Katherine Jenkins

For many classically trained musicians, the decision is between becoming a pop star and becoming a classical musician, and there is never any crossover between the two. Most of the time. Katherine Jenkins is the rebuttal to that, as a mezzo-soprano who has had records outsell the likes of the Spice Girls and Celine Dion in the same week. By her late teenage years, it became clear that Jenkins was destined for great things, winning the Welsh Choirgirl of the year contest twice and winning a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music when she was 17. She graduated with honours, receiving a music teachers diploma in the process, and after working as a freelance singing teacher, a model and even a tour guide on the London Eye, decided to pursue a career in music full time.

She made a demo that attracted the attention of Universal Classics and Jazz, and after a single audition where she sang Rossini's “Una Voce Poco Fa”, she signed what's reported to be the most lucrative record contract in the history of classical music in the UK, at £1 million. This would not be the last time she broke a record with the value of her record contract. Ever since then, she has remained one of the most popular classical musicians of her generation, releasing ten critically and commercially successful albums, regularly making live appearances in front of packed out stadiums, and becoming a genuine national treasure in the U.K to the extent where she was trusted with a major role in the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas special without ever acting before. For taking the world of classical music and putting it into the mainstream with panache, Katherine Jenkins comes highly recommended.