Russell Watson
Encyclopedia
Russell Watson is an English tenor
who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop
songs. The self-styled "People's Tenor" had been singing since he was a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club
. He came to attention in 1999 when he sang the National anthem
at the Rugby League Challenge Cup
Final at Wembley Stadium
, "Barcelona
" at the last match of the Premiership
season between Manchester United
and Tottenham Hotspur
at Old Trafford and a full set of songs at the final of the UEFA Champions League
in Barcelona between Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
Watson's debut album entitled The Voice
was released in May 2001; four others followed. However, an album planned for November 2006 was delayed due to the removal of a benign pituitary tumour. This album, entitled That's Life
, was eventually released on 5 March 2007.
On 24 October 2007, it was discovered that there had been a regrowth of his pituitary tumour and bleeding into his brain. He underwent emergency surgery and was discharged from hospital on 31 October. He underwent an extensive rehabilitation programme, including radiotherapy
. His sixth studio album, Outside In, was released on 26 November 2007.
On 22 November 2010 Russell's new album, La Voce
, was released. It's his first album since overcoming brain cancer.
, England. Although he had been singing since he was a child, he never sought a career as a professional singer. He left school with no GCE
, and started earning £
29.50 a week on a Youth Opportunities Programme
as a bolt-cutter in Irlam
, near Manchester
. Then married and with a baby, he began to earn extra cash singing Elvis Presley
and MC Hammer
covers in North West
clubs to help support his young family.
The turning point in his career came one night at an engagement at Wigan Road Working Men's Club
, when the secretary suggested that he try singing "Nessun Dorma
" from Puccini
's Turandot
. Although Russell Watson was not a classically-trained singer he continued to perform the aria
, and was encouraged to try other classical
pieces. In 1990 he won a Search for a Star contest organised by Manchester's Piccadilly Radio.
In 1998 Ian Boasman, manager of the Bistro French restaurant in Preston, arranged for him to sing at Old Trafford
during the interval at a memorial football match for the Munich air disaster
, a huge privilege for a lifelong Manchester United
fan. However, his appearance was cancelled at the last minute when player Eric Cantona
requested that Mick Hucknall
sing instead. Russell signed a management deal with Boasman, this also involved comic Bobby Ball
and businessman Keith Chadwick. Watson would eventually renege on his contract, something he has quite a reputation for.
In 1999 he sang England's national anthem
at the Rugby League
Challenge Cup
Final at Wembley Stadium, then finally got to sing at Old Trafford before the last match of the Premiership
season between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur
. After the game, when his team had won the league championship, he returned to the pitch to sing the Freddie Mercury
and Montserrat Caballé
song "Barcelona", during which he tore off his dinner jacket to reveal a Manchester United shirt.
This appearance sealed his success, and only a week later he was invited to sing a full set at the final of the UEFA Champions League
in Barcelona between United and Bayern Munich, duetting with Montserrat Caballé
.
Watson used to work at St. Ambrose College
, Altrincham
.
, Hull
.
Watson's debut album entitled The Voice
followed in May 2001. A mixture of operatic aria
s and cover
s of pop songs, it topped the UK Classical Chart
and eventually reached number five in the UK Albums Chart
. Later, when released in the United States
, the album took the number one spot and made history as the first time a British artist had held both the US and UK classical number one. The album contained perhaps Watson's most unusual collaboration to date, with former Happy Mondays
singer Shaun Ryder
who lent his vocals to the Freddie Mercury
and Montserrat Caballé
song "Barcelona". The album also featured a duet with Cleo
of girl group
Cleopatra
on the song "Someone Like You". Cleo later duetted with Russell again on his third album Reprise
on the song "The Best That Love Can Be".
Prior to the formation of Velvet Revolver
, Watson was asked by Slash
(former guitarist of Guns N' Roses
and currently in Velvet Revolver) whether he would be their singer. Watson turned down this opportunity, at least for the time being, to concentrate on his solo career.
Also in 2001, Watson sang the opening theme of Star Trek: Enterprise
, "Where My Heart Will Take Me
", which was written by Diane Warren
. Watson also sang it live at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games
in Manchester, England in 2002. In 2003, the song was remixed to produce a more upbeat version. In August 2007, the song was played as a wake-up call for American Mission Specialist Richard Mastracchio
on Space Shuttle Endeavour
mission STS-118.
