Catherine Porter
Encyclopedia
Catherine Porter is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She is a former member of The Brian May Band and has appeared in several musicals and films. To date, Porter has released one album of solo material, Something Good
, in 2002, and has also worked as a backing singer for the likes of Queen
, Tony Hadley
, Edwin Starr
, Kiki Dee
, Paul Rodgers
, Sam Moore
, Mel B and Chaka Khan
.
in The Music Of Andrew Lloyd Webber
, before being asked by Brian May
, to join his backing band on an American tour supporting Guns N' Roses
. She later retained the role on the UK leg of the tour, and appeared on both the 1993 live album Live At The Brixton Academy
and his later 1998 solo record Another World
. Porter also sang backing vocals on the 1995 Queen track "Let Me Live
".
Her work with Brian brought Catherine to London, which became her home for the following decade. She appeared in the West End
in such plays as Only the Lonely
, Sunset Boulevard
(opposite John Barrowman
and later Hugh Jackman
), Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens
and Ben Elton
's Tonight's The Night
.
, with two songs shortlisted. Her composition "The Answer" was elmininated in a radio semi-final, but "Crazy" was selected for the TV heats. She failed to win the bid, losing out to Nikki French, who went on to finish 16th at the Eurovision final.
Throughout this period, Porter wrote songs and even at one point, provided jingles for BBC Radio 2
, before landing a deal with Jive Records
. However, after the release of one single and album
, Catherine parted ways with Jive. After relocating back to New York, getting married and becoming a mother, she recorded an album of standards with James Pearson, released as Gems for Ruby on the Swing Cafe label. One of the tracks is a cover of Queen
's "Somebody to Love
", featuring Brian May
, which was released as a single.
She is also working on new material.
On December 13, 2010, she will join the cast of the Broadway production of Next to Normal as the standby for Diana.
and Batman Begins
. She also performed the title song for the BBC television sitcom All About Me
.
In 2001, she appeared on stage with the comedian Rich Hall
, singing three tracks with his character Otis Lee Crenshaw - a performance released on DVD, VHS and audio CD.
Singles
The Brian May Band
Guest Appearances
Something Good (album)
Something Good is the debut full length studio album by the singer songwriter Catherine Porter. Recorded at Battery Studios, Westside Studios & Fort Studios, all in London, the album is mostly composed by Catherine with producer Kevin Melpass, though it also includes several cover versions...
, in 2002, and has also worked as a backing singer for the likes of Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, Tony Hadley
Tony Hadley
Tony Hadley is an English pop singer-songwriter, occasional stage actor and radio presenter who gained celebrity as the lead vocalist for the 1980s band Spandau Ballet.-Early life:...
, Edwin Starr
Edwin Starr
Edwin Starr was an American soul music singer. Starr is most famous for his Norman Whitfield produced singles of the 1970s, most notably the number one hit "War".-Biography:...
, Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee is an English singer with a career spanning more than 40 years....
, Paul Rodgers
Paul Rodgers
Paul Bernard Rodgers is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with...
, Sam Moore
Sam Moore
Samuel David Moore is an American Southern Soul and Rhythm & Blues singer who was the tenor vocalist for the soul vocal duo Sam & Dave from 1961 through 1981...
, Mel B and Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
.
Early career
Her first big job was touring with Michael CrawfordMichael Crawford
Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
in The Music Of Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
, before being asked by Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
, to join his backing band on an American tour supporting Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
. She later retained the role on the UK leg of the tour, and appeared on both the 1993 live album Live At The Brixton Academy
Live at the Brixton Academy (Brian May album)
Live at the Brixton Academy is a recording of The Brian May Band's first show in London on June 15 1993. The album was released on CD, LP and VHS in 1994, and remains the group's only release as a collective....
and his later 1998 solo record Another World
Another World (Brian May album)
Another World is the second full studio album delivered by Queen guitarist, Brian May. Recorded at his home studio after the completion of the last Queen album, Made in Heaven, the album was released in the UK on 1 June 1998 and on 15 September of that year in the US. The album itself started life...
. Porter also sang backing vocals on the 1995 Queen track "Let Me Live
Let Me Live
"Let Me Live" is a song by Queen, from the album Made in Heaven. Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and Brian May share lead vocals, with Mercury singing the first verse, Taylor singing the second and May singing the last...
".
Her work with Brian brought Catherine to London, which became her home for the following decade. She appeared in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
in such plays as Only the Lonely
Only the Lonely
"Only the Lonely " is a 1960 song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. Recorded by Orbison, it became his first major hit. As an operatic rock ballad, it was a sound unheard of at the time, described by the New York Times as expressing "a clenched, driven urgency". It is seen as a seminal event...
, Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard (musical)
Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the...
(opposite John Barrowman
John Barrowman
John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...
and later Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
), Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens
Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens
Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens is a cult science fiction musical reminiscent of The Rocky Horror Show. The 2006 West End run starred Faye Tozer and was choreographed by Bruno Tonioli...
and Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....
's Tonight's The Night
Tonight's The Night (2003 musical)
Tonight's the Night is a "compilation musical" by comedian Ben Elton, based on the music of Rod Stewart. It opened in October 2003 at the Victoria Palace Theatre, and ran for just over a year...
