Pop Idol discography
Pop Idol was a British television talent show that ran for two series, in 2001 and 2003. The show was produced for ITV in a reality television format and aimed to unearth a previously undiscovered singer who could become an international success. Will Young was the winner of the first series and was awarded with a £1 million music recording contract.[1][2] Young became the most successful contestant with a series of top-five hits, including his debut single "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen", which peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart in 2002 and broke chart sales figure records.[3] During the next seven years he recorded two further number-one singles ("Light My Fire" and "Leave Right Now"), while two of his four albums were number-one in the UK Albums Chart. In the second series, Michelle McManus emerged victorious.[4] Her debut single "All This Time" charted at number one in January 2003.[5] Her second single, "The Meaning of Love", charted at a peak of number 16 and an album of the same name reached number three in the UK Albums Chart.
A number of artists who did not win either series of Pop Idol have also had success in the British charts. Gareth Gates, who finished as the runner-up behind Young in the first series, scored a number-one hit with a cover of "Unchained Melody" in March 2002, replacing Young's debut single at the top of the charts.[6] Gates' subsequent releases "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)" and the double A-side "The Long and Winding Road" / "Suspicious Minds" both reached the top of the charts in 2002. After "What My Heart Wants to Say" ended this run of number-one singles, Gates was joined by The Kumars to record the Comic Relief single for 2003, "Spirit in the Sky".[7] He achieved several more top-20 hits in 2003. After three years away from the music industry, Gates briefly returned in 2007 with a new album – Pictures of the Other Side, which charted at number 23 – and two top-40 singles.[8]
Darius Danesh, who finished in third place in the first series, had a string of successful singles and a top-10 album, including his debut single "Colourblind", which reached number one in August 2002.[9] Other contestants from the first series to have chart success were Sarah Whatmore (who failed to make the selection for the live shows), Rosie Ribbons, Rik Waller, Jessica Garlick and Zoe Birkett. Garlick was additionally chosen to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2002, where she finished third in the competition.[10] Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes were the only contestants from the second series, other than McManus, to release a charting single. Rhodes finished as runner-up in the competition while Nixon finished third. Within months they formed a duo under the name Sam & Mark. They released a cover of The Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" as a double-A side with "Measure of a Man".[11] This earned them a debut number-one single in January 2002, while they also reached the top-20 with a follow-up, "The Sun Has Come Your Way" before being dropped by their record label, 19.[11][12]
As of December 2015, Pop Idol contestants have had 14 charting albums, with McManus the only participant from the second series to peak inside the top-100. Forty-three singles released by Pop Idol contestants have charted in the United Kingdom. Young has had 17 singles peak within the top-100, followed by Gates with nine entries. Darius Danesh has also had six charting songs.
Releases
Singles
Only songs charted in the Top-100 in the UK Singles Chart are included in this list.
| Artist(s) | Series | Song title(s) | Release date | UK peak chart position | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" | 25 February 2002 | 1 | [13] |
| Gates, GarethGareth Gates | 1 | "Unchained Melody" | 18 March 2002 | 1 | [14] |
| Waller, RikRik Waller | 1 | "I Will Always Love You" | 4 March 2002 | 6 | [15] |
| Garlick, JessicaJessica Garlick | 1 | "Come Back"[A] | 13 May 2002 | 13 | [16] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Light My Fire" | 25 May 2002 | 1 | [13] |
| Waller, RikRik Waller | 1 | "Something Inside (So Strong)" | 24 June 2002 | 25 | [15] |
| Gates, GarethGareth Gates | 1 | "Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)" | 8 July 2002 | 1 | [14] |
| Danesh, DariusDarius Danesh | 1 | "Colourblind" | 29 July 2002 | 1 | [17] |
| Whatmore, SarahSarah Whatmore | 1 | "When I Lost You" | 9 September 2002 | 6 | [18] |
| Young, WillWill Young/ Gareth Gates | 1 | "The Long and Winding Road" / "Suspicious Minds"[B] | 23 September 2002 | 1 | [13][14] |