In late 2002, Watson released the single "Nothing Sacred – A Song for Kirsty" to raise money for the Francis House children's hospice in Didsbury
, Manchester. The campaign to raise £5 million was fronted by Kirsty Howard
, a seven-year-old girl with a serious heart defect. The song reached number 17 in the UK Singles Chart
.
The self-styled "People's Tenor", who is also known as "The Voice" after his first album, won the Album of the Year at the Classical BRIT Awards
in both 2001 and 2002, also collecting awards for Best-Selling Debut Album (2001) and Best-Selling Album (2002).
In 2005, he collaborated with Secret Garden
for his song called, "Always There," from the album Earthsongs
.
In addition to his recording work, Watson played Parson Nathaniel in the stage adaptation of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
which toured the UK in early 2006. In the same year, he also took part in the BBC
reality TV show Just the Two of Us. The programme involved eight couples, including Siân Reeves
and Watson, competing in a duet-singing showdown, complete with a live band, a panel of judges and viewer voting, to see who would be crowned champions. A wide array of music was performed, from country and western
to rock. The scores each week were tallied from both a judging vote (the judges were Lulu
, Trevor Nelson
, Stewart Copeland
and Cece Sammy
) and a public phone-in vote. Watson, a late arrival to the competition replacing Reeves's original partner Rick Astley
, who had pulled out, took the crown despite the low scores awarded by the judges to their performances. Following the competition Reeves and Watson released a victory single, "Can't Help Falling In Love". Russell Watson was scheduled to defend his title in the 2007 series with a new celebrity partner, Loui Batley
, but had to withdraw at the last minute because of serious health problems.
and should find ways of relaxing. When his peripheral vision
began to be affected in late 2006, he visited another specialist, who also said he was suffering from stress. Watson told him, "The only thing that's stressing me is this pain in my head."
In September 2006, Watson flew to Los Angeles, California, to record his album That's Life
. On the flight, he told his producer that he was experiencing terrible pressure inside his skull. When they landed, his producer suggested a game of tennis to clear his head. Watson could not see the ball at all. After a visit to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
and an MRI
scan, he was advised that he had a developing pituitary adenoma
, which was the size of two golf balls. According to Watson, "Since an early age I've had an in-built premonition, a vision that I wouldn't make 40. For the previous seven years I'd have a recurring nightmare in which my head exploded. And here I was with a brain tumour on the eve of my 40th birthday; I thought, 'This is it, I was right, I knew it'." Watson recalled that the tumours were "like a figure of eight, one filling the frontal cavity of my skull, the other forced through into the top of my nose." He stayed in Los Angeles for two days and continued recording his album while tests confirmed whether the tumour was malignant
or not – it turned out to be benign
.
Watson then returned to the UK, and had a five-hour emergency operation to remove the eight-centimetre lump at St George's Hospital
in Tooting
, South London
, on Monday, 24 September 2006. As the tumour was pressing against his optic nerve
, the surgeon removed the tumour through his nose.
After the operation, Watson could barely walk, and the tumour had affected his pituitary gland
which controls hormone
levels: "My mood swings went from ecstatic to suicidal. I remember one night standing on the balcony, full of dark thoughts and self-pity, thinking 'God, this is f**king terrible, why me?' I went back to bed, couldn't sleep, got up again. I thought I'd had enough. If it hadn't been for the girls [his daughters]..." His energy levels were very low and he did not leave his house for two months: "I couldn't deal with more than one person at a time or with multitasking and I cried easily." Watson was readmitted to hospital in Manchester for tests on 6 October 2006 after complaining of dizziness, headaches and blurred vision.
Upon recovering, Watson returned to the recording studio to finish his album That's Life. Originally due out in November 2006, it was subsequently released on 5 March 2007. On the advice of his doctors, his latest UK tour, which had been due to start in late October 2006, was also postponed until March 2007 to coincide with the album release. The rescheduled tour met with huge approval throughout the country, with night after night of standing ovations to a visibly-moved Watson. On 19 May 2007, Watson sang the England's National Anthem
at the 2007 FA Cup Final.
, and was for a while in a critical condition in the hospital's Intensive Therapy Unit. Watson was discharged from hospital on 31 October. Watson later underwent an extensive rehabilitation programme including radiotherapy
. He released his sixth studio album, Outside In, on 26 November 2007.
