Laura White

Laura White
LauraWhiteOfficial
Background information
Birth name	Laura Jane Amanda White
Born	(1987-08-31) 31 August 1987 Atherton, Greater Manchester, England
Genres	Singer/songwriter, soul, jazz
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Universal Records
Associated acts	The X Factor 2008 finalists
Website	www.Laurawhiteoffic.com/ www.twitter.com/laurawhiteoffic/ www.facebook.com/laurawhiteofficial

Laura Jane Amanda White (born 31 August 1987) is an English singer/songwriter from Atherton in the metropolitan borough of Bolton Greater Manchester.

She is also known for finishing in eighth place on the fifth series of The X Factor in 2008.

Early life

White has been singing and playing the piano since she was a young girl. Despite never having had a professional singing lesson, White began singing in jazz bars at the age of 15 and played many festivals. White went to Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley, the same school as actors Anthony Quinlan, Leah Hackett and Oliver Lee. She also studied A-Level /EnglishDrama at Wigan and Leigh College. Before The X Factor, Laura was a creative writing student at The University of Bolton.

Music career

2008–09: The X Factor

White auditioned for the 2008 series of The X Factor and reached the final live stages in the "Girls" category, mentored by Cheryl Cole. After performing Fallin', by Alicia Keys, on the first live show, White sang You Are Not Alone as part of Michael Jackson week the following episode. She then performed God Bless the Child, originally recorded by Billie Holiday, as part of the third week's focus on big band music, and Somebody Else's Guy, written and performed by Jocelyn Brown, on the fourth live show as part of disco week. After performing Endless Love by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross in the fifth week, White was voted off the show on 8 November, after a sing-off against Ruth Lorenzo.

After her elimination, fans of White circulated a petition for broadcasting watchdog Ofcom to investigate phone voting procedures on the show, complaining of a lack of transparency in the voting system and of difficulties in getting through to vote for White—allegations which were denied by a show spokesman. The issue was even mentioned in the Houses of Parliament by her local MP Andy Burnham, who commented that White's exit had been "very harsh".

2009–present: Post The X Factor

File:LauraWhite22011.jpg

White performing live on 27 November 2011

The Manchester Evening News reported on 11 November 2008 that White had been approached by an as-yet unnamed record company. White was chosen by Peterborough City Council to perform and turn on the annual Christmas lights at Cathedral Square, Peterborough. A crowd of 6,000 attended and cheered as the lights were turned on. White then went on to switch on the lights in the county capital Cambridge on the Sunday night. White was invited to the Brit Awards Launch Party as The X Factor contestant representing the "Hero" single. White was a judge in the 2009 Miss Manchester contest and sang at the Miss England contest. In early August 2009, White posted samples of four tracks onto her website. Fans were allowed to vote for one of the four to become her debut single. The candidates were: "You Should Have Known", "Touch You", "Got It Bad" and "Love Hurts". "You Should Have Known" was chosen as her debut single. The song was written by Ivor Novello-winning songwriter Michelle Escoffrey and produced by Ian Green, the man behind Madonna's autumn 2009 album Celebration. Speaking in October 2009 to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul, White stated: "I'm really pleased to kick my whole album project off with 'You Should Have Known'. Because it's such a strong song, as well as being very different from the kind of straight-jazz thing everybody THOUGHT I was gonna do."

She performed her track "You Should Have Known" on GMTV on 19 August 2009. The video for the single "You Should Have Known" was shot in early September and was uploaded to White's official YouTube account. The single was released on 2 November 2009. To promote the single, White embarked on a promo tour of the UK. "You Should Have Known" debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the UK Indie Singles Chart. White was also part of the alternative Haiti relief charity single "I Put A Spell On You". The track, which was released at the end of February 2010, includes other artists such as Shane MacGowan, Paloma Faith, The Stereophonics, Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie, Nick Cave and Johnny Depp. Laura was due to release a song titled "Radio" and told fans on the Peter Andre tour it would be her new single in the summer although she later revealed on her Twitter account that the single had been scrapped due to her not being passionate enough about the song. She has stated recently she had been in the studio recording for the album, working with the likes of Ben Cullum (Jamie Cullum's brother), Professor Green and Ian Dench, allowing White to develop her sound profoundly for her album. White also is renowned for her celebrity following including artists Pixie Lott, Cheryl Cole and James Morrison appearing at her gigs for support to her music. White lives in Manchester/ London.

Artistry

Songwriting

White has also written songs for other artists including Rihanna, Eliza Doolittle, Cher Lloyd and Leona Lewis. White had her first number one with artist Gin Lee in 2012, also penned songs for many Danish artists and Winner Lisa Lois.

On 31 May 2013, White posted a video to YouTube under the title "Introducing Martha". Weekly uploads entitled "Martha Friday's" included live vocal recordings of popular and original songs.

Discography

Extended plays

Title	Details	Notes
What My Mother Taught Me	Released: 10 November 2013 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download	Track listing No. Title Length 1. "Come On Josephine"   3:09 2. "Jimi Hendrix"   3:40 3. "Rush Hour"   3:02 4. "To Be Loved"   4:30
No.95	Released: 12 February 2016 Label: Self-released Format: Digital download	Track listing No. Title Length 1. "Girlfriend"   5:11 2. "The Prettiest Girl in Your Words." (feat. Wes Period) 3:35 3. "I Don't Understand the World"   5:08 4. "1000 Times"   3:36 5. "Black & Blue"   4:13

Singles

As lead artist

Year	Title	Peak chart positions		Album
		UK	UK Indie
2009	"You Should Have Known"	32	2	Non-album singles
2013	"What My Mother Taught Me"	—	—
2015	"Kind of Blue"	—	—
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released.

As featured artist

Year	Title	Peak chart positions		Album
		UK	IRE
2008	"Hero" (with The X Factor Finalists)	1	1	Non-album single
2010	"I Put a Spell on You" (with Shane MacGowan and Friends)	—	—	Helping Haiti
2013	"Dalt Vila" (Sister Bliss & Wally Lopez featuring Laura White)	—	—	Non-album singles
2015	"Circles" (Xploder featuring Laura White & Manga St Hilare)	—	—
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released.

Tours

White toured on The X Factor live tour, with fellow series 5 finalists. White was also touring with Peter Andre with his Revelation Tour. She continues to perform in gigs/festivals.

External links

• Official website