Natalie Imbruglia

Natalie Jane Imbruglia (pronounced im-brul-yah) (born February 4, 1975) is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress.

In the early 1990s, Imbruglia was known to audiences as Beth Willis in the popular Australian soap Neighbours (also responsible for launching pop singer Kylie Minogue). Two years after leaving the program, she launched a highly successful singing career with the international hit, "Torn"; the subsequent debut album Left of the Middle (1998) selling 6 million copies worldwide. While following releases White Lilies Island (2001) and Counting Down the Days (2005) have been unable to match the commerical success of her debut, the latter became her first UK #1. Imbruglia is married to Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns. To date she has sold more than 8 million albums around the world.

Early life

Born as second of the four daughters to an Italian father and an Australian mother, Imbruglia grew up on the Central Coast, north of Sydney. Imbruglia studied ballet as a child, hoping to make a career out of it. Later, she started auditioning for Australian TV commercials and appeared in spots for Coke and the popular Australian snack Twisties. By age 16, she left high school to start a career in acting. Eventually, she obtained the chance to play a regular role on the Australian soap opera, Neighbours at the age of 16 1/2. Neighbours has also launched the careers of many other successful Australian female artists such as Kylie Minogue, Holly Valance, Delta Goodrem and Natalie Bassingthwaite. However, by the end of her second year, she left the show to move to London, immersing herself in the city's club scene.

There, she decided to try her hand at singing, something which she had never attempted before. Her effort paid off and she was signed to BMG Publishing. She came up with a demo of the song "Torn" which greatly impressed RCA Records and got her a record contract.

Music

Natalie Imbruglia is one of the most successful Australian-born female singers. She has received one MTV Awards for Best New Artist in 1998, and 3 constitutive nominations of Grammy Awards in 1999.

She was ranked #11 on Rock on the Net's list of single artists of the year in 1998, and #76 in 2001.

Torn

Her first internationally released single, "Torn", was an Ednaswap cover. Instantly the single became one of the biggest hits of the 90s reaching number-two in the UK Singles Chart and number-one on airplay around the world, the single went on to sell over a million copies in the United Kingdom alone.

It was also released as a radio single in the US, but not in buyable CD-format. The single quickly hit #1 on the Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay chart, where it stayed for eleven weeks. At the time singles not released commerically were unable to chart to the overall Hot 100 chart (combined sales and airplay) so "Torn" made no appearance here. The single also topped the Top 40 Mainstream/CHR Pop and Adult Top 40 charts.

In October 1997, it broke the all time airplay record in the UK for being the most played (more than 2000 plays) for six consecutive weeks. It was, finally No. 1 for 11 weeks in the UK radio chart, a record that is being tied by only Simply Red's Fairground. It was No. 1 radio single in the USA from March to July 1998. It was knocked down to No. 2 by Alanis Morissette's "Uninvited".

Rick Dees, in his Top 40 Chart show also declared Torn as the 'number one radio single of 1990s' in their 2000 Millennium Countdown show, broadcasted from KIIS-FM on News Years Eve.

Imbruglia made a surprise appearance alongside David Armand midway through a performance of his supposed 'interpretative dance' routine to her hit song Torn at Amnesty International's The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006)

The royalty Imbruglia received from Torn single and airplay is rumoured to be GBP 5 million in 1997 and 1998. Since then, she received no less than GBP 1 million annually due to the prolonged airplay of the song worldwide.

Left of the Middle

Her debut album Left of the Middle followed soon after. The second single released in the UK, after "Torn" was "Big Mistake." The song debuted at number-two. "Wishing I Was There" followed and it was less successful than her first two singles, reaching number 19. However, "Wishing I Was There" was a smash hit on the UK radio, peaked at No. 2 in summer 1998, and was a summer smash hit in the USA radio, peaked at No. 14 on the Top 40 Show. The final single from Left of the Middle was "Smoke", and the reception was much more divided compared to the other singles. It was a hit in the UK and made the top 5, while in Australia it just missed the top 40. Eventually, the album became a million-seller after charting well in many countries and entering the Top 10 in the US and UK. In 1999, she collaborated with Welsh singer Tom Jones and appeared on an INXS cover from his album Reload.

Left of the Middle was certified platinum by RIAA within 8 week release (May 1998) and was certified 2X platinum in November 1998.

White Lilies Island

Imbruglia’s next album, White Lilies Island, arrived in 2001. Named after one of her summer homes, the writing process took almost three years to complete. The album's first single, "That Day," was very different stylistically from her previous singles, and it did not reach the UK Top 10. The song, which some found reminiscent of Lisa Loeb's style, did not do well in her home country either. In the US, "Wrong Impression" was released as the first single and it enjoyed small success, charting in the Hot 100 Singles chart and the Adult Contemporary chart. The track was also released in the UK as a second single, and it did slightly better than That Day. "Beauty On The Fire", the final single, experienced minimal success and barely entered charts worldwide. In Australia it did not even make the top 50. "Beauty On The Fire", however, was one of the more critically-acclaimed tracks from White Lilies Island and is considered by fans to be her most underrated single. The album still managed to sell around a million copies but failed to repeat the widespread success of Left of the Middle. She got married in 2003 to her long-time boyfriend, Daniel Johns, the lead singer of Silverchair.

