128-447: " Your Game " is a song by British singer Will Young . It was written by Young, Taio Cruz and Blair MacKichan for his second studio album, Friday's Child (2003), while production was helmed by Stephen Lipson and MacKichan. The song was released as the album's second single on 15 March 2004, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart . "Your Game" won the Brit Award for Song of the Year in 2005. A music video for "Your Game"
256-556: A company director of an engineering firm, and Annabel Young (née Griffith), a plant nursery gardener. Born six weeks premature, he was ten minutes older than his twin brother, Rupert who died in July 2020. He also has an older sister Emma. Young was born into an affluent, middle-class family, whose paternal ancestry has strong ties to the British government and military services. His grandfather, Digby Aretas Young (d. 1966) served in
384-474: A 100% win record. In 2010–11 the club finished bottom of National League 2S, with a single win and twenty-nine defeats. The club was founded in 1928 and in 1996 moved to a new purpose-built ground at Monks Lane, which has since hosted England U21 fixtures. The Bracknell Bees Ice Hockey Club are former national champions, who play in the English Premier League . Slough Jets also play in
512-604: A B in English. In 1998 Young began studying politics at the University of Exeter , choosing the subject because, "I thought I should know more about what was going on in my country." He also took women's studies at university and considers himself a feminist . His interest in performing arts continued, and he joined a theatre group called Footlights where he eventually landed the lead role of Curly in their production of Oklahoma! "I really enjoyed it and doing that gave me
640-419: A boy called Daniel; crying on the bathroom floor, feeling like Elizabeth Taylor. This is not a covers album as such, well certainly not in the standard way. I wanted to bring songs from female artists who I admire into a new arena. I wanted to work with Richard X again and create a true pop record." " Daniel ", the lead single taken from the album, was released on 26 April 2021, with the official video released on
768-523: A brief moment earlier in the series Young was favoured to win, bookmakers gave Gates better odds on the eve of the Grand Final, pointing to his angelic voice, good looks and displays of emotion that appealed to a younger audience, compared with Young's soulful crooning and maturity appealing to housewives and intellectuals. Gates was given various odds of 1/5, 2/9 and 2/7, while Young's odds were quoted at 100/30, 11/4, 3/1 and 5/2 at different times in
896-553: A dignity that had humbled him. Young later stated that his proudest moment of the entire competition was this incident. Young easily progressed through each subsequent round by performing jazz, lounge and soul versions of songs such as " Wives and Lovers ", " Ain't No Sunshine " and " Beyond the Sea ". In the first four weeks of the Live Finals, he received the highest percentage of votes. In weeks five, six and seven, he received
1024-618: A double A-side with Gates's song " Suspicious Minds ") and " Don't Let Me Down "/" You and I " (released in aid of Children in Need ). He won his first BRIT Award in February 2003 as Best Breakthrough Artist. Young sang "Try Again", a song featured in Disney 's 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure , the 2003 direct-to-video sequel to Walt Disney 's 1961 feature One Hundred and One Dalmatians . Young's second album, Friday's Child ,
1152-405: A former editor of Smash Hits , turned television presenter. One week later, Young was selected into the boy band alongside three other competitors. They were Lee Ryan who later joined the boy band Blue , Declan Bennett who joined the boy band Point Break , signed to Danielle Barnett , the current lead singer of Urban Cookie Collective and Music Manager who contacted him directly following
1280-507: A letter stating, "I must pass common entrance to take me to public school, otherwise I'll be going to state school and everyone will be very disappointed." At thirteen, Young and his brother were enrolled as boarders at the public school Wellington College in Crowthorne , Berkshire. Young appeared in several school productions and often gave speeches in assembly, despite later admitting that he never felt completely comfortable being
1408-405: A lot of confidence", he later said of the show. He also took a work experience position at Sony Records to gain insight into the music industry. Other work included runway and photographic modelling, gardening, tearing labels off T-shirts in a clothing factory, and being a waiter. He graduated in 2001 with a 2:2 bachelor's degree . After leaving university, Young knew that he wanted to be
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#17328011650941536-655: A major draw; the highlight is the Ascot Gold Cup . The most prestigious race is the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes run in July. Newbury Racecourse is in the civil parish of Greenham , adjoining the town of Newbury. It has courses for flat races and over jumps. It hosts one of Great Britain's 32 Group 1 races, the Lockinge Stakes . It also hosts the Ladbrokes Trophy , which
1664-542: A professional singer, but wanted training and experience. In September 2001 he became a student at the Arts Educational Schools , in Chiswick , London. In 1999 during his second year at university, Young watched an episode of This Morning and learned that the show was holding a competition to find members for a new boy band . He mailed the producers an audition tape and received a letter back from
1792-529: A reply which told him he had been accepted for an audition at ExCeL London on 5 September 2001. On the day of the audition, Young performed Aretha Franklin 's " Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do) " in front of an assistant producer, and was deemed good enough to be given a second audition two days later. For his second audition, Young sang " Blame It on the Boogie " by the Jacksons in front of
1920-583: A rich history in horse racing, the well drained, spongy grass, open downs and long flats make the Lambourn Downs ideal for training racehorses. This area of West Berkshire is the largest centre of racehorse training in the UK after Newmarket , and is known as the 'Valley of the Racecourse'. Reading F.C. is the only Berkshire football club to play professional football . Despite being founded in 1871,
2048-666: A selection of past songs. The official merchandise range for the tour, highlighted by the press, included a "tip and strip" pen which, when turned over, reveals Young in his underpants. In October 2006, Young sang at Nitin Sawhney 's concert in the BBC Electric Proms series of concerts. He followed this by performing in South Africa for Nelson Mandela 's Unite of the Stars charity concerts. In July 2007, he appeared at
