Guy Sebastian

Infobox musical artist


Name = Guy Sebastian
Img_size =
Img_capt =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Guy Theodore Sebastian
Born = birth date and age|1981|10|26
Origin = Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
Genre = See Style section
Occupation = Singer-songwriter
Years_active = 2003–present
Label = Sony BMG (2003–present)
URL = [http://www.guysebastian.com.au/ Official Website]

Guy Theodore Sebastian (born October 26, 1981) is an Australian, singer-songwriter and winner of the first "Australian Idol" television talent competition quest in 2003. Since winning the competition, he has released four top four albums and seven top twenty singles and has sold over a million albums and singles in Australia alone. He has also had substantial success overseas with number one hits in New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore. He had collaborated with Filipina singer Sarah Geronimo during MTV Awards where they both received awards respectively.

Sebastian has sold 1.2 million records worldwide.

Biography

Born in Malaysia, he moved to Adelaide, South Australia as a child. After moving to Adelaide, he attended school at King's Baptist Grammar School. He also attended the Paradise Community Church, one of the largest in Australia with over 6,000 people in attendance, associated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of God. While at Paradise, he was a regular worship singer for the church appearing on a number of their albums including "Adore" in 2004 and "Set Me Free" 2005. He also sang with the then Paradise Community Church youth conference Planetshakers at their annual conferences held at Paradise church, and sang on 1 of their albums in 2001. Sebastian never had any formal voice training but was influenced by artists such as Stevie Wonder, Ben E. King, Prince and Al Green.

After giving up University studies to concentrate on music, and while working as a recording engineer and a singing teacher, he decided to enter "Australian Idol" establishing a fanbase and winning praise from the judges, who also made reference to his afro hairstyle, which became a focal part of his image. The final of "Australian Idol" in which he competed against Shannon Noll was the most popular program broadcast in Australia during 2003 and the second most popular non-sporting broadcast in Australian television history.

In "World Idol", he sang "What a Wonderful World", a song originally recorded by Louis Armstrong which is also on the "Australian Idol Final 12" CD and his debut album "Just As I Am". He was ranked 7th out of the 11 competitors. There were questions over his song selection for the competition as his new arrangement of "What a Wonderful World" was an unusual version of a classic. However, during the competition series it had been feted as a brilliant arrangement. He was planning to use his rendition of Prince's "When Doves Cry", but there were legal issues with that choice.

The following lists Sebastian's "Australian Idol" performances.

# Adelaide Audition - "Ribbon in the Sky" - (Stevie Wonder)
# Top 100 - "Back at One" - (Brian McKnight)
# Top 75 - "Over the Rainbow" - (Harold Arlen/E. Y. Harburg) Originally recorded by Judy Garland.
# Semi Final Group 2 - "What a Wonderful World" - (Bob Thiele/George David Weiss) Originally recorded by Louis Armstrong.
# Top 12 (70's) - "The Love You Save" - (Jackson Five)
# Top 10 (#1 Hits) - "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" - (Bryan Adams)
# Top 8 (Aussie Hits) - "You’re the Voice" - (John Farnham)
# Top 6 (80's) - "When Doves Cry" - (Prince)
# Up, Close & Personal - "When I Get You Alone" - (Robin Thicke)
# Top 5 (R&B/Soul) - "Hidden Agenda" - (Craig David)
# Top 5 (R&B/Soul) - "Hello" - (Lionel Richie)
# Top 4 (Big Band) - "The Way You Look Tonight" - (Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields) Originally recorded by Fred Astaire. Popularised by Frank Sinatra.
# Top 4 (Big Band) - "Hit the Road Jack" - (Percy Mayfield) Originally recorded by Ray Charles.
# Top 3 (60's) - "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" - (Bob Crewe/Bob Gaudio) Originally recorded by Frankie Valli.
# Top 3 (60's) - "Climb Every Mountain" - (Rodgers and Hammerstein) Originally recorded by Julie Andrews.
# Top 2 - "I'll Be There" - (Jackson Five)
# Top 2 - "Crazy in Love" - (Beyoncé Knowles)
# Grand Final Performance - "Angels Brought Me Here" – "Declared 1st Australian Idol"

Recording career

2003-2004 "Just As I Am"

After winning "Australian Idol", BMG signed up Guy Sebastian for a record before Christmas, 2003. His first single "Angels Brought Me Here" debuted at #1 on the ARIA Charts. It set an Australian record for the highest first week single sales from a debut and Australian artist. Only the Princess Diana tribute by Elton John sold more singles in its first week of release in Australia. It was certified four times platinum selling in excess of 280,000 copies, although only a limited edition. The album was produced quite quickly in order to be ready for Christmas, however Guy managed to get three of his own songs recorded on the album alongside those provided for him.

