Raymond Arthur Quinn was born on
the 25th of August 1988 in Childwall, Liverpool, the youngest of three boys born to mother Val. At the age
of six, he started dancing lessons at the Chiltern School of Dance and
Drama, under the guidance and teaching of Colette Byatt. Following his
national recognition as a child actor, he was a performing arts student at the
Merseyside Dance and Drama College, where he was taught singing lessons
from the age of nine. He cites his vocal coach, Suzanne Taylor, as a
major influence in his career as she told him he needed more than dancing and drama if he was to make a name for himself..
He rose to musical prominence in 2006 when he auditioned for the 3rd series of 'The X Factor', singing a medley of, 'Ain't That A Kick In The Head' and 'Devil In Disguise' going on to the boot camp. He managed to progress through the competition up to week 10, where he was the series runner-up, performing with 'Westlife' in the final before losing to the eventual winner Leona Lewis.
In December 2006, two days after finishing 'The X Factor', he signed a record deal with Simon Cowell's label SYCO to release a debut swing album. The recording process for the album began through January 2007 at the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles where he was accompanied by a 48-piece orchestra.
 |
| Doing It My Way |
The resultant album, 'Doing It My Way', was released on the 12th of March 2007 and became a critical and commercial success entering the UK Album Chart at No.1, and sold 127,000 copies in its first week of release, before being certified platinum. Ray had made British music history as he was the youngest male solo
artist, and the first person ever, to have a number one album without
releasing a single.
He embarked on his own solo tour from September to November 2007, where he performed in 30 cities across the UK to sell out audiences. However, on the 6th of November 2007, it was announced that he had been subsequently dropped by Sony BMG.
This meant a return to Television and Stage between 2009 and 2015 when he appeared in several stage musicals, some in London's West End. In September 2014, Ray announced that he was planning to return to
music, and had already started working on material for a second studio
album.
He released his first single in eight years, 'They Say Love', on
the 23rd of February 2015. Later that month it was revealed that the title for
the upcoming studio album would be called 'Dare To Dream'. It was scheduled for an April 2015 release and was promoted on a tour of the same name to sell-out venues from 2015 into 2016, but was ultimately not released.
Returning to his TV and Theatre work during the period 2015 to 2018, he then signed a deal with Northern Powerhouse Music and began recording at the renowned Parr Street Studios in Liverpool with a 40 piece orchestra.
In February 2020 he began talks to record and release a new album 'Undeniable' with the first original song from it, 'They Say Love', released in July 2020. However, it was revealed that during the pandemic he had been working as a delivery driver for courier company Hermes before in April 2021 he begun a new career laying carpets at the family firm, alongside brothers Robin and Darren.
No comments:
Post a Comment