John William Peter Newman (born 16 June 1990)[2] is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He is best known for the track “Love Me Again” which peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart in July 2013 and appeared in FIFA 14, as well as co-writing and singing on Rudimental’s 2012 singles “Feel the Love” and “Not Giving In”, which peaked at number one and number 14 on the chart, respectively. In 2014, he featured in the Calvin Harris single “Blame”, which also topped the UK charts.
At the 2014 Brit Awards, Newman was nominated for three Brit Awards, including for British Male Solo Artist.[3] As of February 2014, Newman has sold over 1.3 million records in the UK alone.[4]
John William Peter Newman was born in Settle in the Yorkshire Dales and attended Settle College. When Newman was six years old, his father left the family, leaving his mother Jackie, his older brother James, and him with a pound a day.[5] In his youth Newman was influenced by Motown and Stax that he heard via his mother. He was also influenced by the Northern soul sound, which also influenced his dance style. Many over 30s from Settle would leave on a weekend to go to Northern soul nights all over Yorkshire.[6] He started playing guitar and writing his own songs at the age of 14 and soon learned how to record and produce himself, even making his own house tracks and DJing.[7]
At the age of sixteen, Newman moved to Leeds and it was here that he developed his voice and sound. It was whilst he was in Leeds that two of his best friends (both involved in professional downhill mountain biking) died in a car crash. Newman said, “In that first year of moving to Leeds, instead of being sat with books all over the library desk and studying music, I actually studied it in a totally different way…. because of what I was going through, and I was getting smashed every night and enjoying the student life but then sitting with a guitar and crying all night writing music.”[6] It was whilst in Leeds that he also found other people who appreciated Motown and Stax music and a time that Newman said “matured me in a musical way so much, I was writing pop music and now I feel like I’m writing music that I love and can really attach to.”[6]
At the age of twenty, Newman moved to London, started a band, played live and was signed to Island Records.[7] While working at The Silver Bullet bar, he made friends with Piers Agget, one fourth of Rudimental.[8] He released “Cheating” as a download song and plays an acoustic version of the track at gigs.[9]
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