Biography
Birth date September 1, 1975
Birth place Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Occupations Actress, singer, songwriter, television presenter, author.
Genres Pop, dance
Website www.nataliebassingthwaighte.com
Life and Career
Natalie Bassingthwaighte is an Australian actress, singer-songwriter and television personality. Bassingthwaighte enrolled at Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts and participated in various musicals.
She began her career as an actress on the television series All Saints. She then starred in the US telemovie Counterstrike. Bassingthwaighte gained commercial success for her role as Izzy Hoyland on the Australian television drama series Neighbours, a character she portrayed from 2003 to 2006. It earnt her two nominations at the 2006 Logie Awards for "Most Popular Personality" and "Most Popular Actress". Meanwhile, she began working on her own demos; mainly songs with an acoustic-rock sound before being recruited as the lead singer of Australian electro-pop band, Rogue Traders in late 2004. Bassingthwaighte made her debut as a television presenter in 2008, hosting So You Think You Can Dance Australia.
In June 2008 it was revealed that she had left Rogue Traders to pursue a solo career. In February 2009, Bassingthwaighte released her debut solo album 1000 Stars, which spawned the hit singles "Alive" and "Someday Soon" which both became platinum sellers. The album was a commercial success, debuting at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart and certified gold.
Bassingthwaighte was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, the daughter of Betty and Michael Bassingthwaighte. From a young age, she used to charge 20c for family and friends to come and see her dress up and put on mini concerts. Bassingthwaighte got her first role in a primary school production called Peter Pan, playing the character Tinker Bell. She then enrolled at Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts and gratuated from the Australian College of Entertainment.
After graduating from college, Bassingthwaighte auditioned for a job at a theme park called Wonderland Sydney, of which she got the job for. She participated in a variety of performances, such as 50's, 70's, country and Hanna Barbara shows. After a stint at Wonderland Sydney, Bassingthwaighte performed for two seasons as lead vocalist and stand up comic at the Kaos Comedy Theatre restaurant in Sydney.
Meanwhile, during that time she was auditioning for many different musicals. After an exhaustive audition process, Bassingthwaighte was chosen over 6000 people for her role of Mrs. Cohen in the Australian tour of the rock musical Rent. During Rent's tour, she audition for another professional stage production called Chicago. The casting directors were dubious given the fact that she wasn't an A-List dancer, however her enthusiasm won out when she convinced them she had what it takes to carry the role. As a result, Bassingthwaighte played the character June and understudied the principal role of Roxie Hart. She then received her first lead role in the production Chang & Eng in Asia. A story of the first Siamese twins, she played the role Adelaide Yates in both the Singapore and Bangkok seasons of the show.
Music career
Bassingthwaighte had been intent on a music career for a very long time. She had been a member of an R&B group that were set to hit the music arena, but unfortunately things didn't work out and she realised that wasn't really what her heart was telling her to do. Meanwhile, she began working on her own demos; mainly songs with an acoustic-rock sound before she was to be recruited as the lead singer for Australian electro-pop band, Rogue Traders in late 2004. After being presented with the band's music, Bassingthwaighte auditioned for DJ's James Ash and Steve Davis, the two members of the band. They had auditioned a field of 15-20 girls before Bassingthwaighte, but when she sang their song "Voodoo Child", she got the job as the band's front woman.
The following year, the band released their fifth single "Voodoo Child" (the first with Bassingwaighte). It became a commerical success that it reached number four on the ARIA Singles Chart and certified platinum in Australia. "Voodoo Child" reached number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart, number three on the UK Singles Chart also on the Irish Singles Chart at number fifthteen. The single won the award for "Best Dance Video" at the 2006 MTV Australia Awards. Its subsequent singles "Way to Go!" and "Watching You" also reached within the ARIA top ten and both certified gold. They released their second studio album, Here Come The Drums (first with Bassingwaighte), in October 2005. It was also a commercial success that it reached number two on the ARIA Albums Chart and spent a total of seventy-four weeks on the chart. It certified platinum four times and is their most successful album to date. The album received four nominations at the 2006 ARIA Music Awards for "Breakthrough Artist - Album", "Best Pop Release", "Highest Selling Album" and "Best Group".