| Ribbons, RosieRosie Ribbons | 1 | "Blink" | 21 October 2002 | 12 | [19] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Don't Let Me Down" / "You and I" | 18 November 2002 | 2 | [13] |
| Gates, GarethGareth Gates | 1 | "What My Heart Wants to Say" | 9 December 2002 | 5 | [14] |
| Danesh, DariusDarius Danesh | 1 | "Rushes" | 25 November 2002 | 5 | [17] |
| Ribbons, RosieRosie Ribbons | 1 | "A Little Bit" | 13 January 2003 | 19 | [19] |
| Birkett, ZoeZoe Birkett | 1 | "Treat Me Like a Lady" | 13 January 2003 | 12 | [20] |
| Whatmore, SarahSarah Whatmore | 1 | "Automatic" | 10 February 2003 | 11 | [18] |
| Danesh, DariusDarius Danesh | 1 | "Incredible (What I Meant to Say)" | 3 March 2003 | 9 | [17] |
| Gates, GarethGareth Gates | 1 | "Spirit in the Sky"[C] | 10 March 2003 | 1 | [14] |
| Danesh, DariusDarius Danesh | 1 | "Girl in the Moon" | 9 June 2003 | 21 | [17] |
| Gates, GarethGareth Gates | 1 | "Sunshine" | 13 September 2003 | 3 | [14] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Leave Right Now" | 24 November 2003 | 1 | [13] |
| McManus, MichelleMichelle McManus | 2 | "All This Time" | 25 November 2003 | 1 | [21] |
| Gates, GarethGareth Gates | 1 | "Say It Isn't So" | 8 December 2003 | 4 | [14] |
| McManus, MichelleMichelle McManus | 2 | "The Meaning of Love" | 26 January 2004 | 16 | [21] |
| Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes[D] | 2 | "With a Little Help from My Friends" / "Measure of a Man" | 9 February 2004 | 1 | [22] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Your Game" | 15 March 2004 | 3 | [13] |
| Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes[D] | 2 | "The Sun Has Come Your Way" | 24 May 2004 | 19 | [23] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Friday's Child" | 5 July 2004 | 4 | [13] |
| Danesh, DariusDarius Danesh | 1 | "Kinda Love" | 18 October 2004 | 8 | [17] |
| Danesh, DariusDarius Danesh | 1 | "Live Twice" | 10 January 2005 | 7 | [17] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Switch It On" | 14 November 2005 | 5 | [13] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "All Time Love" | 16 January 2006 | 3 | [13] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Who Am I" | 24 April 2006 | 11 | [13] |
| Gates, GarethGareth Gates | 1 | "Changes" | 9 April 2007 | 14 | [14] |
| Gates, GarethGareth Gates | 1 | "Angel on My Shoulder" | 18 June 2007 | 22 | [14] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Changes" | 15 September 2008 | 10 | [13] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Grace" | 22 December 2008 | 33 | [13] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Let It Go" | 2 March 2009 | 58 | [13] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Hopes & Fears" | 8 November 2009 | 65 | [13] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Jealousy" | 19 November 2011 | 5 | [13] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Come On" | 21 November 2011 | 83 | [13] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | "Losing Myself" | 18 March 2012 | 72 | [13] |
Albums
Solo albums
Only albums that charted in the Top-100 of the UK Albums Chart are included in this list.
| Artist | Series | Album title | Release date | UK peak chart position | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | From Now On | 7 October 2002 | 1 | [13] |
| Gates, GarethGareth Gates | 1 | What My Heart Wants to Say | 26 October 2002 | 2 | [14] |
| Danesh, DariusDarius Danesh | 1 | Dive In | 2 December 2002 | 6 | [17] |
| Gates, GarethGareth Gates | 1 | Go Your Own Way | 22 September 2003 | 11 | [14] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | Friday's Child | 1 December 2003 | 1 | [13] |
| McManus, MichelleMichelle McManus | 2 | The Meaning of Love | 16 February 2004 | 3 | [21] |
| Danesh, DariusDarius Danesh | 1 | Live Twice | 25 October 2004 | 36 | [17] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | Keep On | 21 November 2005 | 2 | [13] |
| Gates, GarethGareth Gates | 1 | Pictures of the Other Side | 25 June 2007 | 23 | [14] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | Let It Go | 29 September 2008 | 2 | [13] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | The Hits | 16 November 2009 | 9 | [13] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | Echoes | 19 August 2011 | 1 | [13] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | The Essential | 14 October 2013 | 15 | [13] |
| Young, WillWill Young | 1 | 85% Proof | 25 May 2015 | 1 | [13] |
Pop Idol albums
In addition to the solo material released by the contestants, Sony BMG released two CDs featuring songs performed by the finalists, one for each series of the show.
