Ronan Parke
Encyclopedia
Ronan David Parke is an English
singer from Poringland
, Norfolk
, UK
who came runner-up in the fifth series
of ITV show Britain's Got Talent
, despite being the bookies' favorite to win. After the show, it was reported that Ronan had signed a joint record deal with Sony Music. He released his debut album Ronan Parke
on the 24 October 2011.
, a village in Norfolk
. He has an older brother Declan, who is 15 years old. His family are close to the family of Norwich City player Bryan Gunn
, whose daughter helped Ronan put in his application form for Britain's Got Talent. Ronan had been taking singing lessons in his home town before getting the confidence to apply for the show.
Ronan attends Framingham Earl High School
.
, Michael McIntyre
and Louis Walsh
(who was filling in for David Hasselhoff
.) He performed "Feeling Good
" and before the song finished, the entire 2500-strong audience and three judges gave Ronan a standing ovation. He received rave reviews after his performance and received three "yes" votes and was through to the next round, with Walsh declaring that Ronan "is the one to beat". Following the airing of his audition on the third auditions show on 30 April 2011, Ronan quickly became the bookies favorite to win the show. Ronan was then shown being put through to the semi-finals a few weeks later.
Ronan performed for a second time during the semi-final on 30 May 2011, performing "Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan
. After his performance, he received praise from all four judges David Hasselhoff
(who was not present at Ronan's audition), McIntyre, Holden and Simon Cowell
, who was only judging the live finals. Parke received the highest public vote of the night and was automatically sent through to the final.
In the final on 4 June, Ronan performed "Because of You
" by Kelly Clarkson
and received a standing ovation from the audience and judges, and the judges once again gave him praise for his powerful rendition of the song. Louie Walsh, who was in the audience for the final, was referred to by Cowell and also praised Ronan saying “He’s made the hairs stand on the back of my neck.”. However, Ronan lost to eventual winner Jai McDowall
by a margin of 2.6% of the vote.
had been "grooming" Parke for two years before he auditioned on the show, but Cowell and Parke both denied having had any prior contact. Cowell said on the semi-final edition, aired 3 June 2011: "There have been allegations made ... on the internet, that Ronan Parke has a previous recording contract with my record label, that I'd met him before, both of which are complete and utter lies. The first time I met Ronan was when he appeared on the show, he entered it of his own accord. He is 12 years old, this is a deliberate smear campaign and it is my job as somebody who works on this show to make sure whoever this liar is, is exposed, and Ronan is treated the same way as everyone else and it will be the public who decides." Cowell had called in the police to assist him in locating the source of the story, who claimed to be from within Sony Music UK. The police investigation was later abandoned, with a spokesman for Scotland Yard implying that the allegation may have been a publicity stunt to boost the show's ratings.
In July 2011, the man responsible for the allegation apologized and revealed that he had fabricated his entire claim. He was cautioned by police following the matter, and was asked to apologise to Cowell. The matter was not going to be taken any further.
.
Ronan performed in the Britain's Got Talent Live Tour 2011, making appearances all throughout the UK. The tour opened on 12 June 2011 at Newcastle Metro Radio Arena and finished on 26 June at Bournemouth BIC. During the tour, Ronan sang all three of the songs that he performed on the show, collaborating with pianist Paul Gbegbaje for "Make You Feel My Love". It was reported that Ronan was going to get paid up to £30,000 for three performances on the tour, twice as much as the winner Jai McDowall
.
Ronan appeared at the Royal Norfolk Show on 30 June to greet fans and sign autographs. Ronan also performed at the Hamilton Park Racecourse
family night on 9 July, filling in for Joe McElderry
who was forced to pull out. Ronan performed for an audience of over 50,000 at T4 on the Beach
on 10 July, singing Cee Lo Green's "Forget You". He was introduced on the stage by David Hasselhoff.
It was reported by The Sun on 7 July 2011 that Ronan had finally been signed by Sony Music and another label as a joint contract. It has not yet been confirmed how much money the record deal is worth. Ronan's mother, Maggie, has hinted at the fact that his music may be released this year. Major retailers including Amazon
have started taking pre-orders for the record with a UK release date of 24 October.