, which was broadcast on BBC One
beginning 5 July 2008. His album People Get Ready, containing easy listening
, rock and soul music
standards
, was released on 17 November 2008. He performed at the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2008 on 25 December 2008, and at the BBC's New Year Live 2008 programme from the HMS Belfast
on the Thames
on New Year's Eve. In April and May 2009, Watson undertook a 20-date tour of the UK backed by Liverpool's Sense of Sound, who came to his attention after they performed in the BBC's Last Choir Standing. In July 2009, he performed at the opening ceremony of the World Games 2009
in Kaohsiung
, Taiwan.
Watson was one of the principal singers (in the role of Karl-Oskar) in the English world premiere of the Swedish musical Kristina från Duvemåla
(Kristina from Duvemåla) by Benny Andersson
and Bjorn Ulvaeus
at Carnegie Hall
in New York on 23 and 24 September 2009. He and his female lead Helen Sjöholm
were praised by music critic Stephen Holden
as having "first-rate poperetta voices, with Mr. Watson's Puccini
-ready tenor the more operatic. Each brings down the house at least once." He will reprise the role in the UK premiere of the musical in concert at the Royal Albert Hall
in London on 14 April 2010.
, music critic of The Daily Telegraph
has, for instance, called him a "karaoke
crooner". Watson has responded that it "[d]oesn't bother me. Seven years ago classical crossover didn't exist – putting Italian lyrics to pop songs in a big ballsy way. Now every bugger's doing it. I've transcended all that bickering and bitching." Watson's career ambition is "[l]ongevity, that's the most important thing. I want to be a musical force for a good long while." On 5 June 2008 Watson released his autobiography Finding My Voice.
Watson is also a fan of Manchester United.
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
songs. The self-styled "People's Tenor" had been singing since he was a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club
Working men's club
Working men's clubs are a type of private social club founded in the 19th century in industrial areas of the United Kingdom, particularly the North of England, the Midlands and many parts of the South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class men and their families.-...
. He came to attention in 1999 when he sang the National anthem
God Save the Queen
"God Save the Queen" is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms and British Crown Dependencies. The words of the song, like its title, are adapted to the gender of the current monarch, with "King" replacing "Queen", "he" replacing "she", and so forth, when a king reigns...
at the Rugby League Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
Final at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
, "Barcelona
Barcelona (album)
Barcelona is an album recorded by Freddie Mercury, the front-man of the popular British rock band Queen, and operatic soprano Montserrat Caballé. The album was recorded in 1987 and 1988, and released in 1988...
" at the last match of the Premiership
FA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
season between Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
and Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
at Old Trafford and a full set of songs at the final of the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
in Barcelona between Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
Watson's debut album entitled The Voice
The Voice (Russell Watson)
The Voice is the 2001 debut album by British tenor Russell Watson.-Track listing:# "Nella Fantasia" - Metro Voices, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Russell Watson# "Amor Ti Vieta" - The London Session Orchestra, Russell Watson...
was released in May 2001; four others followed. However, an album planned for November 2006 was delayed due to the removal of a benign pituitary tumour. This album, entitled That's Life
That's Life (Russell Watson album)
That's Life is a 2007 album by British tenor Russell Watson.-Track listing:#"That's Life" - 3:12#"Strangers in the Night" - 4:47...
, was eventually released on 5 March 2007.
On 24 October 2007, it was discovered that there had been a regrowth of his pituitary tumour and bleeding into his brain. He underwent emergency surgery and was discharged from hospital on 31 October. He underwent an extensive rehabilitation programme, including radiotherapy
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy , radiation oncology, or radiotherapy , sometimes abbreviated to XRT or DXT, is the medical use of ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells.Radiation therapy is commonly applied to the cancerous tumor because of its ability to control...
. His sixth studio album, Outside In, was released on 26 November 2007.
On 22 November 2010 Russell's new album, La Voce
La Voce (Russell Watson album)
La Voce is the ninth album by British tenor Russell Watson and his first resumption of a largely classical repertoire since overcoming brain cancer.On 29 October 2010 Russell announced the release of his ninth album La Voce...
, was released. It's his first album since overcoming brain cancer.
Early career
Watson was born on 24 November 1966 in Salford, LancashireLancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England. Although he had been singing since he was a child, he never sought a career as a professional singer. He left school with no GCE
General Certificate of Education
The General Certificate of Education or GCE is an academic qualification that examination boards in the United Kingdom and a few of the Commonwealth countries, notably Sri Lanka, confer to students. The GCE traditionally comprised two levels: the Ordinary Level and the Advanced Level...
