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Biography
Refimprove|date=July 2009Infobox musical artist|name = Katrina Leskanich|image =|caption = Photo by Mike Inns|background = solo_singer|birth_name =|birth_date = Birth date and age|1960|4|10|mf=y|origin = Topeka, Kansas , United States|U.S. |instrument = Human voice|Voice , guitar |genre = New wave music|New wave , Rock music|rock , Pop music|pop |occupation = Singer , rhythm guitarist , Actress , Radio DJ , TV Presenter |years_active = 1981–present|associated_acts = Katrina and the Waves |label = Capitol Records , Universal Records , Virgin Records|Virgin , Warner Bros. Records , BMG , EMI , Katsweb |website = http://www.katrinasweb.com/ Katrina Leskanich (born April 10, 1960) is an United States|American singer and musician who is best known for being the lead singer and namesake of the pop band Katrina and the Waves .
Early life
Katrina was born in Topeka, Kansas . Her father was a Colonel in the United States Air Force , and Katrina and her five siblings (four sisters and one brother) moved frequently as children. After she was born, they moved from Kansas to New Mexico , and then California , Alabama , Georgia (US state)|Georgia , Florida , Massachusetts , Nebraska , Germany and the Netherlands before arriving in Norfolk , England , in 1976. Katrina has lived in the UK since 1976, moving to London in 1998 where she currently lives.
Career with Katrina and the Waves
In 1978, Leskanich and her then-boyfriend, Vince de la Cruz, formed the cover band "Mama's Cooking", based in Feltwell , England . In 1981, after some lineup changes, the band titled themselves "The Waves" and began playing original music. In 1982, after yet more lineup changes, the band changed their name once again to Katrina and the Waves , with Leskanich as the lead vocalist; by now they were based in the city of Cambridge .
The band had several international hits, including, most notably, " Walking on Sunshine (song)|Walking on Sunshine " in 1985. Their song "Sun Street" was also a minor hit in 1986. They also received a Grammy Nomination for Best New Artist. The hits continued with "Do You Want Crying", "Que te Quiero", "Rock and Roll Girl" and "That's The Way" which reached No. 16 in the U.S.A.
In 1997, after having somewhat faded into obscurity, the band won the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 for the United Kingdom with " Love Shine a Light ". Reacting to the win, Leskanich said it was the second landslide victory in a week; the song won by a record points margin, and Tony Blair had won the United Kingdom general election, 1997|1997 British general election two days previously. The song won by a then-record margin of 70 points over the Irish runner-up.O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3 The song went to No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart (becoming the band's biggest-ever hit)cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 297 and Katrina and The Waves performed an unprecedented four weeks running on the BBC One TV show Top of the Pops .
Katrina and the Waves broke up in 1999.
When Hurricane Katrina and its storm surge devastated much of the Gulf Coast of the United States|US Gulf Coast in September 2005, the MSNBC news program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann , dubbed its coverage of the hurricane, "Katrina and the Waves"; the name also appeared in numerous headlines and blog postings. A New York Times reporter contacted Katrina Leskanich, who said: "The first time I opened the paper and saw 'Katrina kills 9,' it was a bit of a shock. ... I hope that the true spirit of 'Walking on Sunshine' will prevail. I would hate for the title to be tinged with sadness, and I will have to do my own part to help turn that around." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/arts/01arts.html "Katrinas React to Katrina", New York Times , September 1, 2005
Solo career
After the Waves broke up in 1999, Leskanich launched a solo career, first as a disc jockey|DJ for BBC Radio 2 and then in 2001 she played the lead role in the musical Leader of the Pack . She released her first solo CD, Katrina Leskanich , through Universal Records in Britain in 2005. And the single - Leskanich's cover version|cover of Kirsty MacColl 's " They Don't Know (Kirsty MacColl song)|They Don't Know " was played on Radio 2. In 2005 she also participated in the Swedish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest ( Melodifestivalen 2005 ) with the song "As If Tomorrow Will Never Come". In 2005 Leskanich (with Renars Kaupers) hosted Congratulations (Eurovision)|Congratulations - 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest , in Copenhagen .