2176-492: A show producer and won a place to the third round to perform before the show's judges: Simon Cowell; Nicki Chapman , a Popstars judge who also worked as a publicist at 19 Entertainment , the company that was producing Pop Idol ; Pete Waterman , a music producer who had written or produced twenty-one singles that had charted at Number One in the UK Singles Chart , 200 Top Tens, and sold over 500 million records for
2304-520: A special guest and play on the Queen's Sandringham Estate , Sandringham in Norfolk. Pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor was his supporting act for his 2010 tour. His 2003 song "Leave Right Now" was featured on American Idol as the "departing song". He also performed live on the programme on 25 May 2010. Young gave his first US concert on 26 May at West Hollywood 's Ultra Suede nightclub. He
2432-620: Is Walbury Hill at 297 m (974 ft). To the north of the Kennet are the Berkshire Downs . This is hilly country, with smaller and well-wooded valleys: those of the Lambourn , Pang , and their Thames sub-tributaries. The open upland areas vie with Newmarket, Suffolk for horse racing training and breeding centres and have good fields of barley, wheat, and other cereal crops. Berkshire’s surface can be divided into three bands:
2560-587: Is Possible (2002), On Camera, Off Duty (2004), his autobiography Funny Peculiar (2012), To be a Gay Man (2020), and The A–Z of Wellbeing (2022). In January 2022, he appeared in the third series of The Masked Singer as "Lionfish" and in May issued the compilation album 20 Years: The Greatest Hits . Young was born on 20 January 1979 in Wokingham , Berkshire , and is the second-oldest child of Robin Young,
2688-543: Is a ceremonial county and non-metropolitan county , one of four currently in England that have no council covering their entire area; rather it is divided into six unitary authorities. Berkshire County Council existed from 1889 until its abolition in 1998. The ceremonial county has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff . The Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire is Andrew Try, and the High Sheriff of Berkshire for 2018/19
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#17328011650942816-481: Is a ceremonial county in South East England . It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London to the east, Surrey to the south-east, Hampshire to the south, and Wiltshire to the west. Reading is the largest settlement and the county town . The county has an area of 1,263 km (488 sq mi) and a population of 911,403. The population
2944-742: Is a centre for rugby union football . The Premiership team London Irish were for 20 years tenants at the Madejski Stadium before their move back to SW London at a new stadium in Brentford. Newbury's rugby union club, Newbury R.F.C. (the Newbury 'Blues'), is based in the town. In the 2004–05 season, the club finished second in the National Two division earning promotion to National One. Newbury had previously won National Four South (now renamed as National Three South) in 1996–97 with
3072-676: Is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Berkshire at current basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British pounds sterling . Reading has a historical involvement in the information technology industry, largely as a result of the early presence in the town of sites of International Computers Limited and Digital . These companies have been swallowed by other groups, but their descendants, Fujitsu and Hewlett-Packard respectively, still have local operations. More recently Microsoft and Oracle have established multi-building campuses on
3200-471: Is concentrated in the east, the area closest to Greater London, which includes the county's largest towns: Reading (174,224), Slough (164,793), Bracknell (113,205), and Maidenhead (70,374). The west is rural, and its largest town is Newbury (33,841). For local government purposes Berkshire comprises six unitary authority areas: Bracknell Forest , Reading , Slough , West Berkshire , Windsor and Maidenhead , and Wokingham . The historic county included
3328-580: Is home to the Slough Ladies 1XI who play in the Women's Premier League, with five adult teams. In 2016, Bracknell and Wokingham Hockey Clubs merged to form South Berkshire Hockey Club. The team plays at Cantley Park in Wokingham and occasionally at Birch Hill, Bracknell. Other hockey teams in the county include Tadley, Yateley, Maidenhead, Windsor, and Newbury & Thatcham Hockey Clubs. Berkshire
3456-560: Is home to the central Waitrose distribution centre and head office, which is on a 70-acre (280,000 m ) site on the Southern Industrial Estate. Waitrose has operated from the town since the 1970s. The town is also home to the UK headquarters of Honda and BMW . Newbury is home to the world headquarters of the mobile network operator Vodafone , which is the town's largest employer with over 6,000 people. Before moving to their £129 million headquarters in
3584-531: Is home to the following universities: the University of Reading (which includes the Henley Business School ), Imperial College ( Silwood Park Campus), and the University of West London . It is also home to The Chartered Institute of Marketing , prestigious independent schools Ludgrove School , Eton College and Wellington College , and several grammar schools including Reading School , Kendrick School and Herschel Grammar School . See
3712-496: Is mostly based in the urban areas to the east and centre of the county: the largest towns here are Reading , Slough , Bracknell , Maidenhead , Woodley , Wokingham , Windsor , Earley , Sandhurst , and Crowthorne . West Berkshire is much more rural and sparsely populated, with far fewer towns: the largest are Newbury , Thatcham , and Hungerford . In recent years, Berkshire has seen consistent population growth, particularly in urban areas like Reading and Slough. Between 2011-21,
3840-741: Is said to be the biggest handicap race of the National Hunt season apart from the Grand National . Windsor Racecourse , also known as Royal Windsor Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Windsor . It is one of only two figure-of-eight courses in the United Kingdom. (The other is at Fontwell Park ). It abandoned National Hunt jump racing in December 1998, switching entirely to flat racing. Lambourn also has
3968-677: Is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 13 of the UK's 35 annual Group 1 races. The course is closely associated with the British Royal Family , being approximately 6 mi (10 km) from Windsor Castle , and owned by the Crown Estate . Ascot today stages twenty-five days of racing over the course of the year, comprising sixteen flat meetings held between May and October. The Royal Meeting, held in June, remains