, and started earning £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
29.50 a week on a Youth Opportunities Programme
Youth Opportunities Programme
The Youth Opportunities Programme was a UK government scheme for helping 16 to 18 year olds into employment. It was introduced in 1978 under the government of James Callaghan, was expanded in 1980 by Margaret Thatcher's government, and ran until 1983 when it was replaced by the Youth Training...
as a bolt-cutter in Irlam
Irlam
Irlam is a suburban town and unparished area within the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. At the 2001 census it had a population of 18,504. The town lies on flat ground on the south side of the M62 motorway and the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, and is west-southwest of...
, near Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. Then married and with a baby, he began to earn extra cash singing Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and MC Hammer
MC Hammer
Stanley Kirk Burrell , better known by his stage name MC Hammer , is an American rapper, entertainer, business entrepreneur, dancer and actor. He had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s...
covers in North West
North West England
North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
clubs to help support his young family.
The turning point in his career came one night at an engagement at Wigan Road Working Men's Club
Working men's club
Working men's clubs are a type of private social club founded in the 19th century in industrial areas of the United Kingdom, particularly the North of England, the Midlands and many parts of the South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class men and their families.-...
, when the secretary suggested that he try singing "Nessun Dorma
Nessun dorma
Nessun dorma is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot, and is one of the best-known tenor arias in all opera. It is sung by Calaf, il principe ignoto , who falls in love at first sight with the beautiful but cold Princess Turandot...
" from Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
. Although Russell Watson was not a classically-trained singer he continued to perform the aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
, and was encouraged to try other classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
pieces. In 1990 he won a Search for a Star contest organised by Manchester's Piccadilly Radio.
In 1998 Ian Boasman, manager of the Bistro French restaurant in Preston, arranged for him to sing at Old Trafford
Old Trafford (football)
Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 75,811, Old Trafford is the second-largest football stadium in England after Wembley, the third-largest in the United Kingdom and the eleventh-largest in Europe...
during the interval at a memorial football match for the Munich air disaster
Munich air disaster
The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the "Busby Babes",...
, a huge privilege for a lifelong Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
fan. However, his appearance was cancelled at the last minute when player Eric Cantona
Eric Cantona
Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona is a French actor and former French international footballer. He played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes and Leeds United before ending his professional footballing career at Manchester United, where he won four Premier League titles in...
requested that Mick Hucknall
Mick Hucknall
Michael "Mick" Hucknall is a British singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the British band Simply Red, and is recognisable for his smooth, distinctive voice and wide vocal range, as well as his red curly hair.-Early life:...
sing instead. Russell signed a management deal with Boasman, this also involved comic Bobby Ball
Bobby Ball
Bobby Ball is one half of the comedy double act Cannon and Ball, along with Tommy Cannon.He married his first wife, Joan, in 1964, with whom he had two sons, Robert and Darren , who are now a comedy double act in their own right, performing under their surname 'Harper'. Bobby and his first wife...
and businessman Keith Chadwick. Watson would eventually renege on his contract, something he has quite a reputation for.
In 1999 he sang England's national anthem
God Save the Queen
"God Save the Queen" is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms and British Crown Dependencies. The words of the song, like its title, are adapted to the gender of the current monarch, with "King" replacing "Queen", "he" replacing "she", and so forth, when a king reigns...
at the Rugby League
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
Final at Wembley Stadium, then finally got to sing at Old Trafford before the last match of the Premiership
FA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
season between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
. After the game, when his team had won the league championship, he returned to the pitch to sing the Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
and Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé is a Spanish operatic soprano. Although she sang a wide variety of roles, she is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi....
song "Barcelona", during which he tore off his dinner jacket to reveal a Manchester United shirt.
This appearance sealed his success, and only a week later he was invited to sing a full set at the final of the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
in Barcelona between United and Bayern Munich, duetting with Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé is a Spanish operatic soprano. Although she sang a wide variety of roles, she is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi....
.
Watson used to work at St. Ambrose College
St. Ambrose College
St. Ambrose College is a leading state Voluntary Aided, Christian Brothers' Roman Catholic boys' grammar school located in Hale Barns, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It was founded in 1946. In 2005, St Ambrose College became a mathematics and computing college and the school is today...
