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Natalie Bassingthwaighte
Natalie Bassingthwaighte at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion after having performed with the Rogue Traders as part of the line-up for the Fresh concert.
Background information
Born	1 September 1975 (1975-09-01) (age 34), Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Genres	Rock, dance, pop,
Occupations	Actress, singer, songwriter, presenter, author.
Labels	Sony Music
Associated acts	Rogue Traders
Website	www.nataliebassingthwaighte.com

Natalie Bassingthwaighte (born 1 September 1975) is an Australian actress, singer, and television personality. She attended and graduated from Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts(WHSPA). She is the former lead vocalist of electro-pop band Rogue Traders, author of a book for teenage girls and host of So You Think You Can Dance Australia. She is perhaps best known for the role of Izzy Hoyland on the soap opera Neighbours from 2003 to 2007, which gained her nominations for the TV Week Gold Logie. Her debut album 1000 Stars debuted at number 1 on 1 March 2009.

Biography

Acting career

Before being cast in Neighbours, Bassingthwaighte had starred in a few television roles, including All Saints, Home and Away, Heartbreak High and The Lost World. Bassingthwaighte's character, Izzy Hoyland on Neighbours had an evil streak and often caused trouble, including having an affair with a married man. She left the show in late-2006 to focus on her singing career and joined the Rogue Traders, and returned briefly in March 2007 for a two-week guest stint that was filmed in London where Rogue Traders were touring at the time.

In 2006, Bassingthwaighte was nominated for a Gold Logie for the first time since joining Neighbours. The Gold Logie is the biggest award at the Australian TV Week Logie Awards, which is presented to the "Most Popular Personality on Television." She was also nominated for a Silver Logie for "Best Actress," but failed to win either award. Bassingthwaighte was nominated for a Silver Logie for "Most Popular Actress" at the 2007 Logies, but lost to Home and Away's Kate Ritchie.

In 2007, Bassingthwaighte filmed a role in the low-budget Australian horror film, Prey, directed by George T. Miller.^[1] Set in the Outback of Western Australia, Prey follows a group of six young people lured into the desert by a local character, whose master needs fresh victims to consume.^[2][3][4] In 2004, Bassingthwaighte filmed a role in the low-budget Australian movie, When Darkness Falls, directed by Rohan Spong. She played the character of Jinx de Luxe and sang the Marilyn Monroe song, "Every Baby Needs a Da Da Daddy," onscreen.

In 2010 she will play a minor role in Channel Nine's Underbelly:The Golden Mile.

Music career

Bassingthwaighte performing live with Rogue Traders at Sydney's Revesby Worker's Club in 2008.

Bassingthwaighte has performed in many musicals, mostly with a rock flavour including RENT, Footloose she has several times over the past 5 years toured as Sandy in Grease, against Craig McLachlan and Miguel Ayesa, who was her castmate in RENT. Most Grease productions were 'Arena Spectaculars' with many big names presented, instead of focusing on the lead actors. Before joining Rogue Traders, Bassingthwaighte had recorded her own demos that were to be sent out to record labels. Bassingthwaighte described the style of the music as acoustic rock.

From late 2004 to mid 2008 she was the lead singer of an Australian electro-rock group, The Rogue Traders, a band which had limited success before she joined. The Rogue Traders achieved great success with their album Here Come The Drums, which spawned five hit singles: "Voodoo Child", "Way to Go!", "Watching You", "We're Coming Home" and "In Love Again". The success of Rogue Traders led to their third album, titled Better in the Dark and was released on the 13 October 2007 in Australia, later in Europe and America which was well received. Better in the Dark spawned two hit singles: "Don't You Wanna Feel" and "I Never Liked You". A third single, "What You're On", reached a lowly position of #30 and spent only 7 weeks in the charts. A fourth single was to be released despite the poor performance of their last single. It would have been released if Natalie would continue with the band. It was confirmed by James Ash to be "On Your Way To The Disco".

Home: Songs Of Hope & Journey, a compilation that was released on 25 November 2006, features a duet with Bassingthwaighte and Shannon Noll, which is a cover of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush's "Don't Give Up". The song was released as a single on 9 December 2006, debuting on the ARIA Charts at number seven, before peaking at number 2 the following week.

