Joseph McElderry (; born 16 June 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He won the sixth series of The X Factor in 2009. His first single "The Climb" reached number one on both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Charts. He was also the winner of the second series of Popstar to Operastar in 2011 and the first series of The Jump in 2014. In 2015, McElderry played the lead role of Joseph in the touring production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. In 2022, McElderry performed his Freedom Tour, a tribute to George Michael.
To date, McElderry has released five top 20 albums – two of them reaching the UK top three.Joe McElderry talks about his second Top 3 album The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
Early life Joseph McElderry was born on 16 June 1991 in South Shields, England. McElderry is the only child of Jim and Eileen (née Joyce) McElderry. The couple separated when McElderry was a child. He was raised in a small flat in South Shields.
McElderry attended Harton Technology College in Lisle Road, South Shields, before joining South Tyneside College to study AS level school qualifications. Subsequently, he joined Newcastle College to study performing arts. He was the Pride of South Tyneside's Young Performer of the Year in 2008. He studied for BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts (Advanced Performance) at Newcastle College Performance Academy. In 2009, he took the role of 'Danny Zuko' in Grease which was performed at Harton Technology College.
Career
2007–2010: The X Factor and touring The X Factor McElderry auditioned for The X Factor in 2007 and made it to bootcamp. At the time, he believed that he was too young compared to the other contestants and opted to walk away. He auditioned again in 2009 and sang Luther Vandross's "Dance with My Father". Mentored by Cheryl Cole, he made it through to the live finals and was announced the winner on 13 December 2009, beating runner-up Olly Murs with his version of "The Climb". McElderry's prize, as winner, was a recording contract with Simon Cowell's Syco record label, whose parent company is Sony Music Entertainment. The contract had a stated value of £1 million, of which £150,000 was a cash advance and the remainder allocated to recording and marketing costs.
Along with The X Factor finalists, McElderry recorded vocals for on a charity single, a cover of Michael Jackson's hit "You Are Not Alone". It was released in aid of London's Great Ormond Street Hospital. The finalists premiered the song live on the edition of 15 November of the programme; the single was available for digital download that day and a physical release followed the day after. The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart.
McElderry performed the following songs during The X Factor 2009:
WeekSong choiceOriginal artistThemeResult Audition"Dance with My Father"Luther VandrossFree ChoiceTo bootcamp Bootcamp"Praying for Time"George MichaelFree ChoiceFinal 24 / To Judges' HouseJudges' House"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"Elton JohnFree ChoiceFinal 12"Imagine"John LennonFree Choice Week 1"No Regrets"Robbie WilliamsMusical heroesSafe (3rd) Week 2"Where Do Broken Hearts Go"Whitney HoustonDivasSafe (4th) Week 3"Sway"Dean MartinBig bandSafe (2nd) Week 4"Don't Stop Believin'"JourneyRockSafe (3rd) Week 5"Circle of Life"Elton JohnSongs from filmsSafe (2nd) Week 6"Somebody to Love"QueenQueen songsSafe (2nd) Week 7"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"Elton JohnWham!/George Michael songsSafe (1st)Quarter-final"Could It Be Magic"Barry Manilow/Take ThatTake That songsSafe (1st)"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"Elton JohnElton John songsSemi-final"She's Out of My Life" Michael JacksonMichael Jackson songsSafe (1st)"Open Arms"JourneyMentor's choiceFinal"Dance with My Father"Luther VandrossAudition songSafe (1st)"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (Performed with George Michael)Elton JohnCelebrity duet"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"Elton JohnFavourite performance"Don't Stop Believin'"JourneyContestant's favouriteWinner (1st)"The Climb"Miley CyrusWinner's song
After The X Factor McElderry's debut single, "The Climb", was available to download at midnight on 14 December 2009 and was released physically on 16 December 2009. According to industry sources, approximately 100,000 copies of the single were sold on the day of its release but it was not enough to knock Rage Against The Machine off the spot in the UK in its opening week. On 18 December 2009, it was announced that McElderry secured the top spot in the Irish Singles Chart for 11–17 December 2009.
"The Climb" was a contender for 2009's UK Christmas number one, competing against, and losing to, Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name". McElderry's single sold 450,000 compared to Rage Against the Machine's 502,000 after a Facebook-based campaign was started in protest of The X Factors dominance of the Christmas number one title. This was the first time since 2004 that the X Factor winning single was denied the top spot for Christmas in the UK Singles Charts. Simon Cowell stated that he was "gutted for Joe because a number one single meant a lot to him. But I have to congratulate Jon and Tracy [Morter, who started the Facebook campaign]." McElderry's single stayed at number one on the Irish charts for a second week securing him the Irish Christmas number one (18–25 December 2009), and the song moved up to the top spot in the UK Singles Chart on 27 December. The single had the fifth highest sales of all UK singles released in 2009 staying one week at 1, and was the top-selling Irish single of 2009, where it remained at the top spot for four consecutive weeks.