, Altrincham
Altrincham
Altrincham is a market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on flat ground south of the River Mersey about southwest of Manchester city centre, south-southwest of Sale and east of Warrington...
.
2000–2005: The "People's Tenor"
He sang at Anlaby Primary SchoolAnlaby
Anlaby is a village located just west of Kingston upon Hull, and is in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is bordered by Anlaby Common , Willerby, Kirk Ella and Hessle. It lies to the east of the B1232 road and on the B1231 road...
, Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
.
Watson's debut album entitled The Voice
The Voice (Russell Watson)
The Voice is the 2001 debut album by British tenor Russell Watson.-Track listing:# "Nella Fantasia" - Metro Voices, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Russell Watson# "Amor Ti Vieta" - The London Session Orchestra, Russell Watson...
followed in May 2001. A mixture of operatic aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
s and cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of pop songs, it topped the UK Classical Chart
UK classical chart
The UK Classical Charts are three record charts based on classical music in the United Kingdom: the Classical Artist Albums Chart, the Classical Compilation Albums Chart and the Specialist Classical Albums Chart...
and eventually reached number five in the UK Albums Chart
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...
. Later, when released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the album took the number one spot and made history as the first time a British artist had held both the US and UK classical number one. The album contained perhaps Watson's most unusual collaboration to date, with former Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...
singer Shaun Ryder
Shaun Ryder
Shaun William Ryder, aka X, is an English musician, occasional newspaper columnist, actor, author, singer-songwriter and television personality, best known as lead singer for Happy Mondays and Black Grape – and more recently as the runner-up of the 2010 version of the British TV Show I'm a...
who lent his vocals to the Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
and Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé is a Spanish operatic soprano. Although she sang a wide variety of roles, she is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi....
song "Barcelona". The album also featured a duet with Cleo
Cleo Higgins
Cleo Higgins is an English R&B/soul and pop singer, dancer, songwriter and actress...
of girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
Cleopatra
Cleopatra (band)
Cleopatra are a platinum-selling, BRIT Awards and MOBO Awards nominated, R&B/pop girl group from the UK whose members are sisters Cleo, Yonah, and Zainam Higgins.The girls were signed to Madonna's Maverick record label...
on the song "Someone Like You". Cleo later duetted with Russell again on his third album Reprise
Reprise (Russell Watson album)
Reprise is the third album by British tenor Russell Watson released in 2003.-Track listing:#"Torna A Surriento"#"Granada"#"Santa Lucia"#"That's Amore"#"Ave Maria"#"Questa O Quella"#"Nothing Sacred"#"The Pearl Fishers Duet"...
on the song "The Best That Love Can Be".
Prior to the formation of Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver is an American hard rock supergroup consisting of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, alongside Dave Kushner formerly of punk band Wasted Youth. Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland was Velvet Revolver's lead singer from their formation until...
, Watson was asked by Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
(former guitarist of 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...
and currently in Velvet Revolver) whether he would be their singer. Watson turned down this opportunity, at least for the time being, to concentrate on his solo career.
Also in 2001, Watson sang the opening theme of Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
, "Where My Heart Will Take Me
Where My Heart Will Take Me
"Faith of the Heart" is a song written by Diane Warren and originally performed by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack to the 1998 film Patch Adams. Stewart's version charted at number 3 on the US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks and at number 60 on the UK Singles Chart...
", which was written by Diane Warren
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
. Watson also sang it live at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
in Manchester, England in 2002. In 2003, the song was remixed to produce a more upbeat version. In August 2007, the song was played as a wake-up call for American Mission Specialist Richard Mastracchio
Richard Mastracchio
Richard Alan "Rick" Mastracchio is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. He has flown on three NASA Space Shuttle missions as a mission specialist...
on Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States. Endeavour was the fifth and final spaceworthy NASA space shuttle to be built, constructed as a replacement for Challenger...
mission STS-118.
In late 2002, Watson released the single "Nothing Sacred – A Song for Kirsty" to raise money for the Francis House children's hospice in Didsbury
Didsbury
Didsbury is a suburban area of the City of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre, in the southern half of the Greater Manchester Urban Area...
, Manchester. The campaign to raise £5 million was fronted by Kirsty Howard
Kirsty Howard
Kirsty Howard is a 16-year-old British girl, most notable for her charity work.Kirsty is the figurehead of Kirsty's Appeal, a charitable foundation in her name, created to raise £5 million for Francis House, the hospice where she receives care. In October 2006, the appeal announced that it has...
