Will Young

Will Young is a British pop-singer, who became popular after winning the Pop Idol competition, a nationwide competition for young artists, in 2002. Shortly after the victory, he confessed his homosexuality. He said that he had never hidden this and had always felt comfortable with his sexual orientation. Despite the disappointment of multitudes of teenage female fans, he kept the focus on his personality and art. In 2002, Young toured the UK together with the other participators of Pop Idol. The same year, he sang We Are the Champions with Queen musicians Brian May and Roger Taylor in Buckingham Palace at the Queen’s Jubilee Concert. His first single, including Evergreen and Anything Is Possible, set the record for the British debuts as the fastest seller in the entire history of the national charts. Will Young’s first album, From Now On, was released in October 2002. It produced three singles: Light My Fire, The Long and Winding Road, and You and I. In February 2003, he won the BRIT Award as Best Breakthrough Artist.

In December 2003, Will Young produced the second album, Friday's Child. It featured the singles Leave Right Now, Your Game and Friday's Child. This album saw him earn another BRIT Award. Young’s third album was released in November 2005 under the title Keep On. It featured the single All Time Love, nominated in the Best British Single category at the 2007 BRIT Awards. The two other singles from the album were Switch It On, and Who Am I. In the late 2007, he went to Los Angeles to work on the fourth album. By that time, he had accumulated a significant amount of songs, but only a small part of them was meant to enter the new album, Let It Go. It was preceded by the single Changes, released in September 2008. In 2009 the musician released his first compilation album. It was issued under quite the logical name The Hits.

It is not only music where Will Young managed to demonstrate his brilliant skills. Thus, he performed in the BBC film Mrs. Henderson Presents, starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins. The film was released in the UK in November 2005 to noticeable critical acclaim. Young’s work was highly appraised both for singing and acting. Young is a strong supporter of the Children in Need campaign, in the frames of which he produced the documentary Runaways about hardships awaiting those teens who run away from their homes. He also went to Africa to prepare an episode about saving the gorillas of West Africa for the BBC series Saving Planet Earth. Young also supports the charity Women's Aid, a foundation to assist victims of domestic violence and a number of other philanthropy organizations.