Laura White

Laura White believes music isn’t just a job, nor just a hobby; music is who she is. Laura loved music from the tender age of 4, listening to gospel/soul artists until deciding to learn piano aged 8. Laura then learned the clarinet, whilst secretly remaining quiet about the fact she desperately loved to sing. When asked what took her so long to show her talent, she replies: “I loved to sing, but it wasn’t the ‘normal’ stuff other kids my age did, so I was kind of shy to show what I felt with music. I felt music was my form of expressing how I felt and didn’t always feel comfortable sharing that with people." Looking at this now, you can see how Laura looks at music in a form so unique, it is what makes her an artist, not just another singer. At 14, Laura decided to enter talent shows advised by her loving family, who always believed in her talent. The day Laura was heard, she never looked back. At 15 she started to sing professionally around the country, singing in all types of musical venues; jazz bars “with as little as 4 people in at a time” she humbly explains, to festivals gigging with her original, first self compiled album that she wrote herself entitled For the Love of It All with her band, to the XFactor in 2008 playing to an audience of 12 million people. “It was so strange playing on the Xfactor, for me it was a gig but on a bigger scale! I felt so grateful after so many years, I was one of the 12 finalists from 182,000 applicants; people had finally heard Laura White.” Like many artists Laura had been noticed before the show, originally getting managed by music mogul Matt Aitken, starring in the TV show ‘The E4 School of performing Arts’ as one of the 8 singer/songwriters from 10,000 applicants and even singing with her hometown comedian Peter Kay! In November 08, Laura’s exit from the Xfactor was called the ‘biggest controversy in TV history’, with over 50,000 people petitioning for her return, her name discussed in parliament and thousands of viewers boycotting watching the show ever again. Yet, she herself never felt angry about it. “My music is just me. I am an artist who writes, plays and sings. I don’t mind if the Xfactor didn’t ‘get’ me I am just grateful for the opportunity.” Laura has had many amazing experiences in her life, and feels she has achieved a lot at the tender age of 21 yet she strongly claims “There is much more to come! Watch out for Laura White!” Laura has been working in the studio, for the last 3 months since the tour and is excited to release her debut single and album this summer! Laura has been working with renowned songwriter and producer Michelle Escoffery and Ian Green. She says “I am so excited because I have worked so hard. During the show, there was such an outrage when I left. I felt my fans picked me up and told me not to give up. People do love my music and I am doing this for them. I can be the real Laura White now." Laura’s strength throughout her career has been astonishing. Throughout her ups and downs she has continuingly fought and never given up. This is why we can all be sure 2009 will show a real star and that is Miss Laura White. What does she say when asked about this? “I am just grateful I got heard. I am so happy people love my music, I’ve always been different. Different is cool, I can only be me.” Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.