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4096-602: Is working on an album covering songs by Noël Coward , which is as yet in its very early stages and he "doesn't know if it will end up". Young performed in a sell-out theatre tour, commencing on 16 November 2008 and continuing until 13 December 2008 with two dates at the Roundhouse in Camden , London. Young was the featured singer on the X-Factor programme on ITV1 on Saturday 1 November 2008. He also mentored
4224-559: The News of the World for auditionees of Pop Idol , a planned nationwide televised talent show to find a solo pop artist in a similar way that Popstars had created the pop band Hear'Say the previous year. The winner was guaranteed a £ 1 million recording contract with BMG and representation by 19 Management . He printed out an application form from the website, filled it out and posted it on 28 June. On 7 August 2001, he received
4352-1142: The Concert for Diana at the new Wembley Stadium . Young was the headline act at the Proms in the Park , which took place in Hyde Park in September 2007 as part of the Last Night of the Proms . In September 2007, Young performed at Ronnie Scott 's Jazz Club with the Vanguard Big Band. Young took part in the Little Noise Sessions , a series of intimate, acoustic gigs for the learning disability charity, Mencap . He performed in November 2007 with special guests at Islington 's Union Chapel. On 29 September 2008, Young's fourth album, Let It Go ,
4480-574: The English Premier League winning the title in 2007. Slough Jets also won the play-offs in 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10 & 2011–12. They also won the EPIH Cup in 2010–11. Slough Jets have been in the EPIHL since 1999. Phoenix Reading Hockey Club, based at Reading University, has six adult teams and a large junior development section. Reading Hockey Club and Sonning Hockey Club are situated close to each other near Blue Coats School. Slough Hockey Club
4608-593: The Flag Institute in 2017. All of the county is drained by the Thames. Berkshire divides into two topological (and associated geological) sections: east and west of Reading . North-east Berkshire has the low calciferous (limestone) m-shaped bends of the Thames south of which is a broader, clayey, gravelly former watery plain or belt from Earley to Windsor and beyond, south, are parcels and belts of uneroded higher sands, flints, shingles and lightly acid soil and in
4736-647: The HOME Theatre in Manchester. On 27 October 2008, Young spoke on Celebrity at the Oxford Union , where he showed an interest in forming a band named 'Will Young and the Credit Crunchers'. He was invited to appear on Question Time after he revealed he was a fan of the show. He participated in the edition from Dunstable , Bedfordshire, in February 2009 and March 2012. Young supports
4864-798: The Isle of Wight . On 24 August 2008, Young appeared at the Olympic Party which took place in the Mall , London. He performed his latest single Changes and I Can See Clearly Now , which was originally sung by Johnny Nash . On an interview with Digital Spy , Young revealed that he was working on a Dance-Pop album, which might be released in late 2009. He also confirmed that he was working with British duo Groove Armada , Superbass, who remixed his UK Top 10 single "Changes", and Gregg Alexander , who has previously worked with British pop singers Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Geri Halliwell . He also confirmed that he
4992-539: The Labour Party ) with employed executives, whereas Labour Party local councillors run both Bracknell Forest and Reading , with Slough being run by the Conservative Party . After the 2024 United Kingdom general election , 5 of the elected Members of Parliament (MPs) were Labour, 3 Lib Dem and one conservative. The prime minister between 2016–19, Theresa May represented Maidenhead . This
5120-634: The Red Button on digital television remote controls , and the Pop Idol website. The two singers with the highest number of votes in each heat advanced to the final rounds of the competition. Young competed in Heat 4, broadcast on 24 November, and sang a jazz/ lounge interpretation of " Light My Fire " by the Doors . Judges Chapman, Fox and Waterman were all enthusiastic about his performance, but Cowell
5248-633: The Thames : Slough, Eton, Eton Wick, Wraysbury, Horton, and Datchet. In the heart of the county Reading's northern suburb Caversham is also on that bank, but rises steeply into the Chiltern Hills . Two main tributaries skirt past Reading, the Loddon and its sub-tributary the Blackwater draining parts of two counties south, and the Kennet draining part of upland Wiltshire in the west. Heading west
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5376-645: The Thames Valley from the Hannington TV transmitter. Those parts of Berkshire closest to London such as Maidenhead , Windsor and Slough , receive BBC London and ITV London from the Crystal Palace TV transmitter. The county’s local radio stations are BBC Radio Berkshire , Heart South and Greatest Hits Radio Berkshire & North Hampshire . Berkshire hosts more Group 1 flat horse races than any other county. Ascot Racecourse
5504-528: The UK Singles Chart . The fourth and final single, " Tell Me the Worst ", was released in the UK only, on 5 July 2009. It served as a club promo, and featured some Fred Falke remixes. In April 2008, Young again appeared at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club with the Vanguard Big Band. Young is to perform at various festivals during mid-2008, including Glastonbury , T in the Park in Scotland and Bestival on
5632-406: The county borough of Reading . Boundary alterations in the late 19th century and early 20th century were relatively rare, but included ceding the parts of the borough of Oxford south of the Thames in 1889, and gaining Caversham from Oxfordshire in 1911. The administrative county's full legal name was "Berks" rather than "Berkshire" until 1967, when the government changed the name to Berkshire at
5760-514: The 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest Pop Idol , making him the first winner of the worldwide Idol franchise. His double A-sided debut single " Anything Is Possible " / " Evergreen " was released two weeks after the show's finale and became the fastest-selling debut single in the UK. Young also came in fifth place in World Idol performing the single " Light My Fire " written by
5888-427: The Avalon Stage, at the Glastonbury Festival . Young confirmed in an interview with Sky News that he had begun work on his next studio album and that it would be released in 2024. In February 2024, Young posted a series of videos on Instagram, showing him working on a music video shoot. On 18 April 2024, Young released the single "Falling Deep", alongside an accompanying music video. A second single, "Midnight",
6016-400: The Chilterns, and often contain layers of chalk rock. Less consolidated Palaeogene clays , sands , gravels and silts of the Lambeth , Thames and Bracklesham Groups overlie these rocks in some areas. These hills, and the valleys that surround them, were shaped by the rivers Kennet , Lambourn , Pang and Enborne , and the Quaternary sands and gravels they brought with them and (in