Counting Down the Days

Imbruglia's third album was ready in November 2003. Imbruglia's record label refused to release it due to it being too rock and not radio-friendly. She was later given songs to record with Scandinavian pop producers, which she refused to do. Imbruglia and her record label parted ways at the beginning of 2004. Four months later she signed with a new label Brightside Recordings, which was formed by a former Innocent Records boss Hugh Goldsmith. Imbruglia started working on an album again. In April 2005, Imbruglia released her third studio album Counting Down the Days in the UK with "Shiver" as its first single. "Shiver" was a huge success, and it became her longest running single in the UK since "Torn." It topped UK airplay charts for several weeks, reaching eighth place in the UK charts. Still, the song’s acclaim and reception paid off and Counting Down The Days became her first album to reach the top spot on the album charts. It was decided that 'Sanctuary' would be second single from the album. The promo singles were sent to radio stations. The decision was later changed to the title track "Counting Down the Days", with radio stations being asked to play the album version, because the radio mix was not finished. The single was released on July 25th but it did not have as much success in the singles chart as "Shiver." It managed to reignite interest in its parent album though, and also received a lot of airplay in the UK. Due to the single, the album managed to re-enter the top 40 in the official UK charts. Imbruglia also did a small European tour in late October and November to promote the album. The track "Perfectly" from the album received airplay in the UK following Counting Down the Days, but it was never released as a single.

Fourth album

Imbruglia started working on her 4th album at the end of 2005. It is expensively budgeted and was written in the UK, USA and Australia.^{[citation needed]} The recording process took place between Spring and late Autumn 2006. Gary Clark, Debbie French, Crispin Hunt, Daniel Johns, Fiona Renshaw and Dan Wilson are confirmed co-writers for the album.

The album is facing a delay and will not be released until early 2008.

Other recordings

In 1999 Natalie released the single "Identify", considered by many fans to be among her best recordings despite its relative obscurity. Written by Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins fame, the dark, brooding song — an artistic departure for Natalie — appeared only on a CD single and on the soundtrack for the movie Stigmata. Natalie also wrote a song with Nick Seymour and David Biegel in 1999 called "Troubled By The Way We Came Together" which was part of the soundtrack for the movie "Go".

Film Career

Johnny English

Imbruglia made her big screen debut as an actress in the British comedy, Johnny English. Starring alongside Rowan Atkinson, she played a supporting role as Lorna Campbell. The movie also featured another musical talent, Bond, in a cameo appearance. Internationally, the movie did well despite negative reviews from critics. It topped box offices in 20 countries and grossed around $150m.

Elise

Since 2004, Imbruglia has been preparing for the small, self-financed lead role of Elise Silverton in the Australian independent film Elise. The film is based on Georgia Blain's novel Closed for Winter. Elise is directed by James Bogle. As confirmed by its director James Bogle, shooting will start in September/October 2007 in Adelaide, Australia.

TV

Neighbours

Imbruglia made her first regular TV appearance in popular Australian soap Neighbours at the age 16 in 1991. She played the role of Beth Willis on the show.

L'Oréal

Imbruglia became a worldwide spokesperson for L'Oréal after the release of White Lilies Island. Today, she is still a model for many cosmetic products by L'Oréal, particularly mascaras and skincare products. She also appeared in TV commercial for L'Oréal.

Late World with Zach Galifianakis

Imbruglia appeared on the first episode of Late World with Zach Galifianakis. She was the first celebrity to be interviewed on the show by Zach Galifianakis . She performed 'Wrong Impression' and 'Torn' at the end of the show. This appearance involved acting intermixed with interview.

Personal causes

Imbruglia has campaigned to end poverty and to bring attention to the disease known as fistula, defined as an abnormal connection or passageway between organs or vessels that normally do not connect. She appeared in a sketch at the Secret Policeman's Ball for Amnesty International on October 31, 2006. She has also spoken publically of suffering from clinical depression to raise awareness about the disorder.^[1]

Looks & Fashion

Imbruglia was named 6th most naturally beautiful woman of all time in 2004.^[2] Audrey Hepburn topped the poll in which only experts like fashion editors, model agents and make-up artists could vote. She was ranked 90th on VH1 100 Sexiest Artists.

She has been seen fashioning tattoos of Sanskrit/Hindi inscription "Shreya" on her neck, Chinese word for courage on her left foot and Sanskrit Aum on her lower back.

Imbruglia stated that she has never had any plastic surgery and added that she can understand why people get it done, but added she would never consider it herself as she wants to "grow old gracefully, wrinkles and all".^{[citation needed]}

Discography

Studio albums

Left of the Middle (RCA Records 1997)

White Lilies Island (RCA Records 2001)

Counting Down the days (Brightside Recordings 2005)

Singles

Torn (RCA Records) 7 April 1998	Big Mistake (RCA Records) 8 March 1998	Wishing I Was There (RCA Records) 31 May 1998	Smoke (RCA Records) 11 October 1998
That Day (Sony BMG) 29 October 2001	Wrong Impression (Sony BMG) 11 March 2002	Beauty on the Fire (Sony BMG) 22 July 2002	Shiver (Sony BMG) 21 March 2005
Counting Down the Days (Sony BMG) 25 July 2005

Top-ten singles

Music Videos

In chronological order

Torn (Director: Alison Maclean)	Big Mistake (Director: Alison Maclean)	Wishing I was there (Director: Alison Maclean)	Smoke (Director: Matthew Rolston)
Identify (Director: Samuel Bayer)	It's Only Rock'n Roll (But I Like It) (Charity Single)	That Day (Director: John Hillcoat)	Wrong Impression (Director: Francis Lawrence)
Beauty on the Fire (Director: Mike Lipscombe)	Shiver (Director: Jake Nava)	Counting Down the Days (Director: Giuseppe Capotondi)

Some appearances

• "Troubled by the Way We Came Together" on Go motion picture soundtrack (1999)
• "Never Tear Us Apart" with Tom Jones on his album Reload (1999)
• "Identify" on Stigmata O.S.T (1999)
• "Cold Air" on Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too) motion picture soudntrack (2001)
• "Pineapple Head" on She Will Have Her Way, a tribute to the music of Neil Finn (2005)

See also

• List of singer-songwriters

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