Whilst he was at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama he formed the pop-opera boyband G4 with Mike Christie, Tom Lowe, and Ben Thapa, three other Guildhall students. Later, due to artistic differences, Tom Lowe resigned as bass, and Matthew Stiff took his place. Their name, G4, comes from the fact that they were all students at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and stands for Guildhall 4.
G4 were discovered after finishing second on ITV talent show The X Factor in 2004. G4's self-titled debut album produced by the legendary Trevor Horn and Brian Rawling, reached Number One for Mother's Day weekend 2005 and sold over 245,000 copies in the first week. In total they released 3 albums, sold in excess of 1.5 million albums in the UK, completed 5 sell-out UK tours, sold in excess of 40,000 Live at the Royal Albert Hall DVDs (one of the concerts on their first tour) and also released a best selling autobiography Our Way.
On 5 April 2007, G4 announced on GMTV that they were calling it a day at the end of July 2007.
Jonathan signed with new management Jonathan Shalit in 2007 and secured a £1 million, 5 album deal with Universal Classics and Jazz (UCJ) which is part of the Universal Music Group. He was offered an album deal by the three major labels, EMI, Sony and Universal."[3] His first solo album with UCJ, Tenor at the Movies, was released on 18 February 2008.
For 5 Sunday afternoons from 17th February 2008 Jonathan Ansell presented The Great Movie Composers on ClassicFM coinciding with the release of his solo album.
On 24th February 2008 Jonathan's album Tenor at the Movies went straight to number 1 in the Classical Chart and stayed there for 3 weeks and reached Number 9 in mainstream charts making him the youngest tenor ever to top the Classical Charts.
Anthem
Jonathan Ansell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Though their sad power may prevail
Can possess, conquer, my country′s heart
They rise to fail
She is eternal
Long before nations' lines were drawn
When no flags flew, when no armies stood
And you ask me why I love her
Through wars, death and despair
She is the constant, we who don′t care
And you wonder will I leave her - but how?
I cross over borders but I'm still there now
How can I leave her?
Where would I start?
Let man's petty nations tear themselves apart
My land′s only borders lie around my heart
In Jonathan Ansell's song Anthem, he showcases his deep-rooted love for his country. He believes that no person or any form of madness can take away the love and pride he has for his nation. Even though there may be moments of sadness or difficulties, his country's heart cannot be conquered. In fact, he believes that any efforts made to try and bring it down will ultimately lead to failure.
The singer regards his country as a timeless entity that existed long before the concept of nations and borders were introduced. It seems like he believes that his land possesses such a rich history and culture that it doesn't need symbols like flags or armies. The country he talks about is beyond physical boundaries and exists in people's hearts.
Line by Line Meaning
No man, no madness
Despite any individual or collective delusions or insanities,
Though their sad power may prevail
even if their despair-inducing authority seems to succeed,
Can possess, conquer, my country′s heart
they cannot truly possess or conquer the heart of my beloved country,
They rise to fail
for their efforts are doomed to fail.
She is eternal
My country is timeless and infinite,
Long before nations' lines were drawn
existing before arbitrary national borders were established,
When no flags flew, when no armies stood
when there were no symbols of power or military forces,
My land was born
my country came into being.
And you ask me why I love her
When asked why I adore and honor my country,
Through wars, death and despair
even in times of horrifying conflict, death, and hopelessness,
She is the constant, we who don′t care
my country remains an unwavering presence, despite those who may not appreciate or understand it,
And you wonder will I leave her - but how?
When you wonder if I could abandon my country, I ask, how is that possible?
I cross over borders but I'm still there now
Even though I may travel across physical borders, my country remains within me.
How can I leave her?
How could I possibly turn my back on her?
Where would I start?
Where would I even begin to try to distance myself?
Let man's petty nations tear themselves apart
Let the arbitrary divisions created by humanity cause their own destruction,
My land′s only borders lie around my heart
My country's true boundaries exist only within my heart.
Writer(s): Rice, Andersson, Ulvae
Contributed by Gabriella P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.