Natasha Hamilton

Natasha Hamilton
Natasha Hamilton in concert in Poland (2005)
Background information
Birth name	Natasha Maria Hamilton
Born	17 July 1982 (1982-07-17) (age 29)
Origin	Liverpool, England
Genres	Pop, R&B
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, actress, dancer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1999–present
Associated acts	Atomic Kitten
Website	natashahamilton.biz

Natasha Maria Hamilton (born 17 July 1982)^[1] is a British singer-songwriter, dancer and occasional stage actress. She was a member of Atomic Kitten from 1999 to 2008.

Early life and career

Hamilton was born in Liverpool, to a father of White Scottish and Black African heritage and a White English mother. She grew up in Kensington, Liverpool, and started singing and performing from the age of 12 in the Starlight Show Group.^[2] Hamilton also attended St. Sebastians Catholic Primary School, and then Broughton Hall Technology College, both situated in her home town of Liverpool. Hamilton says she was inspired by Marvin Gaye, Barry White and Quincy Jones.^[3] After Heidi Range left the early incarnation of Atomic Kitten, Hamilton was offered the opportunity to replace her and joined in May 1999.

Hamilton decided to take her baby with her on the 2003 tour with Atomic Kitten. However, the group decided to take a lengthy break following the tour. Although they have not made a new album together since 2003, the group reform occasionally for one-off performances.

In 2003 Hamilton was winner of the annual Rear of the Year award.^[4]

After taking time away from music to raise her son, Hamilton made a return to music after appearing on the BBC1 television show, Just the Two of Us, which paired celebrities with recording artists to compete in a duet singing showdown. Eight couples competed before a panel of judges and the voting public. Hamilton was paired with Mark Moraghan, famous for his portrayal of Doctor Owen Davies in Holby City, and the pair came second. They performed classic songs like "Over the Rainbow" and "Do You Love Me".

Solo career (2006–present)

Hamilton has reportedly been working on solo material in recent years, though nothing has been released as yet. She has been co-writing with Christopher and Anthony Griffiths, Ciaron Bell, among others. Hamilton, under the name "Tash", has also recorded a track with Mischa Daniels called "Round and Round (Take Me Higher)", which samples Crystal Waters' "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)". The track has been included on the Ministry of Sound compilation Housexy: The Afterparty.

On 8 May 2009, in an interview given to the Daily Mirror, Hamilton stated that her first solo single was likely to be "Ms. Emotional", a ballad she recorded in the United States last year. In the interview she stated that the album would be released 'around' October 2009.^[5] In November 2009, Hamilton appeared on Celebrity Come Dine With Me. Natasha shot the video for 'Ms Emotional' on 30 January 2010 but had to put the release on hold to focus on her third pregnancy.

Hamilton made her pantomime debut when she played the title role in Peter Pan at the Liverpool Empire. It ran from 7 December 2009 until 3 January 2010.^[6]

She has now taken over the role of Ms Johnstone in the West End production of Blood Brothers.

Charity work

Since 29 June 2006, Hamilton has embarked on a road safety campaign with Brum and Minister Stephen Ladyman in order to make the streets safer for children under six years old. When Hamilton was just three years old, she survived being hit by a car and is therefore passionate about making the roads safer for children.^[7]

In March 2008 she was one of the many celebrities to be given the title of Yummy Mummy by the UK media.^[8] This was used by UK baby charity Tommy’s in a campaign called ‘Give Babies a Helping Hand’.

On 1 November 2008 Hamilton appeared on TV show, All Star Family Fortunes with her husband, dad, sister and uncle.^[9] She won £10,000 for the charity Marie Curie.

Personal life

Hamilton dated Fran Cosgrave, nightclub owner and former bodyguard of Westlife. She announced in April 2002 that she was pregnant, but she had no intention of leaving the group and wanted the scheduled 2002 tour to continue. She was featured in the video "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)" with her last duty being the 2002 Party in the Park^{[10][unreliable source?]} before finally going on maternity leave. On 24 August 2002 she gave birth to a boy, Josh Cosgrave. However, Hamilton and Cosgrave ended their relationship shortly afterwards.

On 31 December 2004, Hamilton gave birth to her second son, Harry Hatcher, whose father is dancer Gavin Hatcher. In July 2005, Hamilton and Hatcher split up and she briefly returned to live with Cosgrave.^{[11][dead link]} By February 2006, they had split for a second time.^{[12][not in citation given]}

On 27 September 2006, Hamilton announced her engagement to Riad Erraji. The couple married on 23 November 2007 at Crewe Hall Hotel with both Jenny Frost and Liz McClarnon present. Hamilton has since said that Kerry Katona was not invited to the wedding as the two of them have drifted too far apart.^[13] In January 2008, Hamilton found out she was expecting her third child, but she miscarried after six weeks.^[14] On 14 June 2010, Natasha gave birth to her third son, Alfie Riad Erraji.

Discography

Main article: Atomic Kitten discography

References

1. ^ Local Pop Star Turns On Christmas Lights
2. ^ BBC Liverpool: Natasha Hamilton interview 2005/06/15 (Accessed: 29 November 2006)
3. ^ BBC: Just the Two of Us (Accessed 30 July 2006)
4. ^ "History of Event". Rear of the Year. http://www.rearoftheyearcompetition.com/history.html. Retrieved 30 December 2009. 
5. ^ Ex-Atomic Kitten Natasha Hamilton talks Kerry Katona, Susan Boyle and her debut solo album – video
6. ^ http://www.whatsonstage.com/interviews/theatre/northwest/E8831253533924/+Natasha+Hamilton++On...Peter+Pan.html
7. ^ Natasha Hamilton's official site – News section (Accessed 29 July 2006)
8. ^ http://www.southportreporter.com/334/334-8.shtml Newspaper quote, "..yummy mummies.."
9. ^ UK-TVGuide.com
10. ^ Fun trivia: Atomic Kitten (Accessed 29 July 2006)
11. ^ http://strictmochine.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html Strict Mochine
12. ^ HighBeem.com
13. ^ "Kerry's Wedding Snub". Sunday Mirror. 13 May 2007. http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/showbiz/showbiznews/tm_headline=exclusive%2D-kitten%2Ds-wedding-snub-to-kerry%26method=full%26objectid=19094656%26siteid=98487-name_page.html. Retrieved 17 May 2007. 
14. ^ Celebritybabyscoop.com – Natasha Hamilton Suffers Miscarriage (Accessed 11 October 2009)

External links

• Official website
• Natasha Hamilton on Myspace
• Natasha Hamilton at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Hamilton, Natasha
Alternative names	Hamilton, Natasha Maria; Tash
Short description	English singer, songwriter
Date of birth	1982-07-17
Place of birth	Liverpool, Merseyside
Date of death
Place of death