"The Climb" was nominated in the British Single category at the 2010 BRIT Awards but lost out to fellow X Factor contestants JLS. McElderry performed "Don't Stop Believin'" and presented an award at the 15th National Television Awards in London on 20 January 2010. In January 2010, he participated in the Helping Haiti charity single, a cover of "Everybody Hurts" arranged by Simon Cowell to raise money for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
On 15 March, it was reported that McElderry had signed a modelling deal with Next Models.
2010–11: Wide Awake and Departure from Syco In 2010, McElderry recorded his debut album, Wide Awake, which was released on 25 October 2010.Joe McElderry confirms album release date on Twitter. The first single released from Wide Awake was "Ambitions", a cover of a song by Norwegian band Donkeyboy.Joe McElderry announces single title Digital Spy. Retrieved 13 September 2010. He filmed a music video for the song in September 2010.Joe McElderry to shoot video this week STV.tv. Retrieved 10 September 2010. Ambitions premiered on BBC Radio One on 19 September 2010.Joe McElderry covers Donkeyboy! Er, who? , Music Blog of The Guardian (20 September 2010). Retrieved 24 October 2011.
Wide Awake debuted at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart, with retail sales of 39,405 copies in the country during the album's first week of release.Alan Jones, Reality stars top UK sales charts From Music Week (30 August 2011). Retrieved 9 September 2011. The album fell to number 20 on the chart the following week, and to number 40 the week after that. As of 4 December 2011, 101,454 copies of the album had been sold at retail in the United Kingdom.Alan Jones, Official Album Chart analysis: Olly Murs becomes 10th X Factor No. 1 From Music Week (4 December 2011). Retrieved 18 December 2011.
"Someone Wake Me Up" was the second single taken from the album.Joe McElderry selects Someone Wake Me Up as next single sevenfootsounds.com. Retrieved 25 October 2010. It was released as a single on 5 December 2010 in the United Kingdom. It debuted and peaked at number 68 on the UK Singles Chart.
McElderry was approached by Twentieth Century Fox to record the specially written track, "There's A Place For Us", written by American singer Carrie Underwood. The track features in the soundtrack to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.Joe records the title track for the new The Chronicles of Narnia movie . Retrieved 27 July 2011. and was also the B-side to "Someone Wake Me Up". The song was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 2011 for Best Original Song – Motion Picture.
McElderry told Terry Wogan in an interview on BBC Radio 2 that he had parted ways with Syco in February 2011.Interview with Terry Wogan on BBC Radio Two (17 July 2011). From YouTube. Retrieved 11 September 2011. McElderry told Tony Horne that he had a meeting with Syco staff members in February 2011. At the meeting, he expressed his unhappiness with the company, and told staff members that his relationship with Syco was not working for him. McElderry has also stated that his split with Syco was amicable, and there was no "fight" between them.Interview with Beacon Radio (10 August 2011). From YouTube. Retrieved 11 September 2011. He told the Shields Gazette: "I really like Simon Cowell and always think very highly of him .... There's no hard feelings there — there never has been and never will be."Joe wants to party at Bents Park at Shields Gazette (11 July 2011). Retrieved 11 September 2011. He told Capital FM on 19 August 2011 that he was "forever thankful" to Syco and Simon Cowell for the opportunity they gave him.Interview with Capital FM (19 August 2011). From YouTube. Retrieved 11 September 2011. He also denied a report (attributed to an unnamed "friend" in the Daily Mails article about Syco's dropping of him) that he was "devastated" when Syco dropped him.Interview with Radio Aire (18 August 2011). From YouTube. Retrieved 11 September 2011Joe McElderry Exclusive Out in the City (September 2011 print issue; appeared online on 23 August 2011). Retrieved 11 September 2011.
Also in 2011, McElderry terminated his relationship with Modest! Management, the management company that had managed him since his victory on X Factor.
On 9 May 2011, McElderry performed the song "Something's Coming" from West Side Story at a reception at Buckingham Palace that celebrated young people in the performing arts.Press Association, Palace Date for Romeo and Juliet , published on the website of the Warrington Guardian on 9 May 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
2011: Popstar to Operastar and Classic
In late January or early February 2011, ITV approached McElderry's management about his being a contestant on the upcoming second series of Popstar to Operastar. McElderry agreed and entered the show, which started on 5 June 2011. McElderry won Popstar to Operastar on 10 July 2011. After the show it was revealed that, in all of the episodes in which he competed, McElderry received more votes than all of the other contestants combined, never receiving less than 58.2% of the total public votes.
On 11 July 2011, McElderry confirmed that he would be recording his second studio album.Joe wants to party at Bents Park at Shields Gazette. Retrieved 11 July 2011. The label was later revealed to be Decca Records.Joe McElderry is glad to be 'out of the X Factor machine' STV. Retrieved 17 July 2011. On 24 July 2011, he headlined a free homecoming gig at Bents Park as part of South Tyneside Summer Festival 2011, singing a set list of 20 songs, with over 20,000 people in the audience- the biggest turnout the event has ever had.Homecoming gig has Joe buzzing for more Shields Gazette. Retrieved 28 July 2011. His album, Classic, was released on 22 August 2011. Classic debuted on the official UK top 40 albums chart at number 2 on the chart that was released on 3 September 2011.