Source: http://www.kateryan.be/ Kate Ryan (born Katrien Verbeeck (22/07/1980)) started out impersonating Madonna. In her earliest childhood years she brought a miniature material girl to life on countless parties and school activities. Meanwhile, Kate developed other interests such as horse-riding and water-skiing, which she both practises at quite a good level up to this very day.
As virtually the whole (Verbeeck) family played either the guitar or the piano, gifted Kate developed an equally large soft spot for both instruments. In art school, Kate impassioned her teachers with her intangible feel for drawing and painting.
As her parents owned their own café and pub concerts are quite popular in Flanders, the region around her home town Meerhout got to know Kate’s talent quite well. Armed with only a guitar and a considerable load of guts, Kate hit the stage and performed songs by Alanis Morissette, 4 Non-Blondes, Pointer Sisters or Aretha Franklin. Also, she toured as a backing vocalist with the Soapband, a renowned bunch of the country’s foremost television actors. In studio, Kate honed her skills recording an album, which she partially co-wrote, with the local pop group Melt.
Then came 2001. Her big break came when one of her own creations, composed with the help of AJ (Andy Janssens), was picked up by the big boys. Scream for more, Kate’s debut single, was produced by Phil Wilde, once the producer behind 2 Unlimited, Def Dames Dope and C.B. Milton. Kate’s management 2Brains Music saw her star rising abroad in no time: the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Germany, South Africa, the Uk and the States were the first in line to welcome the new star on the airwaves.
In Belgium, Scream for more was a huge summer floorbuster (17 weeks charts) and gathered nominations for a Radio Donna Award and, as best single of the year (!), for an award of Belgium’s biggest music television TMF.
On October 8th, 2001 the second single UR My love was released.
This second hit saw Kate adding Finland, Israel, Mexico and several parts of South-America to her list. The video was released mid December, when she also performed several shows in Chicago!
In 2002 Kate decided to have her way in French. Mylène Farmer’s classic Désenchantée was converted into a dance version and the result exceeded all expectations, reaching number 1 in no time - and settling there for 6 weeks on end! - and equally landing the Dutch top 5. (release on CD Single: March 29th 2002)
In June 2002 Kate’s debut album Different was released, 12-tracks and 3 French bonustracks. This album combines rock, pop, dance and ballads. Kate c-wrote all tracks on the album.
Kate’s album is also about to be signed for release in the USA. Shortly (scheduled for July 23rd), the US will see the release of a special double A-sided single, containing both UR (My love) and Désenchantée. The latter song is currently also set for the long-awaited release in France (July 2nd) and the UK (date to be confirmed), where it will hit stores on the prestigious Positiva label!
Source: http://www.kateryan.be/
