From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KT Tunstall
KT Tunstall performing at the 2005 Summer Sundae in Leicester.
Background information
Birth name	Kate Tunstall
Born	June 23, 1975 (1975-06-23) (age 32)
Origin	St Andrews, Scotland UK
Genre(s)	Rock, Pop, Acoustic, Alternative
Instrument(s)	Guitar, drums, piano, vocals
Years active	2000–present
Label(s)	Relentless, Virgin (2004-present)
Website	http://www.kttunstall.com/

Kate "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer and songwriter. She broke into the public eye with a performance on Later with Jools Holland of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree". She has enjoyed commercial and critical success since, selling over 4 million albums^[1] and picking up three BRIT Awards and a Grammy nomination.

While her first name is Kate, she chose to go by KT as her first name, saying "[Kate] just makes me think of a buxom lass baking bread for her man working in the fields. I have no problem with that, but it's just not really how I pictured being a rock star."^[2] Also, Tunstall spells her first name KT (as opposed to Katie) to differentiate herself from fellow singer Katie Melua.^[3]

Contents 1 Childhood and beginning 2 Recording and performing career 2.1 Live performances 2.2 Awards 2.3 Other credits 3 Personal life 4 Discography 4.1 Albums 4.1.1 Early recordings 4.1.2 Studio albums 4.2 Singles/EPs 5 References 6 External links

Tunstall was born in Edinburgh on 23 June 1975, and was adopted eighteen days later.^[2] Her birth mother had been born in Edinburgh to a Chinese mother and a Scottish father.^[4] KT's birth father, whom she has never met, is Irish.^[5] Her adoptive father was a physics lecturer at the University of St Andrews, and her adoptive mother a school teacher.^[2] Tunstall's family also included an older brother named Joe and a younger brother named Daniel.

She grew up in St Andrews, but attended her last year of high school in New England^[2] at the elite preparatory school, Kent School.^[6] She spent time performing on Church Street in Burlington, Vermont, and at a commune in rural Vermont. Tunstall studied at the High School of Dundee in Dundee, Madras College in St Andrews, Kent School in Connecticut, and at Royal Holloway College near London.

She was an English-Speaking Union Secondary School Exchange Scholar whilst at school.

Throughout her twenties, she mostly played in independent bands including Elia Drew and Tomoko, and focused on songwriting. She toured with the Klezmer band Oi Va Voi, and featured on their debut album, Laughter Through Tears. Her debut album, Eye to the Telescope, was released in late 2004. Tunstall's style of music varies from folk to pop. In Edinburgh and St Andrews, she played in a band called Red Light Stylus, which was regarded as one of the better bands to emerge from the limited Fife scene.

Tunstall's first appearance of note was a solo performance of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later with Jools Holland.^[7] The performance was notable as she had only 24 hours to prepare after scheduled performer Nas cancelled.^[8] Her performance caught the eye of many viewers, upstaging more established acts such as The Cure, Embrace, and The Futureheads; she then went on to top the post-show poll on the website for that episode.

Shortly after the "Later" appearance, Eye to the Telescope was re-released and shot up the UK charts, eventually peaking at #3 (on its first release it had entered at #73); it was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize. It was released in the U.S. on February 7, 2006.

Tunstall's North American break came when American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee contacted her asking to use "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" as her choice for a Billboard-themed week. At the time, the song was #79 on the Billboard charts.^[9] Tunstall had not been shy with her opinions regarding shows like Idol saying "The major problem I have is that it's completely controlled... they're told what to say. They're told how to sing."^[10] She chose to license the song as she felt that "no one on that show told Katharine McPhee to sing my song because no one f***ing knew it"^[10] The song immediately jumped to #23 on the Billboard charts the week following McPhee's performance.^[9] She has later said "My status as a musician in America is pretty much cemented by Katharine McPhee, which is really interesting and funny for me because I've never been polite about how I feel about shows like that."^[11]

Tunstall released a new acoustic album in May 2006, KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza, which was first only available via mail order from her website. The album was re-released in stores worldwide in October 2006.

Tunstall sang with Scottish band Travis on their 2007 album "The Boy With No Name", on the track "Under The Moonlight", a song written by Susie Hug (late of Katydids).

Tunstall's second album, Drastic Fantastic, premiered on September 3, 2007 in Scotland, followed a week later on September 10, 2007 with the London release for the UK and September 18, 2007, in the US. In its first week, Drastic Fantastic reached #1 on the Scottish Album Charts, #3 on the UK Charts, and #9 on the U.S. Charts.^[12]

On October 5th, Target in association with NBC, released a special KT Tunstall Christmas album with 6 exclusive tracks:

• "2000 Miles"
• "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
• "Mele kalikimaka (Christmas In Hawaii)"
• "Sleigh Ride"
• "Fairytale of New York"
• "Lonely This Christmas"

Tunstall is known for her live performances, in which she combines use of a loop pedal (an AKAI E2 Headrush, which she affectionately calls "Wee Bastard,") with a full four-piece backing band.

Since her debut appearance on Later with Jools Holland, she has returned to the show to perform "Suddenly I See," "Under the Weather," "Tangled up in Blue" (she performed the same song, as well as "Simple Twist of Fate" and "This Wheel's on Fire" on a BBC 4 Bob Dylan tribute), and an Ella Fitzgerald song ("Ain't Misbehavin'" by Fats Waller) with Jools Holland on piano.

