- Melanie Blatt
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Melanie Blatt Background information Birth name Melanie Ruth Blatt Born 25 March 1975
Camden, London, EnglandGenres Soul, R&B Occupations Property Developer, Singer, Actress, Television personality Instruments Singing Years active 1993–2001, 2006-2010 (group), 2000-2005 (solo) Associated acts All Saints Melanie Ruth Blatt (born 25 March 1975) is a singer, actress, television personality and was a member of the multi-million selling girl group All Saints.[1] Following their split she launched a solo career.
Contents
Biography
Early life
Blatt was born at University College Hospital in the London Borough of Camden and is named after Melanie Safka. She has a French mother and an English father of Jewish descent[citation needed] whose ancestors were from Poland and Russia[2] and a younger sister named Jasmine. She was brought up in both the UK and France. In 1986, Blatt was diagnosed as having scoliosis. Since her parents were not satisfied with the treatment for the condition in the United Kingdom they decided to move to France, where a specialist inserted three metal rods in her back.
Blatt went to Fitzjohn's Primary School where her musical talent was immediately noticed by the head teacher David Joyne, who encouraged her parents to send her to a stage school. In 1986, she attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School where she met Nicole Appleton. The two girls became best friends. During this period, Blatt also played young Eponine in Les Misérables for six months, and was the understudy for Cosette together with fellow Sylvia Young student Denise van Outen.[3][unreliable source?]
Career
Main article: All Saints (group)In 1993, Blatt sang under the name Melanie Guillaume in the band Drive with Julienne Davis. They released one single, "Curfew", together.[4] She also did backing vocals for Dreadzone with Denise van Outen.[3] Later that year, Blatt met Shaznay Lewis at the Metamorphosis recording studio in All Saints Road, London. Together, with Simone Rainford, they formed the group All Saints 1.9.7.5 which was later renamed to All Saints when Rainford left and Nicole and Natalie Appleton joined Blatt and Lewis. In 2001, All Saints broke up and Blatt embarked on a solo career.
Solo career
Blatt's solo releases were of variable success; her most prominent being "TwentyFourSeven", a collaboration with The Artful Dodger, peaking at No 6 in September 2001 and the UK version of "I'm Leavin'" by Outsidaz on which she replaced Kelis. Her new album was being written and recorded with Matt Hales from Aqualung and featured "See Me", which was included on the Robots soundtrack (2005) and released on a single with matching video featuring footage from the movie and Melanie with her face covered in diamonds. During 2005, Blatt played small venues in the UK which featured songs from the album she was working on at the time and included unreleased songs like "In Your Arms," "I Don't Mind," "Now You're Gone," "No Lullaby" and "Love Sweet Love."[5]
On 24 January 2006, it was announced that All Saints had reformed with a new record contract and subsequently released a new album, Studio 1 on 13 November 2006.[6] Blatt's solo record was shelved in favour of the reunion.
Acting
In 2000, Blatt appeared in the critically panned film Honest directed by Dave Stewart opposite Nicole and Natalie Appleton and in 2001 she played a small, but memorable role in the independent British film Dog Eat Dog.
Current activities
She is currently co-hosting The Hot Desk for ITV mobile and ITV 2 - a music programme originally commissioned for mobile phones.
Personal life
Blatt gave birth to daughter Lilyella on 22 November 1998, the father of whom is Stuart Zender, one-time bassist with Jamiroquai. They broke up in early 2006.
Discography
Albums
"Shine" (unreleased)
- 1. "Love Sweet Love"
- 2. "I'm Leaving"
- 3. "I Don't Mind"
- 4. "No Lullaby"
- 5. "Who I Am"
- 6. "Wonderfully Mean"
- 7. "We Two"
- 8. "Now You're Gone"
- 9. "In Your Arms"
- 10. "Shine"
Singles
- "Do Me Wrong" (2003)
- "See Me" (2005)
Collaborations
- "Curfew" with Drive (1993)
- "TwentyFourSeven" with The Artful Dodger (2001)
- "I'm Leavin'" with Outsidaz and Rah Digga (2002)
- "Let's Get Nice" with K-Gee (2002)
- "Dreaming About Tomorrow" with Rupeski (2002)
- "Why Birds" with Mozez (2008)
References
- ^ "All Saints:Where It's At". BBC News:Word Edition. 2007-01-09. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1106842.stm. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- ^ The Guardian interview July 25, 2003 Accessed Jan 2, 2006
- ^ a b Biography All Saints A to Z Accessed Jan 2, 2006
- ^ Curfew featuring Guillaume and Melanie Accessed Aug 6, 2006
- ^ melanie-blatt.com Set-list given by Melanie's manager Accessed Jan 2, 2006
- ^ Contact music: All Saints confirm reunion Accessed: Aug 7, 2006
External links
- Melanie Blatt at the Internet Movie Database
- Melanie Blatt discography at Discogs
- Melanie Blatt at Allmusic
All Saints Studio Albums Compilations Singles "I Know Where It's At" • "Never Ever" • "Under the Bridge"/"Lady Marmalade" • "Bootie Call" • "War of Nerves" • "Pure Shores" • "Black Coffee" • "All Hooked Up" • "Rock Steady"Promotional Singles "Let's Get Started" • "Chick Fit"Related Articles Categories:- 1975 births
- Living people
- All Saints (group) members
- English female singers
- English film actors
- English pop singers
- English Jews
- People from Camden Town
- English people of French descent
- British people of Polish descent
- English people of Russian descent
- British people of Jewish descent
- Alumni of the Sylvia Young Theatre School
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