6144-410: The Great was born in Wantage , also now in Oxfordshire. Windsor Castle , which would become the official country residence of the British monarch , was built after the Norman Conquest . The county has been the site of several battles, particularly during the First English Civil War , when Reading and Wallingford were besieged two battles took place at Newbury, in 1643 and 1644 . The proximity of
6272-415: The Great 's campaign against the Danes included the battles of Englefield , Ashdown and Reading . Newbury was the site of English Civil War battles: the First Battle of Newbury , at Wash Common in 1643, and the Second Battle of Newbury , at Speen in 1644. Donnington Castle was reduced to a ruin in the aftermath of the second battle. Another Battle of Reading took place on 9 December 1688. It
6400-429: The Royal Air Force, and his great-great-great-great-grandfather was Colonel Sir Aretas William Young , who, in 1795 at seventeen years old, joined the British Army and served in Ireland and Egypt before fighting in the Peninsular War . Aretas was later stationed in Trinidad and eventually took charge of the Trinidadian government, before moving to Demerara where he was appointed Protector of Slaves. Aretas became
6528-496: The This Morning audition, and Andy Scott-Lee who went on to compete in the second series of Pop Idol . Cowell said of the group, "We've tried to find people with star quality and these guys can sing and dance", but the band failed to find any success and it soon dis-banded. Young's next audition was at the Guildhall in London to be a jazz singer, but he accidentally arrived on the wrong date. On 20 June 2001, one of Young's university classmates showed him an advertisement in
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#17328011650946656-483: The UK and spawning three top five singles. His following albums Keep On (2005), Let It Go (2008) and Echoes (2011) also went multi-platinum and 85% Proof (2015) became his fourth UK number-one album. His albums have spawned many songs that have achieved top ten positions in the UK, four of which went to the number one spot. Young has also undertaken numerous concert tours, and has accumulated multiple honours, including two Brit Awards from 12 nominations, and
6784-613: The UK headquarters is still based there. Bracknell is a base for high-tech industries, with the presence of companies such as Panasonic , Fujitsu (formerly ICL ) and Fujitsu-Siemens Computers , Dell , Hewlett-Packard , Siemens (originally Nixdorf ), Honeywell , Cable & Wireless , Avnet Technology Solutions and Novell . Firms spread into the surrounding Thames Valley or M4 corridor , attracting IT firms such as Cable & Wireless , DEC (subsequently Hewlett-Packard ), Microsoft , Sharp Telecommunications , Oracle Corporation , Sun Microsystems and Cognos . Bracknell
6912-592: The UK headquarters of Mars, Incorporated are based in Slough . The European head offices of major IT companies BlackBerry , CA Technologies , are in the town. The town is home to the National Foundation for Educational Research , which is housed in The Mere. Other major brands with offices in the town include Nintendo , Black & Decker , Amazon , HTC , SSE plc and Abbey Business Centres . Dulux paints were manufactured in Slough by AkzoNobel , which bought Imperial Chemical Industries in 2008. Manufacturing ceased in 2018 with operations moving elsewhere, however
7040-489: The United Kingdom in large tour buses adorned with their faces, in an attempt to canvass for votes. In election-style campaigns, they made numerous radio and television appearances, were interviewed in magazines, national and local newspapers, and met and performed for their fans. Celebrities such as Noel Gallagher , Robbie Williams , Posh and Becks , Kylie Minogue , Myleene Klass , Michelle Collins , S Club 7 and Jenny Frost announced their support for Young, while Gates
7168-528: The United Kingdom. This was again confirmed on 7 May 2012 when Radio 1 played a countdown of the top-selling 150 songs of the millennium so far. "Anything Is Possible" won an Ivor Novello Award for Bestselling Song of 2002. In October 2002, Young released his debut album, From Now On , which included "Evergreen" nominated in the Best single category in 2003 at the BRIT Awards and "Anything Is Possible". It produced three singles: "Light My Fire", " The Long and Winding Road " (a duet with Gareth Gates, released as
7296-434: The White Horse is now within the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire. The original Local Government White Paper would have transferred Henley-on-Thames from Oxfordshire to Berkshire: this proposal did not make it into the Bill as introduced. On 1 April 1998 Berkshire County Council was abolished under a recommendation of the Banham Commission , and the districts became unitary authorities . Unlike similar reforms elsewhere at
7424-531: The Year. He was also nominated for the 2013 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical , but lost out to Michael Ball . Young also appeared in the 2010 Marple drama " The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side " and guest starred in a 2010 episode of Skins . In 2011, he starred in a new drama series on Sky Living called Bedlam , about supernatural happenings taking place at a disused asylum being converted into loft-style apartments. The £3 million six-part series began airing on 7 February 2011. It
7552-429: The ages of eight and thirteen. His first appearance on stage was at the age of four when he played a fir tree in a school production and had one line to speak. At Horris Hill, Young was head chorister in the school choir, and at the age of nine he learned how to play the piano. Young recalls that at Horris Hill, pupils were taught that they were more privileged than pupils from state schools , and that one day he wrote
7680-463: The album in October 2022. In January 2022 Young competed in the third series of The Masked Singer as "Lionfish". He was unmasked in the third episode. From 22 February 2023 to 11 March 2023, Young starred in the play Song From Far Away , which was staged at HOME in Manchester. Mark Fisher, reviewing the play for The Guardian , praised Young's performance, writing that he "act[ed] with melodic grace". In June 2023 Young performed, again on
7808-542: The area after which it was named). The heaths and woodland south and east of Bracknell are mostly covered by (Eocene) Bracklesham Group sands and clays, and Quaternary sands, silts and gravels. After the Thames broke through the Goring Gap that river and its tributaries the Loddon , Emm Brook , Blackwater and (to some extent) Wey shaped the geography of eastern Berkshire but have not yet eroded away its Eocene cover. According to 2003 estimates there were 803,657 people in Berkshire, or 636 people/km . The population