"Just as I Am" was released in December 2003 and debuted at number one on the charts and became the best selling album in Australia during the Summer of 2003. It went onto become certified platinum six times (the highest selling album of any Idol graduate to date).

The second single "All I Need Is You", unlike "Angels Brought Me Here", was actually written by Guy himself, and also debuted at number one in the Australian charts. In a message posted on his website, Sebastian said "I think the credibility in having your own stuff makes you an artist. Credibility is what I've always strived for and I couldn't imagine my first record not having one of my songs on it." He also wrote "I 4 U" and "Something Don't Feel Right" on the album.

His first single "Angels Brought Me Here" reached No. 1 in 4 Asian countries and New Zealand, whilst "All I Need is You" reached no. 2 in Malaysia and No. 5 in New Zealand. He was invited to sing the single as a guest at American Idol in 2004, singing "Angels Brought Me Here" (2005 winner Carrie Underwood sang this song as well). "Kryptonite" also reached Malaysia in 2005 but management never pursued any overseas releases of any later songs.

2004-2005 "Beautiful Life"

In October 2004, Sebastian released "Beautiful Life", his second album. This album gave audiences a clearer perspective on his work without the weight of "Australian Idol" on his shoulders. The album had a more R&B edge to it including a duet with American R&B singer, Mýa. The first single off the album, "Out with My Baby" which was released a few weeks before, which debut at #1 on the ARIA Charts. The follow up singles were both Top 15 successes with "Kryptonite", his second single peaking at #15 and his third single "Oh Oh" reaching #11.

Sebastian has also featured on some of the latest Paradise community church albums of 2004 and 2005 and co-wrote Adore, the title track of the 2004 album.

In early 2005, Sebastian continued to tour although some appearances were cancelled, such as an appearance at the 2005 Sydney Royal Easter Show, due to losing his voice. However, despite this he fulfilled obligations at the Telstra Dome for a children's show and also with Franklin Graham. He resumed his tour in late May and early June 2005.

Guy Sebastian performed at the 20th Anniversary SAFM Sky Show in Adelaide in front of well over approximately 150,000 people along with Slinkee Minx. This was one of the largest open air concerts held in Australia in 2005.

In 2005 he won several Nickelodeon Awards, including Favourite Aussie.

2006 "Closer to the Sun"

On September 16, 2006, Guy released "Taller, Stronger, Better", the first single from his third album "Closer to the Sun". Prior to its release, he performed the song on the Top 24 show of the fourth season of "Australian Idol". The single debuted at #3 on the ARIA charts. Sebastian had stated that the album would be more rock-orientated. Some tracks that appear on the album were premiered at the free concert at Federation Square on the 27th of September. Those tracks were "Out of Place", "Elevator Love" and "Can't Stop a River".

Sebastian won the publicly voted Fave Aussie gong at the 2006 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards in Sydney, for the second year in succession; he also performed a brand new song, "Elevator Love", earlier in the night and was presented with the award by Bindi Irwin. The song was his second single from his third album, released in December. The album debuted at #4 on the ARIA Album charts and was certified platinum status after a few weeks. He performed "Cover on My Heart" in the TV program "It Takes Two" in 2007, which later became his third single from the album. A music video was shot for the single in June 2007, [ [http://www.guysebastian.com.au/newsEvents/home.do?newsId=20030829004639 Watch Guy Sebastian's New Vid 'Cover On My Heart'] . Retrieved on June 14, 2007] with a physical single release on July 28. [ [http://www.sonybmg.com.au/cd/releaseDetails.do?catalogueNo=88697090262 Cover On My Heart] . Sony BMG Australia. Retrieved on July 14, 2007]

2007 "The Memphis Album"

In August, 2007, Guy Sebastian recorded a tribute album of soul classics at Ardent Studios in Memphis, TN with many of the original Stax music band members including Duck Dunn, Lester Snell, Steve Potts and Steve Cropper (a.k.a. Booker T. and the MGs). Steve Cropper also produced the record. With Steve Greenwell mixing. The critically acclaimed recording was released on November 10 2007. It debuted at no. 3 on the Australian charts and was soon certified Triple Platinum. The original Stax band artists toured a successful tour with Sebastian in February/March, 2008.One of the Melbourne concerts was filmed and a live DVD/CD entitled The Memphis Tour was released on May 3, 2008. The CD and DVD features the audio and video from his gig live at The Palms, Melbourne. In addition to the live recordings is a 20 minute documentary 'On A Dusty Road' which explores the making of the album filmed in Memphis during the recording process.