On 28 July, Ronan uploaded a video to YouTube of him performing an acoustic cover of Lady Gaga
's "The Edge of Glory
", which has attracted media attention. His Facebook page states that a new video of Ronan singing an acoustic cover will be released every week as part of a three-part series called Ronan Sings. The second video was an acoustic cover of "Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan
, which was uploaded on 10 August. Amazon
also showed an exclusive video on the pre-order page of Ronan's debut album, of him performing an acoustic cover of "Forget You". A new video, of Ronan singing "Jar of Hearts
" by Christina Perri
was released on 6 September.
He also announced his first gig in his hometown of Norfolk
, and will perform at Potters Leisure Resort, Hopton-on-Sea
on two nights, 22 and 23 October. Ronan also performed at Xscape
in Castleford
, West Yorkshire
in August. Ronan performed "Forget You", "Ben" and "Smile" at the Michael Jackson
tribute show on 28 August at Blackpool Opera House.
Ronan announced on Facebook that "A Thousand Miles
", originally by Vanessa Carlton, will be the first single from the album and the music video was released on 14 September. The lyric video was posted onto YouTube on 2 September. The tracklisting of the album was also revealed on his Facebook account.
It was also reported that Gary Barlow
had penned a track for the album called Stronger Than I Am.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
singer from Poringland
Poringland
Poringland is a village in the constituency of South Norfolk, England. It covers an area of and had a population of 3,261 in 1,403 households as of the 2001 census....
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
who came runner-up in the fifth series
Britain's Got Talent (series 5)
The fifth series of Britain's Got Talent began on 16 April 2011 and ended on 4 June 2011. The winner of the show was Jai McDowall, who received £100,000 and a place at the 2011 Royal Variety Performance. The show was hosted by Ant & Dec on ITV, while Stephen Mulhern presented Britain's Got More...
of ITV show Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...
, despite being the bookies' favorite to win. After the show, it was reported that Ronan had signed a joint record deal with Sony Music. He released his debut album Ronan Parke
Ronan Parke (album)
Ronan Parke is the debut studio album by English singer Ronan Parke. It was released in the United Kingdom on 24 October 2011.-Concerts and Gigs:Parke had done many concerts and gigs throughout the year, after coming second in Britains Got Talent...
on the 24 October 2011.
Early and personal life
Ronan Parke was born to Maggie and Trevor Parke in PoringlandPoringland
Poringland is a village in the constituency of South Norfolk, England. It covers an area of and had a population of 3,261 in 1,403 households as of the 2001 census....
, a village in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. He has an older brother Declan, who is 15 years old. His family are close to the family of Norwich City player Bryan Gunn
Bryan Gunn
Bryan James Gunn is a Scottish former professional goalkeeper and football manager. After learning his trade with Aberdeen in the early 1980s, he spent most of his playing career at Norwich City, the club with which he came to be most closely associated...
, whose daughter helped Ronan put in his application form for Britain's Got Talent. Ronan had been taking singing lessons in his home town before getting the confidence to apply for the show.
Ronan attends Framingham Earl High School
Framingham Earl High School
Framingham Earl High School is located in Framingham Earl, Norfolk, England to the south of Norwich. It is a Secondary School with specialist Sports College status...
.
2011: Britain's Got Talent
Ronan auditioned for Britain's Got Talent in London in front of judges Amanda HoldenAmanda Holden
Amanda Louise Holden is an English actress and presenter. Among her roles are Mia Bevan in Cutting It, Sarah Trevanion in Wild at Heart, and the title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award...
, Michael McIntyre
Michael McIntyre
Michael Hazen James McIntyre is an English stand-up comedian. He is well known for appearing at many British stand-up comedy events and for several roles on television stand-up programmes such as Live at the Apollo and his own show, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow...
and Louis Walsh
Louis Walsh
Louis Walsh is an Irish music manager and judge on the British television talent show The X Factor.-Band manager:...
(who was filling in for David Hasselhoff
David Hasselhoff
David Michael Hasselhoff is an American actor, singer, producer and businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch...
.) He performed "Feeling Good
Feeling Good
"Feeling Good" is a song written by English singer-songwriters Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the 1965 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd starring Cy Grant, who sang the original version of the song...
" and before the song finished, the entire 2500-strong audience and three judges gave Ronan a standing ovation. He received rave reviews after his performance and received three "yes" votes and was through to the next round, with Walsh declaring that Ronan "is the one to beat". Following the airing of his audition on the third auditions show on 30 April 2011, Ronan quickly became the bookies favorite to win the show. Ronan was then shown being put through to the semi-finals a few weeks later.