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#17328011650947936-417: The area to the west of Reading and the western edge of the Chiltern Hills . The lower (early) Cretaceous rocks are sandstones and mudstones (now visible only on the slopes of Walbury Hill ) whilst those of the upper (late) Cretaceous are the various formations that comprise the Chalk Group . In Berkshire, White Chalk Formation beds tend to be shallower than those further west ( Wiltshire ) or those in
8064-410: The artists such as Kylie Minogue , Rick Astley , Bananarama , Steps and Westlife ; and Neil "Dr Fox" Fox , a disc jockey who presented the drivetime show on Capital FM and the nationally syndicated Pepsi Chart . He was the final contestant the judges saw, and after a day of watching mostly poor performances they were not in the best spirits. Again, Young performed "Blame It on the Boogie", but
8192-519: The band the Doors . As a teenager, Young studied politics at the University of Exeter before moving to London, where he studied musical theatre at the Arts Educational Schools in Chiswick . Young put his studies on hold in late 2001 to become a contestant on Pop Idol . After winning the competition the following year, he released his debut album From Now On (2002) which went straight to number one. Friday's Child (2003) followed and enjoyed greater success, eventually going platinum five times in
8320-452: The best ever experience for me, ever." Young's first single was a double A-side featuring Westlife 's song " Evergreen " and " Anything Is Possible ", a new song written for the winner of the show by Chris Braide and Cathy Dennis . In March 2002, this became the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history, selling 403,027 copies on its day of release (1,108,659 copies in its first week). It went on to sell over 1.7 million copies, and on
8448-442: The boards in the Royal Exchange Theatre 's production of The Vortex by Noël Coward . This production ran from January to March 2007 and Young played the leading role of Nicky Lancaster. Critics, including Nicholas de Jongh , were very positive. He recently appeared in the musical Cabaret in London, after a short nationwide tour. This marked his West End debut. He was awarded the What's on Stage award for London Newcomer of
8576-423: The case of the Kennet) left behind when they changed course. The early Eocene London Clay (Thames Group) generally gets thinner as we proceed westwards, though the thickness of beds can vary considerably over short distances. Where rivers have cut through these beds Lambeth Group layers are found (notably, the Palaeocene Reading Formation , used for brick-making since Roman times but now increasingly scarce in
8704-477: The centre of attention. It was during this period that he became interested in sports and for a time he dreamed of competing in the Olympic Games in the 400-metre sprint , which he could run in under fifty seconds – the Olympic average is forty-three seconds. He became captain of the school's basketball and athletics teams, and also represented the school in the triple jump, long jump, football and rugby. The only sport he says he felt uncomfortable playing
8832-846: The charity Women's Aid , about which he wrote, "I am proud to put my name beside this cause, and hope that I might be able to help more people affected by the terrors of domestic violence, as well as help to create a wider awareness within our society." Young also supports Mencap , about which he wrote, "I'm very much in this for the long term, and I'd like to help continue to break down peoples' misconceptions and prejudices". He also supports The Children's Society Safe and Sound Campaign, and Positive Action Southwest (PASW), for which he performed at his first solo concert, in July 2003, at Killerton House , Exeter . Berkshire The Royal County of Berkshire , commonly known as simply Berkshire ( / ˈ b ɑː r k ʃ ɪər , - ʃ ər / BARK -sheer, -shər ; abbreviated Berks. ),
8960-428: The club did not join the Football League until 1920, and first played in the top tier of English football in the 2006–07 season . Newbury was home to A.F.C. Newbury , which was one of only two football clubs to be sponsored by Vodafone (the other being Manchester United ). In 2006 Vodafone ended its sponsorship of the club, following which the club collapsed. A local pub team from the Old London Apprentice took over
9088-403: The county and flowing past Slough and Windsor . The south-east of the county contains Swinley Forest , a remnant of Windsor Forest now used as a forestry plantation . There is evidence of prehistoric settlement on the Berkshire Downs, including the Iron Age Uffington White Horse , now in Oxfordshire. In the Anglo-Saxon period the region was contested by Mercia and Wessex , and Alfred
9216-619: The county council's request. Berkshire received the title "Royal County" in 1957 due to the presence of Windsor Castle. The area has historical ties to royalty dating back to the Norman Conquest, when William the Conqueror established Windsor as a royal residence. On 1 April 1974, Berkshire's boundaries changed under the Local Government Act 1972 . Berkshire took over administration of Slough and Eton and part of
9344-596: The county's downlands , south and east of which the London Clay spans almost the whole county, and in the south-east corner sandy Palaeogene heath covers the London Clay. This is an oversimplification, however. A gently folded succession of sedimentary rocks dating from the Cretaceous period, with some surviving Palaeogene cover and extensive Quaternary deposits, characterise the downlands, which cover
9472-557: The directories company Hibu . The insurance company Prudential has an administration centre in the town. PepsiCo and Holiday Inn have offices. As with most major cities, Reading also has offices of the Big Four accounting firms Deloitte , Ernst & Young , KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers . The 110-year old charity, Berkshire Vision is also located within Reading city centre. The global headquarters of Reckitt Benckiser and
9600-420: The east of the county to London led to development from the nineteenth century, when Slough became an industrial centre and Bracknell was designated a new town . Software development and high-tech industry dominate the economy in the east, but the west remains an agricultural region. According to Asser 's biography of King Alfred , written in 893 AD, Berkshire takes its name from a wood of box trees , which
9728-492: The economy of Slough in east Berkshire. Abingdon Abbey once had dairy-based granges in the south-east of the county, Red Windsor cheese was developed with red marbling. Some Berkshire cheeses are Wigmore, Waterloo and Spenwood (named after Spencers Wood ) in Riseley ; and Barkham Blue, Barkham Chase and Loddon Blewe at Barkham . Local news and television programmes are covered by BBC South and ITV Meridian for
