Young was born in Wokingham, Berkshire, UK, with a non-identical twin, Rupert. He was educated at Horris Hill preparatory school and Wellington College.
He then attended the University of Exeter where he read Politics. At university, some of Young's old haunts included Timepiece, The Old Firehouse, and Harry's, where he used to work. In September 2001, he became a student at the Arts Educational School in Chiswick, London, starting a three-year course in musical theatre with a scholarship.
In February 2002, Young came to national prominence by singing in and winning the ITV singing contest/reality tv show Pop Idol.
Contrary to popular belief, Will was not a surprise winner when beating Gareth Gates in the final show; in fact, he gained the most votes nearly every week throughout the entire finals. A lot of 'casual' viewers of Pop Idol may have been surprised at Will's victory because Gareth had got a lot of publicity (partly) due to his stutter, perhaps creating the illusion that he was more likely to win than Will.
Young's first single was a double A-side featuring Westlife's song "Evergreen" and "Anything Is Possible", a new song written for the winner of the show by Cathy Dennis. This became the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history selling 403,027 copies on its day of release. It went on to sell over 1.4 million copies and in the official list of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK issued later that year, it appeared 12th. Will subsequently made headlines by revealing he was gay. He went on to win the Brits Best Breakthrough Act Award and a plethora of other awards, including most recently Best Artist in the Digital Music Awards October 2004. Early singles of note include "Light My Fire" (done José Feliciano style), "Leave Right Now", and "Friday's Child". The latter is the title of his second album, which was largely self-penned, went five-times platinum, also receiving awards and critical acclaim.
Young received his second Brit Award in February 2005 for his co-written single "Your Game". Following sell out theatre and arena tours in 2004, he toured again at outside festival venues in Summer 2005. On July 6, 2005, he performed at Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push, the final concert of Live 8, where he did a duet with James Brown on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". His third album, Keep On was released in November 2005, together with the first single from same, "Switch It On".
On 29 September 2008, Young's fourth album, Let It Go, was released, and peaked at #2 in the UK albums chart. It was preceded by the single "Changes" on 15 September, which peaked at #10. His next single "Grace" was released on 1 December 2008, and peaked at #33 on the UK Singles Chart. Will's third single taken from the album will be "Let It Go", was released on 2 March 2009 in the UK, and peaked at #58 on the UK Singles Chart. The fourth and final single was "Tell Me the Worst", and was released on July 5, 2009 only in the UK. It served as a club promo, and featured some Fred Falke remixes.
A greatest hits collection, The Hits, was released on the 16th of November 2009. contains twelve songs from Young's first four studio albums, and two new tracks. The first is new single "Hopes & Fears", and the second is a ballad called "If It Hadn't Been for Love". The album will be released as a standard edition and a deluxe edition, which will include a DVD of all the music videos.
Songfacts reports that Jealousy, the first single from Young’s fifth studio album Echoes is a dance pop track produced by Richard X (Sugababes, Annie). The song will be released on August 21, 2011.
Young has been nominated for Ten BRIT Awards [4 x Best British Male - 4 X Best British single - Best pop Act- Best Breakthrough] . In May 2006, he was voted the UK's favourite artist ever in a poll conducted by commercial radio. In May 2007, he was voted the UK's favourite artist of all time for the second consecutive year.
Young has also broadened his repertoire by launching an acting career, taking a role in the BBC film, Mrs. Henderson Presents, starring Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins, with Will playing the character of 'Bertie'. The film went on release in the UK on 25 November 2005, and received excellent reviews, not least for Young's performance as actor and singer in the movie. It includes a scene in which he appears naked.
Will Young supports the charity Women's Aid, about which he wrote: "I am proud to put my name beside this cause and hope that I may be able to help more people affected by the terrors of domestic violence as well as help to create a wider awareness within our society."
Will also supports Mencap and Positive Action Southwest (PASW) for which he performed at his first solo concert in July 2003 at Killerton Hall, Exeter.
Official Website: http://www.willyoung.co.uk/global/home
Fineline
Will Young Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're walking a fine line
You're living on borrowed time
You're walking a fine line
Don't pretend you don't see
What's in front of your eyes
We're scraping the gutter
There's times when I feel
I'm in the eye of a storm
But there's times when I feel
That we could fly up to the moon
To the moon
You're walking a fine line
You're walking a fine fine line
You're living on borrowed time
You're walking a fine line
I know you agree that
We should try to work it out
It's too good to throw away
I never had a doubt
We're so good together
And there's nothing to prove
Seems we gotta learn
To take the rough times with the smooth
With the smooth
You're walking a fine line
You're walking a fine fine line
You're living on borrowed time
You're walking a fine line
You're walking a fine line
You're living on borrowed time
You're walking a fine line
The lyrics of Will Young's song "Fineline" talk about the delicate balance that exists in a relationship. The singer is warning his partner that they are walking a fine line - their relationship is in a precarious state and they are living on borrowed time. He urges his partner not to pretend that everything is fine when they both know that their relationship is in trouble. The lyrics are a reminder that relationships need to be nurtured and cared for, otherwise they can easily fall apart.
The singer acknowledges that there are both good and bad times in a relationship, just like there are times when one can touch the skies and times when one is scraping the gutter. However, he believes that he and his partner are good together and they need to work through their problems, rather than throw away their relationship. He acknowledges that they may have to take the rough times with the smooth in order to make their relationship work.
Overall, "Fineline" is a song about relationships and the delicate balance that exists within them. It reminds us that relationships are never straightforward and require hard work and commitment to stay on the right track.
Line by Line Meaning
You're walking a fine line
You are teetering on the edge and taking a risky path.
You're living on borrowed time
Your time is limited and you're living beyond what is expected.
Don't pretend you don't see
Do not ignore what is happening in front of you.
What's in front of your eyes
The situation that is currently happening in your life.
We're scraping the gutter
We are living in a bad situation or condition.
Or we're touching the skies
Or we are experiencing the happiness of life.
There's times when I feel I'm in the eye of a storm
There are moments when everything is falling apart around me.
But there's times when I feel that we could fly up to the moon
However, there are moments when I feel that everything is going so perfectly that we can achieve anything we want.
I know you agree that we should try to work it out
I know that you also believe that we should work on our relationship.
It's too good to throw away
Our relationship is too valuable to let go of.
I never had a doubt
I was always sure that you feel the same way as me.
We're so good together
We complement each other and make a great team.
And there's nothing to prove
We do not need to prove anything to anyone else to validate our relationship.
Seems we gotta learn to take the rough times with the smooth
We need to learn to handle and face the good and bad times in our relationship.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ED JOHNSON, HENRY JOHNSON, MICHAEL NEIL PEDEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sander Scheffer
I'm not a huge popmusic fan, but this song and this singer ... Masterpiece.
TravelS123
Such a beautiful song
Gary Parson
Kills me every time I play it!
Holly Ashdown
there's times when I feel I'm in the eye of a storm.. but there's times when I feel that we could fly up to the moon ❤
Carmen B.
Sis has had this Cd for years I was missing out supremely just now listening to this album by accident recently. He is absolutely gorgeous and so talented an artist.This song especially touches me...
mike gibbons
still affects the way i feel when i listen to this years on ....same affect love this record """
Kevin Allen
String writing super and so is he.
Anna Adams
Hauntingly beautiful
Zairrd Vordenta
Slow-Motion Melancholy Poem for my suffering soul !
muzik mazik
..................powerful