Katrina formerly of Katrina and the Waves
Pop, Rock
Born in 1960 in Kansas, Katrina Leskanich moved to England in 1976. Growing up with the West Coast sound (Fleetwood Mac, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Heart) she, together with fellow American and future Wave, Vince de la Cruz, formed the band Mama’s Cookin’.
As a singer, Katrina was inspired by Motown, Dusty Springfield and girl groups such as The Shangri-Las and The Shirelles. In 1983 Katrina and Vince joined The Waves (with ex Soft Boy Kimberley Rew) and she picked up on some of their musical influences such as Etta James, Velvet Underground and the Stones.
The band became Katrina and the Waves as ‘the record company told us more people will go to your shows if they think there’s a chick singer’, and after two albums and five years washing dishes she was catapulted into the spotlight with ‘Walking On Sunshine’ which has become a timeless summer anthem. During the same year Katrina and the Waves were also nominated for a Grammy for best new artist.
With international success the band toured with artists such as Wham, The Beach Boys, Don Henley, Pointer Sisters, Chaka Khan, The Kinks, Fleetwood Mac, Coolio and Run DMC. They released a further 6 albums charting 10 top 30 singles with performances at Madison Square Garden, The Mall, Washington DC, The Marquee Club and CBGBs where Katrina sang with Joey Ramone. Katrina was also the featured vocalist on albums made by Holly Vallance and Hanoi Rocks and on Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn’.
She recorded ‘We Gotta Get Out of This Place’ as a duet with Eric Burden and sang a guest track on Rick Wakeman’s ‘Return To The Centre of the Earth’.
In 1997 Katrina and the Waves’ ‘Love Shine A Light’ won the Eurovision Song Contest with the largest ever margin, followed by an unprecedented four consecutive appearances on Top Of The Pops.
The following year, Katrina and the Waves split up and Katrina pursued an alternative career on radio and TV. She was a TV presenter on Watchdog with Anne Robinson and was then offered her own show on Radio 2 – where she presented a three-hour show, five days a week for the next year and a half.
This was followed by a stint in musical theatre, when Katrina landed the lead in Leader of the Pack, singing some of the songs that had influenced her as a young singer. Ellie Greenwich (who wrote the songs in the show, ‘Be My Baby’, ‘Baby I Love You’, etc.) came over from New York to see the London production and joined Katrina on stage to sing ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’, as a duet.
In 2001, Katrina began a solo career, performing live in the UK and in Europe. And after enjoying renewed success as a solo performer, Katrina decided to set up her own label. Katrina’s first solo album, where she wrote and produced many of the songs, has just been released. The album includes collaborations with Phil Thornalley (ex Cure and writer of Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn') and a stunning acoustic cover of Kirsty MacColl’s 'They Don’t Know', which will be released on 6th March.
The video for 'They Don't Know' was previewed on BBC1 Breakfast News on 26th January 2006.
As a singer, Katrina was inspired by Motown, Dusty Springfield and girl groups such as The Shangri-Las and The Shirelles. In 1983 Katrina and Vince joined The Waves (with ex Soft Boy Kimberley Rew) and she picked up on some of their musical influences such as Etta James, Velvet Underground and the Stones.
The band became Katrina and the Waves as ‘the record company told us more people will go to your shows if they think there’s a chick singer’, and after two albums and five years washing dishes she was catapulted into the spotlight with ‘Walking On Sunshine’ which has become a timeless summer anthem. During the same year Katrina and the Waves were also nominated for a Grammy for best new artist.
With international success the band toured with artists such as Wham, The Beach Boys, Don Henley, Pointer Sisters, Chaka Khan, The Kinks, Fleetwood Mac, Coolio and Run DMC. They released a further 6 albums charting 10 top 30 singles with performances at Madison Square Garden, The Mall, Washington DC, The Marquee Club and CBGBs where Katrina sang with Joey Ramone. Katrina was also the featured vocalist on albums made by Holly Vallance and Hanoi Rocks and on Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn’.
She recorded ‘We Gotta Get Out of This Place’ as a duet with Eric Burden and sang a guest track on Rick Wakeman’s ‘Return To The Centre of the Earth’.
In 1997 Katrina and the Waves’ ‘Love Shine A Light’ won the Eurovision Song Contest with the largest ever margin, followed by an unprecedented four consecutive appearances on Top Of The Pops.
The following year, Katrina and the Waves split up and Katrina pursued an alternative career on radio and TV. She was a TV presenter on Watchdog with Anne Robinson and was then offered her own show on Radio 2 – where she presented a three-hour show, five days a week for the next year and a half.
This was followed by a stint in musical theatre, when Katrina landed the lead in Leader of the Pack, singing some of the songs that had influenced her as a young singer. Ellie Greenwich (who wrote the songs in the show, ‘Be My Baby’, ‘Baby I Love You’, etc.) came over from New York to see the London production and joined Katrina on stage to sing ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’, as a duet.
In 2001, Katrina began a solo career, performing live in the UK and in Europe. And after enjoying renewed success as a solo performer, Katrina decided to set up her own label. Katrina’s first solo album, where she wrote and produced many of the songs, has just been released. The album includes collaborations with Phil Thornalley (ex Cure and writer of Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn') and a stunning acoustic cover of Kirsty MacColl’s 'They Don’t Know', which will be released on 6th March.
The video for 'They Don't Know' was previewed on BBC1 Breakfast News on 26th January 2006.
Tour Dates for Katrina formerly of Katrina and the Waves
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