Kate Ryan

Kate Ryan sure is an accomplished young lady. Only 28 years old, she's sold over a million records worldwide and charted a number of #1 hits across Europe - not too shabby for a girl from small town Belgium. Born Katrien Verbeeck in the Western village of Tessenderlo (better known for its WW2 munitions factories and railyards than anything else), Kate learned to play the guitar and piano at an early age, eventually learning to dance and sing through private lessons... More >

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Biography

Kate Ryan sure is an accomplished young lady. Only 28 years old, she's sold over a million records worldwide and charted a number of #1 hits across Europe - not too shabby for a girl from small town Belgium. Born Katrien Verbeeck in the Western village of Tessenderlo (better known for its WW2 munitions factories and railyards than anything else), Kate learned to play the guitar and piano at an early age, eventually learning to dance and sing through private lessons with her aunt, an accomplished music teacher.

She began to perform in bars and clubs while still in high school, joining an all-girl pop group called Melt at age 16. Though she remained a member of the group for a number of years (all the while studying jewelrymaking at a local art school), Melt was never successful and she began to work on solo material with local producer Andy Janssens in 2001. The pair released one successful single in 2001, "Scream For More", eventually leading to a record deal with EMI Belguim. She made her major label debut a year later with 2002's Different, which rose to the #1 spot in the Belgian music charts based on the wildfire success of of her second single "Desenchantee".

Though Different was only released in Europe, her second album Stronger saw an international release in 2005 on Warner Brothers Records. Though not nearly as successful as her debut album (due largely to weak promotional efforts by the labels), Stronger paved the way for her more highly-regarded third album Alive, which hit store shelves in 2006 - though it did not make it to American shores until 2008. Alive spawned a number of successful singles, among them "All For You" and "Alive". In the wake of Alive Kate stepped up her touring efforts, playing with a full backing band and making appearances at a number of high profile events, among them the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest and the 2007 Eurogames.

Ryan released her fourth and most successful album Free in mid-2008, to rave reviews from the European music press. Free has moved over 250,000 copies to date, fueled by the successful singles "Voyage Voyage", "Ella, Ella La" and "I Surrender". Kate plans to tour aggressively throughout 2009, with tentative plans to perform in South America and Canada.

From Discogs:

Born as Katrien Verbeeck in Tessenderlo, Belgium on July 22, 1980, is a Belgian singer/songwriter who gained international prominence with a cover of Mylène Farmer's "Désenchantée," which was a hit on European pop music charts. She signed with EMI Belgium and released her first album, "Different" in 2002 exclusively in Europe. In 2004, Kate Ryan released a second album "Stronger" in Europe and in North America in 2005.In 2006 she represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, singing "Je t'adore". However, she was eliminated in the semi-final, finishing two places outside the advancing Top 10, very unexpectedly, considering she was one of the top favourites for first place. Along with the elimination entries from Estonia and Cyprus, Ryan's dismissal was one of the bigger shocks of Eurovision 2006.

From Lastfm:

Kate Ryan (born Katrien Verbeeck on July 22, 1980) is a Belgian World Music Award winner. She began her singing career in 2001 and represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with "Je t'adore" coming in 12th place in the semi-final. Ryan was born in the small village of Tessenderlo, Belgium. She grew up in a musical family, and had talent for music at a very early age. At eight years of age she had learned to play the piano and guitar. She had singing and piano lessons from her aunt who teaches at a conservatory, but had other interests too.

Read more about Kate Ryan on Last.fm.

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From Wikipedia:

Kate Ryan (born Katrien Verbeeck on July 22, 1980) is a Belgian World Music Award winner. She began her singing career in 2001 and represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with "Je t'adore" coming in 12th place in the semi-final.

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