.
Recent career
In 2000, she attempted to become the United Kingdom's entry into the Eurovision Song ContestEurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
, with two songs shortlisted. Her composition "The Answer" was elmininated in a radio semi-final, but "Crazy" was selected for the TV heats. She failed to win the bid, losing out to Nikki French, who went on to finish 16th at the Eurovision final.
Throughout this period, Porter wrote songs and even at one point, provided jingles for BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, before landing a deal with Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
. However, after the release of one single and album
Something Good (album)
Something Good is the debut full length studio album by the singer songwriter Catherine Porter. Recorded at Battery Studios, Westside Studios & Fort Studios, all in London, the album is mostly composed by Catherine with producer Kevin Melpass, though it also includes several cover versions...
, Catherine parted ways with Jive. After relocating back to New York, getting married and becoming a mother, she recorded an album of standards with James Pearson, released as Gems for Ruby on the Swing Cafe label. One of the tracks is a cover of Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's "Somebody to Love
Somebody to Love (Queen song)
"Somebody to Love" is a song by British rock band Queen. Written by lead vocalist and pianist Freddie Mercury, the track featured on their 1976 album A Day at the Races, and also appears on the band's compilation album, Greatest Hits...
", featuring Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
, which was released as a single.
She is also working on new material.
On December 13, 2010, she will join the cast of the Broadway production of Next to Normal as the standby for Diana.
Other works
Catherine has also made brief excursions into films, making cameo appearances in Die Another DayDie Another Day
Die Another Day is the 20th spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale...
and Batman Begins
Batman Begins
Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,...
. She also performed the title song for the BBC television sitcom All About Me
All About Me
All About Me is a British television sitcom starring Jasper Carrott about a multicultural family living in Birmingham. It was broadcast on BBC One from 2002 to 2004...
.
In 2001, she appeared on stage with the comedian Rich Hall
Rich Hall
Richard "Rich" Hall is an American comedian, writer and musician.-Early life and career:Hall was born in Alexandria, Virginia and grew up in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He is part Cherokee Indian...
, singing three tracks with his character Otis Lee Crenshaw - a performance released on DVD, VHS and audio CD.
Discography
Albums- 2002: Something GoodSomething Good (album)Something Good is the debut full length studio album by the singer songwriter Catherine Porter. Recorded at Battery Studios, Westside Studios & Fort Studios, all in London, the album is mostly composed by Catherine with producer Kevin Melpass, though it also includes several cover versions...
- 2009: Gems for Ruby
Singles
- 2002: "She's So CoolShe's So CoolShe's So Cool was the only single release by the singer songwriter Catherine Porter for Jive Records. Released in 2002, it contained the non album track Blame, plus the fan favourite Crazy...
" - 2009: "Somebody to LoveSomebody to Love (Queen song)"Somebody to Love" is a song by British rock band Queen. Written by lead vocalist and pianist Freddie Mercury, the track featured on their 1976 album A Day at the Races, and also appears on the band's compilation album, Greatest Hits...
" (QueenQueen (band)Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
cover), featuring Brian MayBrian MayBrian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
The Brian May Band
- 1993: Live At The Brixton AcademyLive at the Brixton Academy (Brian May album)Live at the Brixton Academy is a recording of The Brian May Band's first show in London on June 15 1993. The album was released on CD, LP and VHS in 1994, and remains the group's only release as a collective....
album and VHS - 1998: Another WorldAnother World (Brian May album)Another World is the second full studio album delivered by Queen guitarist, Brian May. Recorded at his home studio after the completion of the last Queen album, Made in Heaven, the album was released in the UK on 1 June 1998 and on 15 September of that year in the US. The album itself started life...
, backing vocals on On My Way Up
Guest Appearances
- 1994: Roger TaylorRoger Meddows-TaylorRoger Meddows Taylor , known as Roger Taylor, is a British musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the drummer, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of British rock band Queen. As a drummer he is known for his "big" unique sound and is considered one of...
, Happiness?Happiness?Happiness? is the third album by the English musician Roger Taylor. It was his first album since Queen's 1991 album Innuendo, and his first solo album since 1984's Strange Frontier-Track listing:...
- backing vocals on Old Friends - 1995: QueenQueen (band)Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, Made in HeavenMade in HeavenMade in Heaven is the fifteenth studio album by British rock group Queen and the final one to feature lead singer Freddie Mercury and bassist John Deacon, released on 6 November 1995...
- backing vocals on Let Me LiveLet Me Live"Let Me Live" is a song by Queen, from the album Made in Heaven. Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and Brian May share lead vocals, with Mercury singing the first verse, Taylor singing the second and May singing the last... - 2001: Otis Lee Crenshaw & The Black LiarsRich HallRichard "Rich" Hall is an American comedian, writer and musician.-Early life and career:Hall was born in Alexandria, Virginia and grew up in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He is part Cherokee Indian...
, London not Tennessee - backing vocals on "Trailerland", "Conjugal Visit" and "Till The Cows Come Home"