TV TalenT shows seT TheM on The paTh To recording success
Some musicians in Kent have found fame on a smaller scale and sometimes through alternative means including TV talent contests.
Noughties pop star Lee Ryan, from Chatham, hit the big time with four-piece Blue with Antony Costa, Duncan James and Simon Webbe.
The group sold more than 15 million records worldwide with three number ones.
Pop Idol gave birth to the careers of both Will Young and Gareth Gates in 2002 and it also gave rise to Gillingham’s talented singer Rik Waller.
The then 22-year-old was forced to withdraw from the ITV competition in just his second week due to a bout of severe laryngitis and was replaced by Darius Danesh.
Waller, now 36, signed a record deal with EMI in a deal worth up to £400,000 and had a top 10 hit with his rendition of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You.
When Waller was dropped by his record label he was subsequently snapped up by Red Admiral Records which backed a UK tour.
Three concerts, however, had to be cancelled due to poor ticket sales including a show at the Princess Theatre in Torquay, Devon, which had shifted just two tickets.
Waller ended his singing career in 2007 and took up a role as an exam invigilator in Sittingbourne.