Michael Ball (singer)

Michael Ball

Michael Ashley Ball OBE (born June 27, 1962 in Bromsgrove , Worcestershire , Great Britain ) is an English actor , singer and radio and television presenter .

Career

Michael Ball made his first appearance in London's West End in 1985 as Marius Pontmercy in the musical Les Misérables by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil. In 1987 he took on the role of Raoul in Phantom of the Opera . He took second place in the British singles charts in 1989 with the song Love Changes Everything from the musical Aspects of Love , in which he played the role of Alex in both London and Broadway. In early 1992 he was internally selected to represent the UK in the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest . In the preliminary round, he was allowed to present eight titles, from which the winning song One Step Out of Time was determined by televoting . Most of these eight songs were later found on Ball's self-titled debut album, which peaked at number one on the UK album charts. With One Step Out of Time , Ball finally achieved second place in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Since 1992, Ball has released well over 20 albums, most of which hit the British charts and were awarded silver, gold or platinum. The collaboration with the tenor Alfie Boe has been particularly successful since 2016 , which resulted in three number one albums in a row. In April 2020, he also reached number one on the singles charts with a version of the classic You'll Never Walk Alone , which he recorded with former officer and World War II veteran Tom Moore and the NHS Voices of Care Choir.

In 2002 he played Caractacus Potts in the musical Tschitti Tschitti Bang Bang in London . He played Javert in the all-star performance of Les Misérables .

Awards

Ball is a two-time Laurence Olivier Award winner for Best Actor in a Musical. In 2008 he won the prize for Edna Turnblad in the musical Hairspray , and in 2013 for the lead role in the new production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street . In 2015 he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to musical theater .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
1992	Michael Ball	UK1 gold (10 weeks)UK
1993	West Side Story	UK33 (5 weeks) UK	with Barbara Bonney
	Always	UK3 gold (11 weeks)UK
1994	One Careful Owner	UK7th gold (6 weeks)UK
1996	First love	UK4th silver (8 weeks)UK
	The musicals	UK20th gold (12 weeks)UK
1998	The Movies	UK13 platinum (19 weeks)UK
2000	This Time It's Personal	UK20th gold (8 weeks)UK
2001	Center Stage	UK11 gold (9 weeks)UK
2003	A love story	UK41 (2 weeks) UK
2005	Music	UK11 gold (10 weeks)UK
2006	One Voice	UK22nd silver (6 weeks)UK
2007	Back to Bacharach	UK20 (6 weeks) UK
2011	Heroes	UK10 (7 weeks) UK
2013	Both sides now	UK8th silver (10 weeks)UK
2014	If Everyone Was Listening	UK21 (5 weeks) UK
2016	Together	UK1 × 2 Double platinum (36 weeks)UK	with Alfie Boe
2017	Together again	UK1 platinum (19 weeks)UK	with Alfie Boe
2019	Coming Home to You	UK1 (9 weeks) UK
	Back together	UK2 gold (16 weeks)UK	with Alfie Boe

More albums

• 1989: Rage of the Heart (with Janet Mooney)
• 1997: The Musicals and More
• 1999: In Concert - Royal Albert Hall / Christmas (UK:gold)
• 2000: Christmas (UK:gold)
• 2001: Stage and Screen (UK:gold)
• 2003: A Song for You (UK:gold)
• 2003: Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story ( Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir with Michael Ball, Barbara Bonney and Barry Wordsworth )

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
1994	The best of	UK25th gold (7 weeks)UK
1999	The Very Best of Michael Ball: In Concert at the Royal Albert Hall	UK18th silver (7 weeks)UK
2004	Love Changes Everything - The Essential	UK21st gold (9 weeks)UK
2009	The Very Best Of - Past & Present	UK11 silver (6 weeks)UK

More compilations

• 1995: The Collection (UK:gold)
• 1998: Songs of Love (UK:silver)
• 2003: I Dreamed a Dream

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
1989	Love Changes Everything Aspects of Love	UK2 silver (15 weeks)UK
	The First Man You Remember Aspects of Love	UK68 (4 weeks) UK	with Diana Morrison
1991	It's still you	UK58 (2 weeks) UK
1992	One Step Out of Time Michael Ball	UK20 (7 weeks) UK
	If I Can Dream Always	UK51 (2 weeks) UK
1993	Sunset Boulevard The Musicals	UK72 (1 week) UK
1994	From Here to Eternity One Careful Owner	UK36 (4 weeks) UK
	The Lovers We Were One Careful Owner	UK63 (2 weeks) UK
	Wherever You Are One Careful Owner	UK80 (2 weeks) UK
1995	The Rose First Love	UK42 (4 weeks) UK
1996	(Something Inside) So Strong First Love	UK40 (2 weeks) UK
2020	You'll Never Walk Alone	UK1 (2 weeks) UK	with Captain Tom Moore & The NHS Voices of Care Choir

More singles

• 1999: Hot Stuff
• 2013: Fight the Fight

Video albums

• 2000: Live At The Royal Albert Hall (UK:× 2Double platinum )
• 2004: Live In London (UK:gold)
• 2009: Past & Present Tour - Live (UK:gold)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ UK NATIONAL FINAL 1992. Retrieved May 19, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Michael Ball - Michael Ball. Retrieved May 19, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Captain Tom Moore turns 100, becomes first centenarian to have a Number 1. Retrieved on May 19, 2020 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: Singles Albums UK
5. ↑ ^{a b c} UK gold / platinum database

Web links

• Official website
• Michael Ball in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Michael Ball at Allmusic (English)
• Michael Ball at Discogs (English)