Ronan performed for a second time during the semi-final on 30 May 2011, performing "Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. After his performance, he received praise from all four judges David Hasselhoff
David Hasselhoff
David Michael Hasselhoff is an American actor, singer, producer and businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch...
(who was not present at Ronan's audition), McIntyre, Holden and Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
, who was only judging the live finals. Parke received the highest public vote of the night and was automatically sent through to the final.
In the final on 4 June, Ronan performed "Because of You
Because of You (Kelly Clarkson song)
"Because of You" is a ballad written by pop rock singer Kelly Clarkson with David Hodges and Ben Moody, and produced by Hodges and Moody, both formerly of Evanescence. It is the fourth single from Clarkson's second album, Breakaway...
" by Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...
and received a standing ovation from the audience and judges, and the judges once again gave him praise for his powerful rendition of the song. Louie Walsh, who was in the audience for the final, was referred to by Cowell and also praised Ronan saying “He’s made the hairs stand on the back of my neck.”. However, Ronan lost to eventual winner Jai McDowall
Jai McDowall
Jai McDowall is a Scottish singer who won the fifth series of Britain's Got Talent in June 2011. As the winner, he received £100,000 and will perform at the 2011 Royal Variety Performance...
by a margin of 2.6% of the vote.
Controversy
There was an allegation that Simon CowellSimon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
had been "grooming" Parke for two years before he auditioned on the show, but Cowell and Parke both denied having had any prior contact. Cowell said on the semi-final edition, aired 3 June 2011: "There have been allegations made ... on the internet, that Ronan Parke has a previous recording contract with my record label, that I'd met him before, both of which are complete and utter lies. The first time I met Ronan was when he appeared on the show, he entered it of his own accord. He is 12 years old, this is a deliberate smear campaign and it is my job as somebody who works on this show to make sure whoever this liar is, is exposed, and Ronan is treated the same way as everyone else and it will be the public who decides." Cowell had called in the police to assist him in locating the source of the story, who claimed to be from within Sony Music UK. The police investigation was later abandoned, with a spokesman for Scotland Yard implying that the allegation may have been a publicity stunt to boost the show's ratings.
In July 2011, the man responsible for the allegation apologized and revealed that he had fabricated his entire claim. He was cautioned by police following the matter, and was asked to apologise to Cowell. The matter was not going to be taken any further.
2011–present: Debut album
Two days after the final, it was reported that Sony Music were keen to offer Ronan a recording contract worth £1 million. The same day, it was also reported that Cowell had plans for Ronan to duet with Jackie EvanchoJackie Evancho
Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho is an American child singer described as a classical crossover artist. After entering some talent competitions, issuing an independent album, Prelude to a Dream, and attracting interest on YouTube, she gained wider popularity in 2010 with her performances in the...
.
Ronan performed in the Britain's Got Talent Live Tour 2011, making appearances all throughout the UK. The tour opened on 12 June 2011 at Newcastle Metro Radio Arena and finished on 26 June at Bournemouth BIC. During the tour, Ronan sang all three of the songs that he performed on the show, collaborating with pianist Paul Gbegbaje for "Make You Feel My Love". It was reported that Ronan was going to get paid up to £30,000 for three performances on the tour, twice as much as the winner Jai McDowall
Jai McDowall
Jai McDowall is a Scottish singer who won the fifth series of Britain's Got Talent in June 2011. As the winner, he received £100,000 and will perform at the 2011 Royal Variety Performance...
.
Ronan appeared at the Royal Norfolk Show on 30 June to greet fans and sign autographs. Ronan also performed at the Hamilton Park Racecourse
Hamilton Park Racecourse
Hamilton Park Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue in Hamilton, Scotland to the south of Glasgow. It is a flat racing venue, with a season which runs from May to September....
family night on 9 July, filling in for Joe McElderry
Joe McElderry
Joseph "Joe" McElderry is an English singer and model. He won the sixth series of the ITV show The X Factor in 2009. His first single "The Climb" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Charts. He was also crowned the winner of the second series of Popstar to Operastar, two...
who was forced to pull out. Ronan performed for an audience of over 50,000 at T4 on the Beach
T4 on the Beach
T4 On The Beach is a British one day music event which is held on the beach at Weston-super-Mare and televised for Channel 4. The event began in 2003 as Pop Beach in Great Yarmouth, changing to the current title and venue in 2005....
on 10 July, singing Cee Lo Green's "Forget You". He was introduced on the stage by David Hasselhoff.