, a seven-year-old girl with a serious heart defect. The song reached number 17 in the UK Singles Chart
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 ...
.
The self-styled "People's Tenor", who is also known as "The Voice" after his first album, won the Album of the Year at the Classical BRIT Awards
Classical Brit Awards
The Classic BRIT Awards are an annual awards ceremony held in the United Kingdom covering aspects of classical music, and are the classical equivalent of pop music's BRIT Awards....
in both 2001 and 2002, also collecting awards for Best-Selling Debut Album (2001) and Best-Selling Album (2002).
In 2005, he collaborated with Secret Garden
Secret Garden (duo)
Secret Garden is an award-winning Irish-Norwegian duo playing New Instrumental Music, also sometimes erroneously known as Neo-classical music.Secret Garden features the Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry and the Norwegian composer/pianist Rolf Løvland...
for his song called, "Always There," from the album Earthsongs
Earthsongs
Earthsongs, released in 2005, is the eighth album by Secret Garden."Always There" is another song written with lyrics by Brendan Graham and performed by Russell Watson, and also covered by Jan Werner Danielsen....
.
2006–2008
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a 1978 concept album by Jeff Wayne, retelling the story of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Its format is progressive rock and string orchestra, using narration and leitmotifs to carry the story via rhyming melodic lyrics that express...
which toured the UK in early 2006. In the same year, he also took part in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
reality TV show Just the Two of Us. The programme involved eight couples, including Siân Reeves
Sian Reeves
Siân Reeves is a British actress, most famous for playing the role of Sydney Henshall in the BBC drama Cutting It, and for playing villain Sally Spode in Emmerdale.-Early life:...
and Watson, competing in a duet-singing showdown, complete with a live band, a panel of judges and viewer voting, to see who would be crowned champions. A wide array of music was performed, from country and western
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
to rock. The scores each week were tallied from both a judging vote (the judges were Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
, Trevor Nelson
Trevor Nelson
Trevor Nelson MBE is an English DJ and presenter.Born in Hackney to a family of St Lucian heritage, he attended Central Foundation Boys' Grammar School in Cowper St, Islington, London EC2 and Westminster Kingsway College...
, Stewart Copeland
Stewart Copeland
Stewart Armstrong Copeland is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band The Police. During the group's extended hiatus from the mid-1980s to 2007, he played in other bands and composed soundtracks...
and Cece Sammy
Cece Sammy
CeCe Sammy is an English vocal and performance coach.-Background:CeCe Sammy is a graduate from the London College of Music, and is a classically trained music graduate...
) and a public phone-in vote. Watson, a late arrival to the competition replacing Reeves's original partner Rick Astley
Rick Astley
Richard Paul "Rick" Astley is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and radio personality. He is known for his 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was a #1 hit single in 25 countries...
, who had pulled out, took the crown despite the low scores awarded by the judges to their performances. Following the competition Reeves and Watson released a victory single, "Can't Help Falling In Love". Russell Watson was scheduled to defend his title in the 2007 series with a new celebrity partner, Loui Batley
Loui Batley
Louie Anne Batley is an English actress, singer and dancer best known for her role in Hollyoaks as Sarah Barnes...
, but had to withdraw at the last minute because of serious health problems.
First pituitary tumour
In 2005, Watson began having headaches, which he described as "like a knife being pressed into the bridge of my nose". He consulted a specialist, who told him there was nothing to worry about as he was suffering from stressStress (medicine)
Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
and should find ways of relaxing. When his peripheral vision
Peripheral vision
Peripheral vision is a part of vision that occurs outside the very center of gaze. There is a broad set of non-central points in the field of view that is included in the notion of peripheral vision...
began to be affected in late 2006, he visited another specialist, who also said he was suffering from stress. Watson told him, "The only thing that's stressing me is this pain in my head."
In September 2006, Watson flew to Los Angeles, California, to record his album That's Life
That's Life (Russell Watson album)
That's Life is a 2007 album by British tenor Russell Watson.-Track listing:#"That's Life" - 3:12#"Strangers in the Night" - 4:47...