9856-584: The estimated worldwide sale of over eight million albums. Young's net worth was estimated at £13.5 million in April 2012. Alongside his music career, Young has acted in film, on stage and in television. For his performance in the 2013 London revival of the musical Cabaret , he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical . He has also participated in philanthropy and released books Anything
9984-615: The final night of his 2011 performances. The following day it was announced that he would be undertaking summer shows as part of the Forestry Commission 's summer concert programme, also at Cornbury Festival. 2012 singles releases were Losing Myself and I Just Want a Lover with trademark unique accompanying videos. On 8 November 2012, it was announced Young had left his record company after being with them since winning Pop Idol over ten years ago and signed with Island Records . On Good Morning Britain, Young announced that he
10112-541: The former Eton Rural District from Buckinghamshire. The northern part of the county came under governance of Oxfordshire , with Faringdon , Wantage and Abingdon and their hinterland becoming the Vale of White Horse district, and Didcot and Wallingford added to South Oxfordshire district. 94 (Berkshire Yeomanry) Signal Squadron still keep the Uffington White Horse in their insignia, even though
10240-551: The globe. Young's album Lexicon was released on 21 June. Young also released the lead single "All the Songs" from the album the same day and announced he would be embarking on a tour in October 2019 in support of the album. Young had stated in an interview he had no intentions of releasing any more records as he was focusing on acting and his podcast series, however after going into the studio with old friend and producer Richard X
10368-489: The ground temporarily and now compete in the Hellenic Football League as Newbury F.C. There are several amateur and semi-professional football clubs in the county. These include Maidenhead United , Slough Town , Hungerford Town , Thatcham Town , Ascot United , A.F.C. Aldermaston , Sandhurst Town , Windsor F.C. , Wokingham & Emmbrook F.C. , Bracknell Town F.C. and Reading City . Reading
10496-465: The judges thought his overall performance was merely average. Chapman told him that his dance moves had let him down, but his vocal was good. Fox described him as cheesy , Waterman was unimpressed by his stage presence and image – Young was wearing baggy and faded jeans, scuffed shoes and his grandfather's jumper which was stained with egg yolk – but conceded that his voice was "nice". Despite their uncertainty, however, they advanced him through to
10624-600: The lead single was recorded and the album naturally followed. On 26 March 2021 Young announced the release of his eighth studio album Crying on the Bathroom Floor , which was released on 6 August 2021. Following the release, Young said: "I loved the idea of creating an album that celebrates some of the modern female artists I so admire in pop. In today's times it's so much easier and accepted to occupy other genders, ideas and explore new avenues. I wanted to understand what it might be like to sing their lyrics. A song about
10752-451: The moment when Young's pop career truly began, standing out to viewers and endeared himself to them. It appeared that the voting audience agreed with Young and disagreed with Cowell, because he was voted through to the next round, in first place, with 41.5% of the overall vote. During Young's next appearance on the show on 15 December 2001, Cowell stated that he had previously made a "huge mistake", and that Young had conducted himself with
10880-693: The next round. The following week, auditions were held at the Criterion Theatre , and Young sang " All or Nothing " by O-Town , the Drifters ' " Up on the Roof " and " Fast Love " by George Michael . Still not completely convinced by his performances, he was made to wait in the "Maybe" room until the judges decided to send him through to the Final 50. The first episode of Pop Idol was broadcast on 6 October 2001 on ITV , and Young's audition aired on
11008-472: The north of the Bagshot Formation , north of Surrey and Hampshire . Swinley Forest (also known as Bracknell Forest), Windsor Great Park , Crowthorne and Stratfield Saye Woods have many pine, silver birch, and other lightly acid-soil trees. East of the grassy and wooded bends a large minority of East Berkshire's land mirrors the clay belt, being of low elevation and on the left (north) bank of
11136-459: The official list of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK issued later that year, it was ranked eleventh. In 2008, Official Charts Company released the Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of the 21st century (so far) in which Young's version of Evergreen topped the chart. On 31 December 2009, Radio 1 confirmed that "Anything Is Possible"/"Evergreen" was the biggest selling single of the 2000s decade in
11264-564: The outskirts of Reading. Other technology companies with a presence in the town include Huawei Technologies , Agilent Technologies , Audio & Design (Recording) Ltd , Bang & Olufsen , Cisco , Comptel , Ericsson , Harris Corporation , Intel , Nvidia , Rockwell Collins , Sage , SGI , Symantec , Symbol Technologies , Verizon Business , Virgin Media O2 , Websense , Xansa (now Sopra Steria ), and Xerox . The financial company ING Direct has its headquarters in Reading, as does
11392-523: The outskirts of the town in 2002, Vodafone used 64 buildings spread across the town centre. As well as Vodafone, Newbury is also home to National Instruments , Micro Focus , EValue , NTS Express Road Haulage, Jokers' Masquerade and Quantel . It also is home to the Newbury Building Society , which operates in the region. In Compton , a small village, roughly 10 miles from Newbury , a chemical manufacturing company called Carbosynth
11520-567: The parts of Oxfordshire south of the River Thames , which formed its northern border, but excluded Caversham and Slough . The Berkshire Downs , a chalk downland and area of outstanding natural beauty , occupy the west of the county. They are the source of the River Kennet , which flows east through Newbury before meeting the Thames at Reading. The Thames then forms Berkshire's northern border, flowing past Maidenhead, before entering
11648-650: The phonelines had been fixed and they were involved in vote rigging . Nevertheless, Young was announced the winner of the competition after receiving 4.6 million (53.1%) votes, just 500,000 more than Gates. Young's shock at hearing the news was obvious to viewers as his jaw dropped and he clasped his hands to his face. "When he [Ant McPartlin] said what the votes were, I thought, 'I am second, and I have lost by that much. Oh well, that's not bad'," Young recalled. "When I heard I'd won ... I felt like I'd been hit. I stepped backwards. I could not believe it." In 2011, Young described Pop Idol as "a huge starting point and ...