While Bassingthwaighte was with Rogue Traders, she made solo appearances. She made a duet with label mate Shannon Noll on the song "Don't Give Up" in December 2006, for the album Home: Songs Of Hope & Journey. The single reached number two on the ARIA Singles Chart. She recorded a cover of the song "O Holy Night" for the album The Spirit of Christmas 2006, a Christmas compilation album in which all proceeds go to The Salvation Army in Australia. Bassingthwaighte and Noll teamed up again in 2007 to record a duet of the song "Please Come Home for Christmas" for the album, The Spirit of Christmas 2007.
The band released their third album, Better in the Dark in October 2007, which spawned the hit singles "Don't You Wanna Feel" and "I Never Liked You" which both certified gold. The album debuted on the ARIA Albums Chart at number four and gained a platinum accreditation. In June 2008, it was revealed that Bassingthwaighte had left the group to pursue a solo career. She was later replaced by Mindi Jackson.
Following her departure from Rogue Traders in June 2008, Bassingthwaighte began working on her debut solo album. In 2006 she signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia to embark on a solo career. Bassingthwaighte released her debut solo album 1000 Stars on 20 February 2009. It debuted on the ARIA Albums Chart at number one and certified gold. "Alive" was released as the album's lead single in October 2008. It reached a peak of number eight on the ARIA Singles Chart and gained a platinum certification. "Someday Soon" was released as the second single in January 2009. It became Bassingthwaighte's third top ten single on the ARIA Charts and also certified platinum.
The album's title track was released as the third single in April 2009. It reached number thirty on the ARIA Singles Chart. The fifth single "Love Like This" was released to raise awareness for the Aids Council Of New South Wales' current 'Wear It With Pride' t-shirt campaign in the lead-up to the 2010 Mardi Gras parade.
Acting career
Bassingthwaighte's first television job as an actress was on the Australian television series All Saints. She then appeared in an episode of The Lost World, playing the role of Raina. Her first screen role was in the US telemovie Counterstrike, playing the character role of Kelly. She gained commericial success on the Australian soap opera Neighbours, playing the role of Izzy Hoyland from 2003 to 2006. Bassingthwaighte was nominated for a Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality and a Silver Logie Award for "Best Actress" in 2006, for her role on the show.
In 2004, she filmed a part in Rohan Sprong's student film When Darkness Falls. Portraying the character of Jinx De-Luxe, her big scene involved a performance of the Marilyn Monroe hit "Every Baby Needs A Da-da-daddy". The film was released after editing in 2006. In 2009 she starred in the Australian horror film Prey alongside Jesse Johnson, Christian Clark and Nicholas Bell, playing the role of Kate, an ambitious young surgeon working in the emergency department of a major city hospital.[19] The film was directed by George T. Miller and only grossed $744 at the box office in Australia.[20] In 2010 she starred in the television series Underbelly: The Golden Mile, playing the role of Maria Haken, the wife of Trevor Haken who is a corrupt Kings Cross detective.
Other ventures
In 2008 Bassingthwaighte made her debut as a television presenter, hosting the Australian version of So You Think You Can Dance. She hosted the show for three seasons and received two nominations at the 2009 Logie Awards for a Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality and a Silver Logie Award for "Most Popular Presenter". She received another nomination for "Most Popular Presenter" at the 2010 Logie Awards.
In April 2008 Bassingthwaighte released her first book titled, Sistahood: A Journal of Self-Discovery.
She wrote the book with her younger sister Nicole Moore. It took two years to write and is aimed at boosting girls self-esteems. The book features activities and is filled with pictures of Bassingthwaighte's life with her three sisters, Nicole, Lisa and Melinda.
Personal life
In the December 2006 issue of Men's Style magazine, Bassingthwaighte revealed she got married at the age of 23, before getting divorced in 1998.
She is engaged to former Rogue Traders drummer Cameron McGlinchey, who have been together since 2005. In February 2010, Bassingthwaighte announced that she was pregnant. On 16 August 2010 she gave birth to her and McGlinchey's first child, a daughter named Harper Rain Sinclair McGlinchey.
(source Wikipedia)
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