| Album title | Series | Release date | UK peak chart position | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop Idol: The Big Band Album | 1 | April 2002 | — | [24] |
| Pop Idol: The Idols - Xmas Factor | 2 | December 2003 | — | [25] |
Other releases
Several contestants also released songs which failed to reach the main singles or albums charts. Rosie Ribbons recorded an album entitled Misbehaving but was dropped by her record label, Telstar Records, when they ran into financial difficulties and the album was only released in a promotional version.[26] Jessica Garlick released "Hard Not to Fall" as a download single on 11 May 2009 to coincide with the Eurovision Song Contest 2009.[27]
Will Young additionally appeared as a featured artist on the Band Aid 20 UK number-one charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 2004.[28]
By artist
| Artist | Top-100 singles entries | Top-100 albums entries | Number-one singles | Number-one albums |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young, WillWill Young | 17 | 8 | 4[E] | 4 |
| Gates, GarethGareth Gates | 9 | 3 | 4[E] | — |
| Danesh, DariusDarius Danesh | 6 | 2 | 1 | — |
| McManus, MichelleMichelle McManus | 2 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Sam & Mark | 2 | — | 1 | — |
| Whatmore, SarahSarah Whatmore | 2 | — | — | — |
| Waller, RikRik Waller | 2 | — | — | — |
| Ribbons, RosieRosie Ribbons | 2 | — | — | — |
| Birkett, ZoeZoe Birkett | 1 | — | — | — |
| Garlick, JessicaJessica Garlick | 1 | — | — | — |
Chart records
"Unchained Melody" and "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" became two of the most successful singles of the 2000s, selling more than 1 million copies, two of only 10 songs that achieved that feat during the decade.[29] "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" sold 385,000 copies during its first day of sale in a single chain of record stores, Virgin Megastores, beating the total of 160,000 copies of Hear’Say's "Pure and Simple" in 2001.[3][30] Hear'Say sold 550,000 during a whole week, while Young had advance orders of 1.2 million copies at HMV record stores.[31] It beat Band Aid's record of 750,000 sales in the first week of release, eventually reaching 1.2 million sales.[32] Young's song was named as the biggest-selling single of the decade at the end of 2009, with Gates' debut finishing in second place.[33]
Notes
- A Jessica Garlick was chosen to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002, where she performed "Come Back".[34] She finished third in the competition and the song charted at #13 in the UK Singles Chart.[10][35]
- B "The Long and Winding Road" / "Suspicious Minds" was released as a double A-side single. Gareth Gates and Will Young were featured on the former but the latter was sung only by Gates.[36]
- C Gareth Gates collaborated with The Kumars from the television programme The Kumars at No. 42 for the 2003 Comic Relief single, a cover of "Spirit in the Sky".[37]
- D Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes recorded under the name Sam & Mark.
- E The figure includes the joint number-one "The Long and Winding Road" / "Suspicious Minds".
See also
References
- General
- "(((Will Young > Discography)))". allmusic. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- "(((Gareth Gate > Discography)))". allmusic. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- "(((Darius > Discography)))". allmusic. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- "(((Michelle McManus > Discography)))". allmusic. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- "(((Sam & Mark > Discography)))". allmusic. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- Specific
- ↑ "Will wins Pop Idol". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 10 February 2002. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
- ↑ "Will Young wins Pop Idol contest". Telegraph Online. London: Telegraph Publishing Group. 9 February 2002. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
- 1 2 "Young scores record number one". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 3 March 2002. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ↑ "Michelle captures Pop Idol crown". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 December 2003. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
- ↑ "Pop Idol's Michelle tops charts". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 11 January 2004. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
- ↑ "Pop Idol's Gareth is number one". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 24 March 2002. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ↑ "Comic Relief tops record total". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 15 March 2003. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
- ↑ Pool, Hannah (19 April 2007). "Hannah Pool talks to Gareth Gates". Guardian Online. London: The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ↑ "Darius scores first number one". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 4 August 2002. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
- 1 2 "'Latin' Latvia win Eurovision". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 26 May 2002. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
- 1 2 "Sam And Mark Top The Chart". MTV. 1 August 2006. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ↑ Wilkes, Neil (2 August 2004). "Sam and Mark 'axed'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 "Will Young – Top 75 Releases". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Gareth Gates – Top 75 Releases". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- 1 2 "Rik Waller – Top 75 Releases". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- ↑ "Jessica Garlick – Top 75 Releases". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Darius – Top 75 Releases". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- 1 2 "Sarah Whatmore – Top 75 Releases". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- 1 2 "Rosie Ribbons – Top 75 Releases". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- ↑ "Zoe Birkett – Top 75 Releases". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- 1 2 3 "Michelle McManus – Top 75 Releases". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- ↑ "With a Little Help from My Friends / Measure of a Man". Chart Stats. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
- ↑ "The Sun Has Come Your Way". Chart Stats. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
- ↑ "Pop Idol album hits the shops". Newsround. British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 April 2002. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
- ↑ "Pop Idol stars hope for Xmas hit". Newsround. British Broadcasting Corporation. 24 October 2003. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
- ↑ "Pop Idols: Where are they now?". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 May 2003. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
- ↑ "Singer who knows Eurovision story". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
- ↑ Youngs, Ian (15 November 2004). "Pop stars sample Band Aid reality". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
- ↑ "Alexandra Burke's 'Hallelujah' joins 'million-selling singles list". New Musical Express. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ↑ "Hear'Say poised for pole chart position". Mail Online. London: Daily Mail. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
- ↑ "Pop Idol single 'flying off shelves'". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 26 February 2002. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
- ↑ "Band Aid 20 singles storms to No. 1". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 5 December 2004. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
- ↑ "Will Young and James Blunt win biggest selling single and album of the noughties". New Musical Express. 31 December 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ↑ "Idol singer picked for Eurovision". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 3 March 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
- ↑ "Pop Idol's Jessica third in Eurovision". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 26 May 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
- ↑ "Will turned down Disney cover with Gareth". Mail Online. London: Daily Mail. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- ↑ "Comic Relief charity singles over the years". uk.music.yahoo.com. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
External links