Natasha Bedingfield Biography

news-detailsA sultry combination of good look, husky voice and charming personality, it's difficult to find any other singer who possesses such great energy to represent women empowerment and create good music, other than Natasha Bedingfield. Only with two studio records, she manages to break both U.K. and U.S markets at relatively a short interval with her signature Pop/R'n'B songs. After successfully placing her singles, 'I Wanna Have Your Babies' and 'Soulmate' on the top ten of U.K. Singles, Natasha released 'Love Like This' as the first single from her U.S.-only album, 'Pocketful of Sunshine'. Topped with playful melody and a guest appearance from the States' rising rapper, Sean Kingston, the single managed to climb Billboard Hot 100 chart slowly from #48 to #18. With the first impact showing a sign of commercial success, 'Pocketful of Sunshine' which will be released in January 2008 may have no trouble claiming its victory in the States.

Natasha Anne Bedingfield may look like a clean cut girl but her effort in getting her music recognized is a journey of a lifetime. Since she was born on November 26, 1981 in Lewsiham, London, she has been encouraged by her parents John and Molly Bedingfield to express herself through music. Thus, while still teens, Natasha formed an electronic band with her siblings, older brother Daniel Bedingfield and younger sister Nikola Rachelle, naming it The DNA Algorithm. Since she was born in a family with thick Christian influence, most of their songs are religious-themed which eventually led to performances at churches and other Christian events. Natasha who stood as the vocalist learned guitar and piano at the same time to enhance her skill in writing music. The band eventually disbanded and Natasha headed straight to University of Greenwich while torn between choosing art or psychology. Based on consideration that she will make better music by studying psychology, she enrolled herself in the education system for a year before finally quitting to pursue a career in music. By that time, her brother Daniel had been a successful pop singer in U.K. and that inspired her to record demos in the studio owned by a friend.

Opportunity to flap her wings came when in 2003 her talent caught the attention of Sony BMG execs. She was signed under the label and worked on her debut album with renown producers and songwriters such as Guy Chambers, Kara DioGuardi and Steve Kipner. Her very first single called 'Single' was released in May 2004 in U.K., receiving a warm welcome and reached the top 5 in U.K. singles chart. The second single 'These Words' that was inspired by the pressure her label was putting on her to create a hit song, was released in August that year to an even better reception. It reached #1 on U.K. Singles chart and remained there for 13 amazing weeks. When the album 'Unwritten' was released a month later, Natasha was finding no trouble to put it on the highest position of U.K. Albums chart. Even better, the next single, which is the title track, was deemed the most played song in U.S. in 2006, following the album's Stateside release in August 2005. Two years later, the single was listed as the nominee of Grammy Awards for 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance'.

While accumulating praises, touring to meet her growing fan base and adapting to the fame, Natasha took time to write a second album, simply called after her initial, 'NB'. She decided to change the concept of the album to make it different from its predecessor. "I want to make music that matches who I am," she said. "My first album was about independence and opportunism. I'm still very independent and I find it hard to let go of that freedom, but I'm in a different place now. I've been dating, searching for a partner, looking for Mr Right." With this came a single 'I Wanna Have Your Babies' that created chatters among critics for its blatant lyrics that told about her quest in looking for the perfect father for her future babies. The single peaked at #7 on U.K. Singles chart, although compared to her previous singles, it was the 'moderately received' one. The album itself was released in several European countries in April 2007 while the album's quest to break U.S. market will begin when the States version called 'Pocketful of Sunshine' is released in January 2008.