Other projects

Asian Idol

Dec 16, 2007 was a guest star on the first Asian Idol show held in Jakarta, Indonesia. He performed an "Angels Brought Me Here" duet with Indonesian Idol Mike Mohede and a medley from The Memphis Album .

World Vision

In 2005, Sebastian was appointed Ambassador for World Vision. In August of that year he visited Uganda to shoot a documentary "An Idol in Africa" for a Network Ten television special which was broadcast on December 3 2005. He highlighted the issues of poverty and civil war and its effect on the population.

It Takes Two

In 2006 Sebastian was a performer on the Seven Network's weekly musical competition program, "It Takes Two", in which performers from non-musical fields are teamed with professional singers, to perform a duet each week. A panel of four judges score each performance, and viewers vote by phone or SMS for their favourite duet. Guy Sebastian's partner was three-time Australian Olympic swimmer Sarah Ryan.

On 30 July, the celebrities chose a song that their partners were famous for. Sarah Ryan chose Sebastian's debut hit "Angels Brought Me Here" to perform on the night. On 6 August, they participated in the final of the competition where they were the runners up, behind Erika Heynatz and David Hobson.

Sebastian also performed "Taller, Stronger, Better" from his third album, which received enormous public accolade which encouraged Sony to launch it as his first single off his 3rd album.

World Youth Day

In May 2007, it was reported that Sebastian's song "Receive the Power" had been chosen as official anthem for the Roman Catholic Church's XXIII World Youth Day (WYD08) to be held in Sydney in 2008. The song was written by Guy Sebastian and also features the vocals of Paulini.http://www.zenit.org/article-19649?l=english"Australian Idol Wrote World Youth Day Anthem", retrieved on May 25, 2008] The song has been released in two versions, one in English and an international version with the chorus in English and verses in Italian, Spanish and French. http://www.wyd2008.org/index.php/en/pilgrims_registration/song"The World Youth Day 2008 song, Receive the Power", retrieved on May 25, 2008]

Personal life

Sebastian is a devout Christian and has been open about this with the public.http://www.tenmotorsport.com.au/ten/2510.html"Guy Sebastian - Video Hits", retrieved on May 25, 2008] In late 2007 after eight years of courtship he and girlfriend Julie Egan became engaged. They were married in Manly, Sydney on 17 May 2008.http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23715607-662,00.html"Guy idolises his new wife", retrieved on May 25, 2008]

tyle

Though he is mainly classified as pop, the genre Guy Sebastian's music belongs to is often disputed. This is because he performs in a wide range of genres including ballad (such Angels Brought Me Here, Kryptonite and Taller, Stronger, Better), dance-funk (such as Out with My Baby), rock (such as Elevator Love), soul (such as All I Need Is You), piano pop (such as Cover on My Heart) and R&B (such as Oh Oh).

Discography

*2003: "Just as I Am"
*2004: "Beautiful Life"
*2006: "Closer to the Sun"
*2007: "The Memphis Album"
*2008: "The Memphis Tour CD+DVD"

Awards and recognition

References

External links

* [http://www.guysebastian.com.au/ Guy's Official Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/guysebastian/ Guy's Myspace page]
*
* [http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/may/08/guy-visits-coast/ An Interview with Guy]
* [http://www.take40.com/artist/Guy%20Sebastian/ Take 40 Artist Profile]
* [http://www.life.on.net/audio.htm Guy Sebastian interview]
* [http://www.planetshakers.com/ Planetshakers - Guy Sebastian's ex-band]
* [http://www.paradise.asn.au/ Paradise Community Church - Guy Sebastian's Church]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s1218851.htm Transcript of "Compass" episode profiling Guy Sebastian's Church]
* [http://au.yahoo.com/it-takes-two/ "It Takes Two"]
* [http://blog.who.com/whosays/australian_idol/index.html WHO.com Idol Blog]