'''Charlotte Church''' (born '''Charlotte Maria Reed''' on February 21, 1986) is a Welsh pop singer who rose to international fame in childhood as a popular classical singer. To this date, she has sold more than ten million albums worldwide.
Early life
Church was born in Llandaff, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales. She was raised Catholic by her mother, Maria, separated from her natural father. She was legally adopted by her mother's second husband, James Church. She had her first taste of stardom when she performed "Ghostbusters" at a holiday camp in Caernarforn at the age of 3, and had to be dragged from the stage when she refused to leave. Her big break came at the age of 11 when she sang "Pie Jesu" on the television show ''Talking Telephone Numbers'' in 1997, closely followed by her show-stealing performance on ITV's ''Big, Big Talent Show'' in 1998. This led to concerts at Cardiff Arms Park, Royal Albert Hall and the opening spot for Shirley Bassey in Antwerp.
Classical career
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Voice of an Angel'', Charlotte's first album Charlotte was then introduced to the Cardiff-based impresario, Jonathan Shalit, who later became her manager, and negotiated a record contract with Sony BMG. Her breakthrough album, ''
Voice of an Angel'', showcased her unique voice in a collection of arias, sacred songs, and traditional pieces that sold millions of copies worldwide and made her the youngest artist with a No. 1 selling album to date.
Church later appeared on numerous PBS specials and television commercials, most notably in the acclaimed ''Just Wave Hello'' campaign for the Ford Motor Company. The song appeared on her self-titled second album, which included another array of operatic, religious, and traditional tracks.
In 2000, she released ''
Dream a Dream'', principally an album of Christmas carols, but including Charlotte's first foray into a more pop-influenced genre: the title track ''
Dream a Dream'', a memorable song borrowing the melody from Fauré's Pavane and featuring young American country singer Billy Gilman.
In 2001, Charlotte Church added more pop, swing, and Broadway to her classical repertoire with her album ''Enchantment''. That same year, movie-going audiences heard Church for the first time in the 2001 Ron Howard film ''A Beautiful Mind''. Since Celine Dion was not available to perform the film's end title song, "All Love Can Be" (Dion was beginning her concert engagement in Las Vegas), composer James Horner enlisted Charlotte to handle the vocals, and the song was re-written to Church's vocal range. Charlotte also handled other vocal passages throughout the score.
In 2002, at the age of 16, Charlotte