11776-457: The plight they were in being picked up off the streets and railway stations by pimps who offered them work and drugs. The children did not know where to go for immediate help unless they were picked up by the police and sent to a refuge centre. During June 2007 a series of documentaries entitled Saving Planet Earth was shown on BBC Television . Young filmed an episode about saving the gorillas of West Africa during his visit to Africa earlier in
11904-473: The population increased by 6.7%, largely due to migration and economic opportunities in the region. Reading has experienced significant growth due to its reputation as a technology and business hub. In 1831, there were 146,234 people living in Berkshire; by 1901 the population had risen to 252,571 (of whom 122,807 were male and 129,764 were female). Below were the largest immigrant groups in 2011. Berkshire
12032-496: The reduced, but equally large, part of the county extends further from the Thames which flows from the north-north-west before the Goring Gap ; West Berkshire hosts the varying-width plain of the River Kennet rising to high chalk hills by way of and lower clay slopes and rises. To the south, the land crests along the boundary with Hampshire ; the highest parts of South-East and Eastern England taken together are here. The highest
12160-574: The remaining contestants. On 31 December 2008, Young was featured as a guest on Elton John 's Live New Year show at the O2 Arena in London along with that year's X Factor winner Alexandra Burke . He joined Sir Elton in the song "Daniel" . Young was one of the performers at the BBC's "Live at Blackpool" programme on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday 5 September 2009. Young's greatest hits collection
12288-556: The same day. The second song to be lifted from the album was "Elizabeth Taylor", a cover of the Clare Maguire track which was released on 28 May. The title track (a cover of the 2017 Muna single) was released on 8 July 2021. On 25 October 2021, Young announced the compilation 20 Years: The Greatest Hits for release on 27 May 2022, marking 20 years since he won Pop Idol . The album included his greatest hits alongside two new tracks. Young also plans to tour in support of
12416-615: The same time, the non-metropolitan county was not abolished. Signs saying "Welcome to the Royal County of Berkshire" exist on borders of West Berkshire, on the east side of Virginia Water , on the M4 motorway , on the south side of Sonning Bridge , on the A404 southbound by Marlow, and northbound on the A33 past Stratfield Saye . A flag for the historic county of Berkshire was registered with
12544-659: The same." Young: [Interrupting Cowell] "Sorry, can I finish? Thank you. It's nice that you've given opinions in this show. In previous shows you haven't, you've just projected insults and it's been terrible to watch... It is your opinion, but I don't agree with it. I don't think it was average. I don't think you could ever call that average, but it is your opinion and I respect that, so thank you very much." – Exchange between Will Young and Simon Cowell , after Cowell criticised Young's performance of "Light My Fire". "Open Auditions 5". Pop Idol . ITV . 20 October 2001. No. 5, series 1. This incident has often been cited as
12672-516: The second highest percentage of votes, losing out on first place to Gareth Gates each time. In the Semi-final, competing against Gates and Darius Danesh , Young again received the most votes (39.8%). Gates received 39.3% of the votes and won the other place in the Grand Final, while Danesh received 20.9% of the votes and was eliminated from the competition. Throughout the following week, Young and Gates embarked on separate whistle-stop tours of
12800-568: The show telling him he had been selected as one of seventy-five competitors, and that he had to appear in London for an off-camera audition. The 75 auditionees were whittled down to 9 finalists including Young, who were then invited to perform on the show. On 29 May 1999, Young appeared on the programme and performed a short rendition of the Jackson 5 song, I'll Be There , in front of a panel of judges that included Simon Cowell , an artists and repertoire executive at BMG , and Kate Thornton ,
12928-602: The single " All Time Love ", nominated in the Best British Single category at the 2007 BRIT Awards . Other singles from the album were " Switch It On " and " Who Am I ". In May 2006, he sang at the Prince's Trust 30th Birthday, which took place at the Tower of London . From 12 September until 2 October 2006, Young toured the UK with his Keep On Live tour, which included the songs taken from his album Keep On and
13056-564: The sixth Governor of Prince Edward Island in 1831, and three years later was knighted by King William IV . One of Aretas's sons was Sir Henry Young , fifth Governor of South Australia , later first Governor of Tasmania . Young was brought up in Hungerford , West Berkshire , and was initially educated at Kingsbury Hill School in Marlborough , Wiltshire , before attending Horris Hill Preparatory School , Newbury , between
13184-449: The third show on 20 October 2001. The next round of the competition was split into five heats that aired every Saturday between 3 November 2001 and 8 December 2001. Each show featured ten of the fifty competitors singing one song in the Pop Idol studios in front of the judges and an audience, but unlike previous rounds, the viewing public decided who would advance to the next round by interactive televoting voting using their telephones,
13312-404: The two-and-a-half hours that the voting lines were open, which set a new world record . However, some voters complained that their votes had not been registered and that ITV, British Telecom and Telescope (the company responsible for operating the phone system) had not prepared well enough for the volume of calls because the system crashed at one point during the evening. It was also alleged that
13440-418: The week. On 9 February 2002, 13.34 million viewers watched Young and Gates battle each other in the Grand Final for the title of "Pop Idol". Both acts sang " Anything Is Possible " and " Evergreen ", which were to be released as a double A-side single by the winner. Young also sang "Light My Fire" a second time as his favourite performance from the series. 8.7 million votes were registered over
13568-643: The year. In March 2009, ITV1 arts programme, The South Bank Show presented an hour long fly on the wall documentary about Young that they had been filming over the course of the year as he returned to promote the Let It Go album. It showed him in Iceland filming the video for the "Let It Go" single, backstage before his performance on The X Factor and on his UK theatre tour from November 2008 among other segments. In August 2011, ITV based an hour-long programme on Young, entitled A Night with Will Young . This
13696-488: Was Come On released in November 2011, with the accompanying video featuring Young performing at a dog show. It was confirmed that Young would appear as one of the four judges on singing competition series The Voice UK although on 12 December 2011 it was reported that Young had been replaced by Danny O'Donoghue at the last minute. He performed a special Christmas concert at the London Palladium in December as
13824-402: Was Graham Barker. The six unitary councils formed a joint Berkshire Prosperity Board in February 2024 and submitted an expression of interest in forming a non-mayoral combined authority in September 2024. As of the 2023 local elections, Liberal Democrat groups of local councillors run the unitary authorities of West Berkshire , Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham (in coalition with
13952-565: Was aired two days before the release of Echoes on ITV1 presented by Kate Thornton charting all of Young's greatest hits plus performing a few new tracks from the album. Young appeared on the third episode of the Jonathan Ross Show performing Hearts on Fire from Echoes to further promote the album. Young undertook a 23 date UK tour including 2 nights at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire in Autumn 2011. The second single from Echoes