. On the flight, he told his producer that he was experiencing terrible pressure inside his skull. When they landed, his producer suggested a game of tennis to clear his head. Watson could not see the ball at all. After a visit to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Originally established as Kaspare Cohn Hospital in 1902, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary 958-bed hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre located in Los Angeles, California, US. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over...
and an MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structures...
scan, he was advised that he had a developing pituitary adenoma
Pituitary adenoma
Pituitary adenomas are tumors that occur in the pituitary gland, and account for about 15% of intracranial neoplasms. Tumors which exceed 10 mm in size are defined as macroadenomas, and those smaller than 10 mm are referred to as microadenomas...
, which was the size of two golf balls. According to Watson, "Since an early age I've had an in-built premonition, a vision that I wouldn't make 40. For the previous seven years I'd have a recurring nightmare in which my head exploded. And here I was with a brain tumour on the eve of my 40th birthday; I thought, 'This is it, I was right, I knew it'." Watson recalled that the tumours were "like a figure of eight, one filling the frontal cavity of my skull, the other forced through into the top of my nose." He stayed in Los Angeles for two days and continued recording his album while tests confirmed whether the tumour was malignant
Malignant
Malignancy is the tendency of a medical condition, especially tumors, to become progressively worse and to potentially result in death. Malignancy in cancers is characterized by anaplasia, invasiveness, and metastasis...
or not – it turned out to be benign
Benign
A benign tumor is a tumor that lacks the ability to metastasize. Common examples of benign tumors include moles and uterine fibroids.The term "benign" implies a mild and nonprogressive disease. Indeed, many kinds of benign tumors are harmless to human health...
.
Watson then returned to the UK, and had a five-hour emergency operation to remove the eight-centimetre lump at St George's Hospital
St George's Hospital
Founded in 1733, St George’s Hospital is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals. It shares its main hospital site in Tooting, England with the St George's, University of London which trains NHS staff and carries out advanced medical research....
in Tooting
Tooting
Tooting is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
, on Monday, 24 September 2006. As the tumour was pressing against his optic nerve
Optic nerve
The optic nerve, also called cranial nerve 2, transmits visual information from the retina to the brain. Derived from the embryonic retinal ganglion cell, a diverticulum located in the diencephalon, the optic nerve doesn't regenerate after transection.-Anatomy:The optic nerve is the second of...
, the surgeon removed the tumour through his nose.
After the operation, Watson could barely walk, and the tumour had affected his pituitary gland
Pituitary gland
In vertebrate anatomy the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea and weighing 0.5 g , in humans. It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain, and rests in a small, bony cavity covered by a dural fold...
which controls hormone
Hormone
A hormone is a chemical released by a cell or a gland in one part of the body that sends out messages that affect cells in other parts of the organism. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. In essence, it is a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one...
levels: "My mood swings went from ecstatic to suicidal. I remember one night standing on the balcony, full of dark thoughts and self-pity, thinking 'God, this is f**king terrible, why me?' I went back to bed, couldn't sleep, got up again. I thought I'd had enough. If it hadn't been for the girls [his daughters]..." His energy levels were very low and he did not leave his house for two months: "I couldn't deal with more than one person at a time or with multitasking and I cried easily." Watson was readmitted to hospital in Manchester for tests on 6 October 2006 after complaining of dizziness, headaches and blurred vision.
Upon recovering, Watson returned to the recording studio to finish his album That's Life. Originally due out in November 2006, it was subsequently released on 5 March 2007. On the advice of his doctors, his latest UK tour, which had been due to start in late October 2006, was also postponed until March 2007 to coincide with the album release. The rescheduled tour met with huge approval throughout the country, with night after night of standing ovations to a visibly-moved Watson. On 19 May 2007, Watson sang the England's National Anthem
God Save the Queen
"God Save the Queen" is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms and British Crown Dependencies. The words of the song, like its title, are adapted to the gender of the current monarch, with "King" replacing "Queen", "he" replacing "she", and so forth, when a king reigns...
at the 2007 FA Cup Final.
Second pituitary tumour
Whilst in the middle of the studio recording of his album Outside In on 24 October 2007 Watson suddenly became incapacitated, with multiple symptoms including a dramatic deterioration of vision. An MRI scan showed he had a regrowth of his tumour with bleeding into his brain. He underwent emergency surgery to remove the tumour at the Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, Greater ManchesterCheadle, Greater Manchester
Cheadle is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England. It borders the districts of Cheadle Hulme, Gatley, Heald Green and Cheadle Heath in Stockport, and the East Didsbury area of Manchester. As of 2001 it had a population of 14,261.-Early history:There has...
