Biography
Jonathan Ansell first gained widespread recognition singing high tenor for the English vocal ensemble G4, whose chart dominance led to his own solo launch in 2008 via the Top Ten release Tenor at the Movies. He entered the world as Jonathan Mark Ansell on March 10, 1982, in Bognor Regis, Sussex, England, and started his stage career at eight by enrolling in the West Sussex Boys Choir, where he sang until his voice changed. Prior to that change he performed as a treble; afterward his range settled into high tenor. This path eventually secured him a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he met fellow students Mike Christie, Tom Lowe, and Ben Thapa and together they launched the pop-opera outfit G4, short for Guildhall Four.
By 2004 the lineup had shifted when Matthew Stiff took Lowe’s spot, allowing G4 to reach the final of The X Factor, the ITV talent competition overseen by Simon Cowell; they finished runner-up behind winner Steve Brookstein. The exposure produced a major-label deal with Sony BMG, and their self-titled debut album G4 (2005) reached the top of the U.K. albums chart while outselling Brookstein’s own chart-topping Heart & Soul (2005). During the following two years the group completed five sold-out U.K. tours, issued the follow-ups G4 and Friends (2005) and Act Three (2006), and captured a concert on the DVD Live at the Royal Albert Hall (2005). Mounting internal friction prompted G4 to declare their split in April 2007.
Ansell then secured his own substantial solo agreement with Universal Music Group. His first album under that contract, Tenor at the Movies (2008), presented cinematic themes and climbed to number one on the U.K. classical albums chart, marking him as the youngest tenor to achieve that distinction; it also reached number nine on the main albums chart.
By 2004 the lineup had shifted when Matthew Stiff took Lowe’s spot, allowing G4 to reach the final of The X Factor, the ITV talent competition overseen by Simon Cowell; they finished runner-up behind winner Steve Brookstein. The exposure produced a major-label deal with Sony BMG, and their self-titled debut album G4 (2005) reached the top of the U.K. albums chart while outselling Brookstein’s own chart-topping Heart & Soul (2005). During the following two years the group completed five sold-out U.K. tours, issued the follow-ups G4 and Friends (2005) and Act Three (2006), and captured a concert on the DVD Live at the Royal Albert Hall (2005). Mounting internal friction prompted G4 to declare their split in April 2007.
Ansell then secured his own substantial solo agreement with Universal Music Group. His first album under that contract, Tenor at the Movies (2008), presented cinematic themes and climbed to number one on the U.K. classical albums chart, marking him as the youngest tenor to achieve that distinction; it also reached number nine on the main albums chart.
Albums