Biography

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 released 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 Soraia grew up with her parents. She first picked up her father'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, Soraia used to appear at open mic night at The Studio, Beckenham, Bromley in London 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, Electriq Mistress. At the same time she released a solo EP, "Lemonade", which was mainly created to get her bookings. 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 Soraia'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, was released on 21 November 2011. On 10 January 2013, Soraia released the video for her new song "Ghost" to promote the release of her album "love is the law"

Personal life

Soraia has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, specifically stating that she suffers from cyclothymia. which she describes as a less severe form of bipolar disorder. [..] I wrote [a song on the LP called] 'Bipolar' and it came out really upbeat and funny despite the fact I was actually in pieces. [...]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

This biography is from Wikipedia, the free collaborative encyclopedia. Used under licence and subject to disclaimers. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors, and recent changes might not appear just yet. See the latest version of the article.

More from Charlene Soraia

Image from Discogs