Tom Lowe (performer)

Infobox Musical artist

|
Name = Tom Lowe
Landscape =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Thomas Peter Lowe
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1978|4|23 Stockport, England, United Kingdom
Origin = Boston, Massachusetts, US
Los Angeles, California, US
Instrument = Vocals, Piano, Clarinet, Saxophone
Genre = Pop/Musical Theatre
Occupation = Actor and singer
Years_active = 1995—present
Label =
Associated_acts = North and South, Tommy and the Tigers.
URL = [http://www.myspace.com/tomlowe1 http://www.myspace.com/tomlowe1]
Notable_instruments =

Thomas Peter "Tom" Lowe (born April 23 1978 in Stockport, England) is an English-born singer and actor.

Biography

Early years

Lowe was born in Stockport, England to his parents, Peter and Margaret Lowe. He grew up in the village of Mellor, on the outskirts of Stockport and attended Mellor Primary School from 1982-1989 and Manchester Grammar School from 1989-1996, where he performed in many school plays. He sang in the church choir of St. Thomas's Mellor during his childhood and was runner up in the UK wide Choirboy of the Year competition while a chorister there. He also appeared on TV while at Primary school with fellow Mellor pupils on the children's show Umbrella, filmed at BBC Manchester.

Lowe's had a stint as a Take That backing singer during their 1995 UK tour. He was part of the male voice choir, named 'The Wanted Men', who sang behind the group in the encore, and specifically during the Number One hit single at that time 'Never Forget'.

North and South/No Sweat

Upon leaving school he joined the boyband North and South in the TV series "No Sweat" along with Lee Otter, James Hurst and Sam Chapman. Lowe played keyboard and saxophone as well as doing some backing vocals. Despite the hype behind the launch of the band, and the platform afforded by a dedicated children's TV series, record sales were disappointing and the group split up after two years.

West End

Lowe's next move was to audition for West End shows and he landed a lead role in "Les Miserables" as Marius. Equity rules meant that he had to go under the name of Tom Lucas during this time. Following a long and successful stint in "Les Mis", Lowe went on the star in "Cats" as Rum Tum Tugger.

Harvard and subsequent career in the US

He then decided to return to education having initially favoured a job in pop above a place at University when he left school. To this end he went to Harvard University in 2001 and majored in East Asian studies, graduating in 2005. As a result he is a fluent Mandarin speaker.

Lowe continues to reside in the United States, where he has been living for more than six years. In 2006, he presented internet TV productions for Tourism Massachusetts, [ [http://www.usamass.tv/ USAMass] , [http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=MassachusettsUSA] ] together with singing the "Star Spangled Banner" to a crowd of 30 thousand before a Boston Red Sox game. He is also the lead singer with the band Tommy and the Tigers.

American Idol

Lowe auditioned for "American Idol"'s sixth season in Seattle. It was first broadcast on UK Television channel ITV2 on 19 January 2007. In Hollywood group round, Lowe sang "How Deep Is Your Love" together with future Top 24 contestants Blake Lewis, Rudy Cardenas and Chris Sligh. They were in the same room together with Sligh on the final day of Hollywood round. He made it to the top 40, and was eliminated before the final 24, after Hollywood week. His age makes him ineligible to re-audition for future seasons.

Personal life

Lowe currently resides in Los Angeles, California to pursue both his music and entertainment career. He was also appeared as an audience member in American Idol (season 6) when Sanjaya Malakar performed Besame Mucho. He also became best friends with his longtime college friend from Harvard, BJ Averell who came from The Amazing Race 9. Lowe became the first expatriate to be appeared on American Idol before Season 7 finalists Michael Johns and Carly Smithson.

Current Projects

Lowe performs in "Les Miserables in Concert" at the Hollywood Bowl, on 8-10 August, playing the part of Enjolras.

References

External links

* [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/118085.html Tom Lowe in Les Miserables at the Hollywood Bowl]
* [http://www.myspace.com/tomlowe1 Tom Lowe's Myspace]
* [http://www.myspace.com/tomlowedown Tom Lowe's Music Myspace]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRDyGD94r8Q Tom Lowe's Audition Video]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKDzCaYRwoU Tom Lowe's American National Anthem]