Currently Leskanich is performing in the UK, Europe and in the US as a solo performer and with her new band, which also includes Darren Loveday (guitar), Elio Pace (keyboard), Jack Pollitt (drums), Andy Coughlan (bass) and Paul Newton (horns).
Katrina covered a Clash song, " Hitsville UK " for a compilation album put together by Jimmy Guterman, which is a tribute to The Clash Sandinista! album and was released on 15 May 2007 in the United States.
Katrina performed in the 1980s show Gylne Tider which toured Norway in the early summer of 2007 and transferred to the Christiania Theatre in Oslo from October to December 2007. Katrina's cover of "They Don't Know" was included in the compilation Gylne Tider 2 which was released in 2007 and went platinum.
Katrina also appeared in the Countdown Spectacular 2 concert series around Australia between late August and early September 2007. She performed her hit "Walking On Sunshine".
From 27 January 2008 to 9 March 2008, Katrina was one of three jury members for Eurosong 2008 in Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest|Belgium , the pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest .
On 1 March 2008, she performed a remix dance version of her Eurovision Song Contest 1997|1997 Eurovision winning song, "Love Shine A Light", on the BBC Eurovision song selection show.
To celebrate the 25th Anniversary of " Walking on Sunshine (song)|Walking on Sunshine ", Leskanich released her first live album - THE LIVE ALBUM in July 2010. The album includes a live version and a blues version of " Walking on Sunshine (song)|Walking on Sunshine ". “I have performed ‘ Walking on Sunshine (song)|Walking on Sunshine ’ for so many years in so many different countries that it’s become the one constant in my life and the one thing I can count on to bring happiness to myself and others.” said Leskanich. In September 2010 Katrina re-released her solo album 'Turn The Tide' with a couple of bonus tracks - club mix of ' They Don't Know ' and the Espirito mix of ' Walking on Sunshine (song)|Walking on Sunshine '.
In November 2010, Katrina was a guest coach on the Austrian TV show Helden von Morgen on ORF 1. All her contestants went through to the next round including Lukas Plochl who sang a rap of Love Shine A Light .
In May 2011, Katrina released an EP 'Spiritualize' "In 1999 I wrote, collected and compiled some songs I thought would come together for an uplifting and spiritual type of album. I thought I'd try to make this a bit more personal," said Leskanich.
Discography
Solo
Singles
''They Don't Know digital release in 2006
''They Don't Know Club Mixes - Katrina vs Sleazesisters digital release 2008
Solo Albums
Turn The Tide Limited release 2004
Katrina Leskanich released in 2006 - Universal Distribution
THE LIVE ALBUM digital release July 2010
Turn The Tide digital re-release with bonus tracks September 2010
Spiritualize digital release May 2011
Compilations
We Gotta Get out of This Place with Eric Burdon - China Beach 1989 SBK
Ride of Your Life - Return to the Centre of the Earth (Rick Wakeman) 1999 EMI
Scar - This Is Not Retro - This Is The Eighties Up To Date 2005
''They Don't Know - Gylne Tider 2 2007 Sony BMG
Hitsville UK - The Sandinista Project 2007 3:59 Records
Walking On Sunshine (Live and Studio Version) - Countdown Spectacular 2 (2007) Liberation Blue Records (Australian-only release)
http://www.katrinasweb.com/ Katrina's Web (official website)
http://www.facebook.com/katrinasweb (Katrina's Official Facebook)
http://www.twitter.com/katrinasweb (Katrina on Twitter)
http://www.youtube.com/fabbyboy (Katrina's Official YouTube)
http://sandinista.guterman.com/ The Sandinista Project
Persondata|NAME=Leskanich, Katrina |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION=American musician, actress |DATE OF BIRTH=April 10, 1960 |PLACE OF BIRTH= Topeka, Kansas , United States |DATE OF DEATH= |PLACE OF DEATH= DEFAULTSORT:Leskanich, Katrina Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:People from Topeka, Kansas Category:People from London Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:American female singers Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:British female singers Category:British musical theatre actors Category:British radio DJs Category:Eurovision Song Contest winners Category:British Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1997 Category:Female New Wave singers Category:Melodifestivalen contestants Category:Military brats
