. The former reached the top of the UK Folk Chart on iTunes. An iTunes Live Sessions EP was also released after she performed at the festival in early 2008.

Career

Soraia became noticed by a mainstream audience in 2011 when her cover of "Wherever You Will Go" by The Calling was used in an advert for Twinings tea, and received further publicity when Sophie Habibis sang Charlene's version on The X Factor 2011. The song was subsequently released as a digital download on iTunes and reached number 2 on the UK Download Chart and number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. The original version of the song also re-entered the top 40 as a result. Her debut album Moonchild, featuring the song as a bonus track, will be released on 21 November 2011.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		UK
Moonchild	Released: 21 November 2011 Label: Peacefrog Records Formats: CD, digital download	—

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		UK [1]	IRE [2]
2011	"Wherever You Will Go"	3	20	Moonchild

References

1. ^ Charlene Soraia - Wherever You WIll Go (UK Singles Chart). The Official Charts Company.
2. ^ "GFK Chart-Track". chart-track.co.uk. http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p%2Fmusicvideo%2Fmusic%2Farchive%2Findex_test.jsp&ct=240001&arch=t&lyr=2011&year=2011&week=46. Retrieved 20 November 2011. 

External links

• Official website

Persondata
Name	Soraia, Charlene
Alternative names
Short description	London-based singer-songwriter
Date of birth
Place of birth	Sydenham, Lewisham, London, United Kingdom
Date of death
Place of death