, and was for a while in a critical condition in the hospital's Intensive Therapy Unit. Watson was discharged from hospital on 31 October. Watson later underwent an extensive rehabilitation programme including radiotherapy
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy , radiation oncology, or radiotherapy , sometimes abbreviated to XRT or DXT, is the medical use of ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells.Radiation therapy is commonly applied to the cancerous tumor because of its ability to control...
. He released his sixth studio album, Outside In, on 26 November 2007.
Activities
Watson appeared as a judge on the talent show Last Choir StandingLast Choir Standing
Last Choir Standing was a 2008 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. Broadcast on BBC One in July and August 2008, the series saw amateur choirs competing each week to be the 'last choir standing'....
, which was broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
beginning 5 July 2008. His album People Get Ready, containing easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
, rock and soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
standards
Standard (music)
In music, a standard is a tune or song of established popularity.-See also:* Blues standard* Jazz standard* Pop standard* Great American Songbook-Further reading:* Greatest Rock Standards, published by Hal Leonard ISBN 0793588391...
, was released on 17 November 2008. He performed at the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2008 on 25 December 2008, and at the BBC's New Year Live 2008 programme from the HMS Belfast
HMS Belfast (C35)
HMS Belfast is a museum ship, originally a Royal Navy light cruiser, permanently moored in London on the River Thames and operated by the Imperial War Museum....
on the Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
on New Year's Eve. In April and May 2009, Watson undertook a 20-date tour of the UK backed by Liverpool's Sense of Sound, who came to his attention after they performed in the BBC's Last Choir Standing. In July 2009, he performed at the opening ceremony of the World Games 2009
World Games 2009
The World Games of 2009 took place in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, from July 16, 2009 to July 26, 2009. The games featured sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games....
in Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...
, Taiwan.
Watson was one of the principal singers (in the role of Karl-Oskar) in the English world premiere of the Swedish musical Kristina från Duvemåla
Kristina från Duvemåla
Kristina från Duvemåla is a Swedish musical written by former ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson , based on a series of four novels by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg detailing a family's poverty-driven migration from Sweden to America in the mid-19th century: The Emigrants, Unto a Good...
(Kristina from Duvemåla) by Benny Andersson
Benny Andersson
Göran Bror "Benny" Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
and Bjorn Ulvaeus
Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in New York on 23 and 24 September 2009. He and his female lead Helen Sjöholm
Helen Sjöholm
Marie Helen Sjöholm is a Swedish singer, actress and musical theatre performer who lives in Gamla Enskede in Stockholm. She grew up in Sundsvall and started to sing in choirs at an early age, working, among others, with Swedish conductor Kjell Lönnå...
were praised by music critic Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
as having "first-rate poperetta voices, with Mr. Watson's Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
-ready tenor the more operatic. Each brings down the house at least once." He will reprise the role in the UK premiere of the musical in concert at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in London on 14 April 2010.
2008–present
Once Watson finished radiotherapy in 2008 he decided to embark on a return to music. He soon found that his treatment had given him not just a fresh outlook on the world, but a whole new, deeper, richer voice. "The tumour could have been growing for 10–15 years in my nasal cavity, so when I had cut it out I went from a V8 to a V12!"Critical reception
Some critics have said that Watson's untrained tenor voice is not up to operatic standards; Rupert ChristiansenRupert Christiansen
Rupert Christiansen is an English writer, journalist and critic, grandson of Arthur Christiansen and son of Kay and Michael Christiansen . Born in London, he was educated at Millfield and King's College, Cambridge, where he took a double first in English...
, music critic of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
has, for instance, called him a "karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
crooner". Watson has responded that it "[d]oesn't bother me. Seven years ago classical crossover didn't exist – putting Italian lyrics to pop songs in a big ballsy way. Now every bugger's doing it. I've transcended all that bickering and bitching." Watson's career ambition is "[l]ongevity, that's the most important thing. I want to be a musical force for a good long while." On 5 June 2008 Watson released his autobiography Finding My Voice.
Personal life
Watson has two daughters: Rebecca and Hannah. He is divorced, having separated from his former wife soon after the release of his first album. Watson has been reported as saying: "It [his first pituitary tumour] changed my priorities. Made me appreciate the importance of relationships, of friends and family and, most of all, my two daughters. My fear for them if I died – that was the worst part."Watson is also a fan of Manchester United.