Biography

In 1992 and 1993, Peter Andre defied the odds by becoming a pop star in Australia when the last thing the country was looking for was a singing, dancing, muscle-flexing R&B pop hero. In 1995 he achieved the near-impossible again by repeating the same feat across Europe. Originally born in England his family relocated to Surfer's Paradise, Queensland when he was ten years old. This proved to be a major turning point in Andre's life and ultimately, his career. He had just started getting into dance and soul music and found none of it on Australian radio. Listening to that music, turning his friends onto it, and performing it himself became his mission in life. Eventually that mission broadened to harassing a national TV talent quest by singing to the producers down the phone and begging for a chance to perform. His persistence paid off and Andre performed a version of Bobby Brown's "Don't Be Cruel"; he was offered a recording contract live on air by one of the judges, who happened to be a record company head. His breakthrough came in December 1992 with the second single, a fairly straight version of the mid-'60s Brenton Wood track, "Gimme Little Sign," which became the highest-selling single of the year by an Australian artist. More hits followed until he shifted base to London, a virtual unknown. Through hard work and his bump-and-grind image on-stage and video, he slowly built a fan base in England and Europe until his fourth international single, "Flava," entered the English charts at number one in September 1996. More hits followed, and within six months, he'd accumulated three million in sales. From the beginning, Andre's music has tended to be derivative, the singer owing his success to his work ethic and personal energy rather than groundbreaking recordings. His 1998 album, Time, included contributions from Montell Jordan and Brian McKnight. After the release of Time, Andre retreated from the music industry until a 2004 appearance on the British TV show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here. While filming he met and entered into a very public relationship with former-glamour model Katie Price. On the back of the success of the TV series, Andre’s debut single, Mysterious Girl, was reissued, reaching the number one spot on the U.K. singles chart. The same year, the aptly titled album The Long Road Back was released. 2006 saw the release of A Whole New World, a duets album recorded with his new wife, Katie Price. Widely panned by critics, the album reached the U.K. Top 20 on release. Andre and Price continued their relationship in the public-eye with their reality TV show Katie & Peter. With the show coming to an end in 2009 after the couple announced their break-up, Andre released his sixth studio album, Revelation, a week after his divorce from Price was made official. At the beginning of 2010, the album Unconditional: Love Songs was released. Largely a collection of previously released material, the album also included five newly recorded songs. Accelerate, Andre’s eighth studio album, came out at the end of 2010 and saw him working with the likes of Guy Chambers, Labrinth, and Taio Cruz. Keeping busy with his reality TV shows (Peter Andre: Here 2 Help and Peter Andre: My Life) throughout 2011, Andre would eventually return to the studio in 2012. His ninth studio album, Angels & Demons, released in October 2012, featured the song "Enemy," a track given to Andre to record by the late Robin Gibb. ~ Ed Nimmervoll & Richard Wilson, Rovi