Career
A prodigious child, Nathan Sykes started singing when he was barely six years old. In 2003, he won several competitions including Britney Spears' Karaoke Kriminals and Cheltenham Competitive Festival of Dramatic Art.
Following his victory at competitive level, Sykes appeared on ITV's Ministry of Mayhem in 2004 and won the Door Youth Project's ‘Undiscovered Youth Talent Contest’. At the contest, he performed ‘Mack the Knife’ in Derker.
In 2004, Sykes represented United Kingdom in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest held in Lillehammer. He finished the gala at the second runner-up spot, with his song, ‘Born to Dance’ closely behind runner up Andrew Merry and winner Cory Spedding.
In 2009, he auditioned for the boy band ‘The Wanted’. He was chosen as one of the five members of the group alongside Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Tom Parker and Jay McGuiness by Jayne Collins.
In October 2010, the band came up with its debut self-titled album ‘The Wanted’. It peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart. Its debut single, ‘All Time Low’ debuted at number one in the UK Top 20 singles chart. The other two songs that made it to the list include ‘Heart Vacancy’ which reached number 2 and ‘Lose My Mind’ that peaked at number 19.
Following the spectacular success of its debut album, the band came up with its follow-up album ‘Battleground’ in November 2011. The album peaked at number five in the UK. Its lead single ‘Gold Forever’ reached number three in the UK. The second single ‘Glad You Came’ topped the singles chart in the United Kingdom for two weeks becoming a number-one hit. It was followed up with the third and fourth singles ‘Lightning’ and ‘Warzone’ that peaked at number 2 and number 21 respectively.
After their phenomenal success in UK, the band, ‘The Wanted’ tasted success in the United States and Canada as well. Their single ‘Glad You Came’ sold 3 million copies in the US and became number three hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the Canadian Hot 100. Their follow-up singles "Chasing the Sun" and "I Found You" reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
The band, ‘The Wanted’ came up with its flagship reality series titled ‘The Wanted Life’ on E! The series documented the group’s life, their preparation for world tour and their stay in Los Angeles as they recorded their third worldwide album. The show premiered internationally in Autumn 2013. In USA, it premiered on June 2013. Same year, Sykes and American singer Ariana Grande released their collaborative single, ‘Almost Is Never Enough’.
In 2014, after a tour of the UK and the US, the band decided to take a break and pursue their personal endeavours. Same year, Sykes signed a record deal with Global Entertainment. In June 2014, together with Jessie J, he performed ‘Calling All Hearts’ for Capital's Summertime Ball, his fifth outing at the Ball.
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Year 2015 was a milestone year for Sykes in terms of his career. He came up with his first solo music video ‘More Than You'll Ever Know’ on Vevo. Subsequently, he went on his first solo tour in April, which included six sold-out shows in the United Kingdom. S
In July 2015, Sykes released his debut single ‘Kiss Me Quick’. The song peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. Following its success, he came up with the second single ‘Over and Over Again’ in November later that year.
His third single ‘Give It Up’ released in April 2016. The song was immediately banned as its music video contained unsuitable context.
Towards the end of 2016, Sykes came up with his debut studio album, ‘Unfinished Business’. It peaked at number 11 on the UK charts.
Nathan Sykes has served as a guest in various shows including ‘Loose Women’, ‘Chasing the Saturdays’, ‘CBBC Official Chart Show’, ‘Blue Peter’, ‘Sam & Mark's Big Friday Wind-Up’.
Major Works
Sykes first major breakthrough in his career came when he clinched a place for himself in the band, ‘The Wanted’. The band achieved phenomenal success right from their debut self-titled album ‘The Wanted’ which peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart. They soon followed it up with successful singles and blockbuster albums that created waves in the music industry.
Following the hiatus of ‘The Wanted’, Sykes launched his solo career as he released his debut single ‘Kiss Me Quick’. The song peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. It’s success led him to come up with his debut studio album, ‘Unfinished Business’ which peaked at number 11 on the UK charts.