14080-455: Was also featured on the cover of the US magazine Instinct . Young was told by someone at the record company to re-record his hit single "Leave Right Now" because he sounded too gay on the track. He didn't realize this but he was made to re-record the song until the record executives were satisfied with it. In early 2011, Young tweeted teaser clips of tracks from his new album, ' Echoes ', which
14208-462: Was an Executive Producer for Ralph Fiennes production of Shakespeare's Coriolanus filmed in Serbia , and his documentary on the making of the film features on its DVD release. He was to have a small role in the film as a reporter on the conflict as well as being Executive Producer, but it was decided that his appearance was a "distraction" and it did not make the final cut of the film. Young trod
14336-484: Was backed by Duncan James , Natasha Hamilton , Richard and Judy , Westlife , Faye Tozer , Denise Van Outen , Ben Adams , Neil Tennant , Andrew Lloyd Webber , Claire Richards , Boy George , Ricky Gervais and Francis Rossi . The media pitted Young and Gates against each other, publishing false news articles claiming that the two contestants were bitter rivals and their parents were bickering and fighting backstage, stories which both camps denied. Although for
14464-577: Was called Bearroc (a Celtic word meaning "hilly"). This wood, perhaps no longer extant, was west of Frilsham , near Newbury . Much of the county's early history is recorded in the Chronicles of the Abingdon Abbey , which at the time of the survey was second only to the crown in the extent and number of its possessions, such as The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay . The abbot exercised considerable judicial and administrative powers, and his court
14592-661: Was cricket. Young left school with ten GCSEs , but achieved disappointing A-Level results and had to enrol in d'Overbroeck's College , Oxford, to re-sit his exams. He took a part-time job as a waiter at the Grand Café in Oxford, and became interested in environmental issues and local campaigning, joining a group called the Eco Society. He passed his A-Levels the second time, earning As in Politics and Ancient History, and
14720-425: Was directed by Michael Gracey and Pete Commins. After their collaboration, they were invited to direct Will's live tour at Wembley in 2004. UK CD1 UK CD2 This 2000s pop song -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. He came to prominence after winning
14848-622: Was distributed by BBC Worldwide . Young was a guest on Top Gear during season 12 episode 2 and set the fastest wet lap around the track in the Chevrolet Lacetti. On 31 October 2011, Young was also the guest host of Never Mind the Buzzcocks . In November 2004, Young presented a documentary entitled Runaways as part of the Children in Need campaign, highlighting the problems facing distressed teens who run away from home, and
14976-405: Was endowed with the privileges of the hundred court and freed from liability to interference by the sheriff. Berkshire and Oxfordshire had a common sheriff until the reign of Elizabeth I , and the shire court was held at Grandpont . The assizes were formerly held at Reading, Abingdon, and Newbury, but by 1911 were held entirely at Reading. Berkshire has been the scene of notable battles. Alfred
15104-418: Was founded, in 2006. Since 2019, it has merged with a Swiss company called Biosynth AG to form a key global organisation within the fine chemical industry and operates under name Biosynth Carbosynth . Biosynth Carbosynth, along with its acquired companies, vivitide and Pepscan rebranded to Biosynth in 2022. London Heathrow Airport , in the neighbouring London Borough of Hillingdon, is a major contributor to
15232-471: Was recording his sixth studio album. On 25 March 2015, he announced on his Instagram account that the title of the new album will be 85% Proof . It was released on 25 May. The final single from 85% Proof was " What the World Needs Now ", written by Burt Bacharach , which he released towards the end of 2015 as part of WWF 's campaign to raise awareness for declining wildlife populations across
15360-545: Was released in December 2003. It features the singles " Leave Right Now ", nominated in the Best British single category of the past 25 years at the 2005 BRIT Awards and winner of the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically in 2004, " Your Game " (which won Young his second BRIT Award in 2005) and " Friday's Child " In November 2005, Young released his third album, Keep On , which included
15488-550: Was released in the UK in November 2005 to excellent reviews—not least for Young's performance as both actor and singer in the film. The scene in which Young appears naked postdated his "absolutely thrilled" acceptance of the British male Rear of the Year Award 2005, an accolade to add to the Most Stylish Male Music Star, Best Bod, Sexiest Star, Best Dressed and Best Hair awards he had already won. Young
15616-496: Was released on 16 November 2009. It included two brand new songs, one of them the single "Hopes & Fears". The album was a success on the charts, being certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry . In 2010, Young collaborated with Groove Armada on their album Black Light , singing vocals on the track 'History'. As part of his 2010 outdoor summer tour, it was announced that he would be
15744-528: Was released on 7 June 2024. The singles' parent album, Light It Up , was released 9 August 2024; it debuted at number 5 on the UK Albums Chart. To accompany the album, Young toured the UK in September and October 2024. Young added acting to his repertoire when he accepted a role in the BBC film Mrs Henderson Presents , starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins , in which he played Bertie. The film
15872-419: Was released. It peaked at No.2 in the album charts, having been preceded by the single " Changes ", which was released on 15 September and peaked at No.10 in the UK Singles Chart . His next single "Grace" was released on 1 December 2008, and peaked at No.33 on the UK Singles Chart . The third single taken from the album, " Let It Go ", was released on 2 March 2009 in the UK, and peaked at No.58 on
16000-483: Was subsequently released on 22 August 2011 and entered the UK Album charts at number one on 29 August 2011 making it Youngs first number one album since "Friday's Child" in 2003. The first single is called ' Jealousy ', and premiered on BBC Radio 2, between 9.00am-12noon, Monday 11 July 2011. The single was released on 21 August 2011, preceding the album by 1 day with the single peaking at No.5. "A Night With...Will Young"
16128-600: Was the only substantial military action in England during the Glorious Revolution and ended in a decisive victory for forces loyal to William of Orange . Reading became the new county town in 1867, taking over from Abingdon , which remained in the county. Under the Local Government Act 1888 , Berkshire County Council took over functions of the Berkshire Quarter Sessions , covering the administrative county of Berkshire, which excluded
16256-607: Was to promote the release of his most recent album Echoes . In October 2007, Young narrated an audio version of the Roald Dahl novel Danny, the Champion of the World . Young was made a "Companion" of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in 2009. In January 2023 Young returned to the theatre with the one-man show Song from Far Away , by Olivier Award winner Simon Stephens and Mark Eitzel , at
16384-530: Was unimpressed and called it "distinctly average", adding, "I just thought it was totally normal. In the context of the show I honestly didn't think it was good enough." The other judges and contestants all expressed shock at his comments, and Young responded, telling Cowell that while he was entitled to his opinion, it was wrong. Young: "I love disagreeing with Simon because I do it every week, but all of us [the contestants] have been dying to say things to you.—" Cowell: "Well I just spoke how I felt, so you do
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