It was reported by The Sun on 7 July 2011 that Ronan had finally been signed by Sony Music and another label as a joint contract. It has not yet been confirmed how much money the record deal is worth. Ronan's mother, Maggie, has hinted at the fact that his music may be released this year. Major retailers including Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
have started taking pre-orders for the record with a UK release date of 24 October.
On 28 July, Ronan uploaded a video to YouTube of him performing an acoustic cover of Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
's "The Edge of Glory
The Edge of Glory
"The Edge of Glory" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Lady Gaga, from her second studio album Born This Way . The song was released digitally on May 9, 2011, and was added to the United States mainstream radio playlists on May 17, 2011...
", which has attracted media attention. His Facebook page states that a new video of Ronan singing an acoustic cover will be released every week as part of a three-part series called Ronan Sings. The second video was an acoustic cover of "Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, which was uploaded on 10 August. Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
also showed an exclusive video on the pre-order page of Ronan's debut album, of him performing an acoustic cover of "Forget You". A new video, of Ronan singing "Jar of Hearts
Jar of Hearts
"Jar of Hearts" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Christina Perri. The song was released onto iTunes July 27, 2010, a week after its debut on So You Think You Can Dance...
" by Christina Perri
Christina Perri
Christina Judith Perri is an American singer and songwriter from Philadelphia. Her song "Jar of Hearts" charted in the United States after it was featured on the Fox television show So You Think You Can Dance in 2010. Rolling Stone named her the "Band of the Week" on October 26, 2010...
was released on 6 September.
He also announced his first gig in his hometown of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, and will perform at Potters Leisure Resort, Hopton-on-Sea
Hopton-on-Sea
Hopton-on-Sea should not be confused with the village of Hopton which is still in Suffolk but near to the Norfolk town of Diss.There is also a British Holidays Caravan Park, named Hopton Holiday Village. There is also a Hopton near Wirksworth in Derbyshire...
on two nights, 22 and 23 October. Ronan also performed at Xscape
Xscape (building)
Xscape buildings are large, strikingly designed and unusually shaped buildings. Typically they contain a real snow indoor ski slope, leisure facilities and related shops...
in Castleford
Castleford
Castleford is the largest of the "five towns" district in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It is near Pontefract, and has a population of 37,525 according to the 2001 Census, but has seen a rise in recent years and is now around 45-50,000. To the north...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
in August. Ronan performed "Forget You", "Ben" and "Smile" at the Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
tribute show on 28 August at Blackpool Opera House.
Ronan announced on Facebook that "A Thousand Miles
A Thousand Miles
"A Thousand Miles", originally titled "Interlude", is a pop song written by American singer Vanessa Carlton and recorded for her 2002 debut album Be Not Nobody. It was co-produced and co-arranged by Carlton and Ron Fair, and was released as the album's first single in 2002. Her signature song, it...
", originally by Vanessa Carlton, will be the first single from the album and the music video was released on 14 September. The lyric video was posted onto YouTube on 2 September. The tracklisting of the album was also revealed on his Facebook account.
It was also reported that Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and is currently the head judge on the eighth series of The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters...
had penned a track for the album called Stronger Than I Am.
Studio albums
| Album title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
IRL Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
||
| Ronan Parke Ronan Parke (album) Ronan Parke is the debut studio album by English singer Ronan Parke. It was released in the United Kingdom on 24 October 2011.-Concerts and Gigs:Parke had done many concerts and gigs throughout the year, after coming second in Britains Got Talent... |
|
22 | — |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
IRL Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
SCO | |||
| 2011 | "A Thousand Miles A Thousand Miles "A Thousand Miles", originally titled "Interlude", is a pop song written by American singer Vanessa Carlton and recorded for her 2002 debut album Be Not Nobody. It was co-produced and co-arranged by Carlton and Ron Fair, and was released as the album's first single in 2002. Her signature song, it... " |
— | — | — | Ronan Parke |
Music videos
| Year | Song | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "A Thousand Miles" |