Bassingthwaighte also recorded a version of "O Holy Night" for The Spirit of Christmas 2006, a Christmas compilation album in which all proceeds go to The Salvation Army in Australia. Bassingthwaighte sang the Australian national anthem Advance Australia Fair at the 2007 AFL Grand Final.^[5] Bassingthwaighte and Shannon Noll hooked up again in 2007 to record a duet of 'Please Come Home For Christmas' which appeared on the 2007 Myer Spirit of Christmas compilation album.^[6]

On 25 June 2008, Rogue Traders frontman James Ash posted a message to fans on their official forum announcing Bassingthwaighte was leaving him to pursue her own solo career.^[7]

In October 2008 Natalie performed Mariah Carey's "Hero" at the Rugby League World Cup opening ceremony.

On 8 March 2009 at 7.50 am, Natalie performed the closing show, in the Royal Hall of Industries (RHI), at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Party. She sang Supersensual, the rumoured third single from her album 1000 Stars. Partygoer's were surprised towards the end of the performance when hundreds of rubber ball-shaped objects suddenly started bouncing above people's heads.

Debut solo album: 1000 Stars

Bassingthwaighte previewing songs from her debut album "1000 Stars" live in Sydney .

In 2006, Natalie signed a record deal with Sony BMG to record a solo album. She began work on the album, but not until mid-2008 did any major progress begin. She traveled to London, Norway and the US to write and record the album. She worked with some of the biggest names in pop, including Chris Braide (Cheryl Cole, Westlife)) Paul Barry (Cher, Tina Turner), Steve Anderson (Kylie Minogue), Jimmy Harry (Pink, Britney Spears) and rising Norwegian star Ina Wroldsen.^[8]

Natalie's debut solo single and first single from the album, "Alive" was set to be released to radio in Australia on 10 October 2008, but made its debut on the morning of 13 October 2008 due to a clash in release schedules with Beyoncé Knowles's new single "If I Were A Boy". It is an up-tempo, electro-pop song. Natalie co-wrote the song with Andy Frampton and Arnthor Birgisson. The single was released in stores on 8 November 2008. It has peaked at #8 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

On 2 November 2008, it was reported in the Herald Sun that Natalie Bassingthwaighte's new album would be titled 1000 Stars.^[9]

Natalie lists the tracks "1000 Stars" and "In His Eyes", which is about her grand Dad, as her favourite tracks she's written for the album in an interview with GQ Magazine.^[10] She also wrote a song that appears on the album with partner Cameron McGlinchey, called "Feel the Flow".^[11]

The second single off the album "Someday Soon," was released on January 10. It peaked at #7. Natalie's debut solo album "1000 Stars" was released on the 20th of February 2009. The album debuted at number 1 on the 1st of March.

"1000 Stars" was the third single to be released from the album. It was released on 2 May 2009.^[12] "1000 Stars" debuted at #30 on the Aria Singles Chart (5/11/09). The fourth single was Not For You. The single was released 24 July. The single was released along with a new look for Bassingthwaighte, however it did not chart.

The fifth and final single from 1000 Stars was Love Like This. The video clip was filmed in December 2009 in Sydney, and used as part of the 'Wear It With Pride' campaign, which Natalie has signed on as ambassador. The single was released on January 29, 2010, coinciding with the launch of the Wear It With Pride campaign on February 2, 2010.

Other projects

Bassingthwaighte and her younger sister Nicky Moore have written a book for eight to fourteen-year-old girls with the title of Sistahood! A Journal of Self-Discovery. The book is aimed at encouraging girls to follow their dreams and be all they can be, the book was released in April 2008.^[13][14]

Bassingthwaighte has hosted the Australian series of So You Think You Can Dance.^[15] She has hosted the shows second season in 2009 ^[16] She has also been named the host of the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards 2008 alongside WWE superstar John Cena^[17]

The second season of So You Think You Can Dance Australia earnt her a Silver Logie nomination as best TV Presenter(won by Rove MacManus) and a 2nd Gold Logie Nomination. Natalie hosted So You Think You Can Dance Australia for its third season.^[18]

Personal life

In the December 2006 issue of Men's Style magazine, she mentioned that she was married for a short time when she was 23.^[19] Natalie is in a relationship with ex-Rogue Traders drummer Cameron McGlinchey and is currently expecting her first child later this year with him.^[20]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Filmography

Theatre

Bibliography

• 2008: Sistahood! A Journal of Self-Discovery (Co-author with sister Nicky Moore)

Awards and nominations

External links

• Official Website
• NatBassingthwaighte.com

References