She ended 2005 on Hogmanay by performing at Edinburgh's Concert in the Gardens alongside Scottish band Texas, being broadcast on BBC Scotland's Hogmanay Live show also. Tunstall said prior to that performance that "This is the gig of a lifetime... This Hogmanay party is probably the best-known and best-loved in the world, and I've been here a few times over the years dreaming of being the one entertaining the crowds. Until we're on that stage I won't believe we're allowed on it."^[13]

While Tunstall had performed on multiple American talk shows since the previous summer, it wasn't until 17 January 2007 that Tunstall actually was interviewed on an American programme, The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

On 7 July 2007, she performed at the American leg of Live Earth at Giants Stadium in New Jersey wearing gold leggings and a t-shirt fittingly emblazoned with "save the future". She sang her two biggest hits, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", "Suddenly I See", along with "Other Side of the World".

On 5 September 2007, she performed at Apple's 'The Beat Goes On', at which Apple revealed their new iPod touch and a redesign of their remaining iPods. She sang "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" from her album Eye to the Telescope as well as the single, "Hold On," from her album Drastic Fantastic.

On 15 October 2007, she kicked off her new tour in at the Carling Academy in Birmingham.

In 2005, Tunstall won Best Track Q Music Award for "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree".^[14]

She received a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize, though lost to Antony and the Johnsons.^[15]

Tunstall received three BRIT award nominations when they were announced on January 11, 2006. Nominations included Best British Live Act, British Breakthrough Act, and British Female Solo Artist. At the ceremony on February 15, 2006, Tunstall performed "Suddenly I See" and won the award for Best British Female Solo Artist, remarking that she wished to share it with fellow nominee Kate Bush.^[7]

On January 22, 2006, she was awarded a European Border Breakers Award, which awards the top-selling EU artists, discounting sales in their home state (in this case, discounting UK sales).^[16] Also, in 2006 she won the Ivor Novello Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Suddenly I See"^[17] along with Scottish Style Awards "Most Stylish Band or Musician - Interview here."

She received a 2007 Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", but the award went to Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man."^[18]

Tunstall appears on the Sophie Solomon song "Lazarus", on the album Poison Sweet Madeira, and provided guest vocals for three tracks, "Ladino Song," "Refugee," and "Yesterday's Mistake," on the Oi Va Voi album Laughter Through Tears (2003). She has also performed "Get Ur Freak On" by Missy Elliott, "Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead and The Prayer by Bloc Party at Live Lounge. Tunstall's seventh single, "Another Place to Fall," featured a cover of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees". She appears in the 2006 album Wave of the Japanese singer Yuki, where she wrote "Yume Miteitai" and "Birthday".

Excerpts from other tracks were subsequently used in Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, and Will & Grace. The singer's breakthrough hit "Suddenly I See" was used in the opening scene of the 2006 fashion satire The Devil Wears Prada.^[11]

"Suddenly I See" was also used as a backing track on the second series of American dance competition show So You Think You Can Dance and was featured in the September 2007 Next television advert 'Ali's Party'.

Tunstall sparked some controversy in 2005 when she publicly bashed singer/songwriter Dido, stating that the artist "can't f***ing sing" after several fans compared the two musically. Tunstall later apologised, stating that she did not want to be involved in a public feud.^[19]

Despite rumors otherwise, even though Tunstall has expressed her gratitude to her gay and lesbian following in an interview with a daily newspaper^[20] and wore a pair of rainbow patterned braces on her record cover^[21], she is not a lesbian.^[22]

Since 2003, Tunstall has been dating Luke Bullen, the drummer in her band.^[20] She has indicated her intention to live in Edinburgh with Bullen.

In April 2007, Tunstall underwent surgery to correct a problem with a kidney, which was undersized owing to an infection during her childhood.^[23]

• 2000: Tracks In July
• 2003: Toons March '03

• 2004: Eye to the Telescope
• 2006: KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza
• 2007: Drastic Fantastic
• 2007: Have Yourself a Very KT Christmas

Release	Title	Album	Chart positions
			UK	U.S.	U.S. Pop	U.S. AC	U.S. Adult Top 40	U.S. Digital	Italy	CAN	IRL	ARIA Singles Chart
2004	"Throw Me a Rope"	Single-only release	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	"False Alarm" (EP)	Eye to the Telescope	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2005	"Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"		28	20	22	4	1	9	10	22	16	-
	"Other Side of the World"		13	-	-	-	19	-	22	-	25	-
	"Suddenly I See"		12	21	23	10	7	14	36	33	25	6
	"Under the Weather"		39	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2006	"Another Place to Fall"		52	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	"Ashes" (Promo Only)	Acoustic Extravaganza	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2007	"Hold On"	Drastic Fantastic	21	104	95	-	28	-	26	46	41	-
	"Saving My Face"		50	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

• Notes:

1. "Throw Me a Rope" was released as a 7" vinyl only and was limited to 300 copies.
2. "False Alarm" was released as an EP.
3. "Other Side of The World" charted at Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks in 2007.

• KT Tunstall Official website
• U.S. Official Billboard Chart History
• KT Tunstall interview at Scottish Style Awards 2006
• KT Tunstall at the Internet Movie Database
• KT Tunstall at TV.com
• "KT Tunstall: Eyes to the Skies" interview by Jay S. Jacobs
• Glastonbury Festival interview (22 June 2007)
• The Outsider Festival interview (24 June 2007)
• Hold On Review

Video:

• "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" for Austin City Limits (PBS)
• Austin City Limits interview (PBS)
• CBS Sunday Morning interview: Scotland, her home town, parents, and getting started 2007/09/16 (CBS)
• K.T. Tunstall Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos

Audio:

• NPR interview (2 February 2006)
• NPR interview (4 February 2006)
• Interview and performances at AOL Music

v • d • e KT Tunstall
Studio albums	Eye to the Telescope · KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza · Drastic Fantastic
Singles	"Throw Me a Rope" · "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" · "Other Side of the World" · "Suddenly I See" · "Under the Weather" · "Another Place to Fall" · "Hold On" · "Saving My Face"
EPs	False Alarm
Related articles	Discography