25 Facts About Lesley Garrett

Lesley Garrett, CBE was born on 10 April 1955 and is an English soprano singer, musician, broadcaster and media personality.

Lesley Garrett is noted for being at home in opera and "crossover music".

Lesley Garrett's grandfather Colin Wall was a classical pianist; her father Derek worked as a railway signalman and then as a schoolteacher at Hatfield Woodhouse Primary School, eventually going on to become a headmaster.

Lesley Garrett has two sisters, Jill and Kay, one step-sister, Louise, and two step-brothers named Robert and Nicholas.

Lesley Garrett subsequently sang, in 1980, Alice in Le comte Ory at the London Coliseum and Dorinda in Orlando at the Wexford Festival, in 1981, at Wexford, the title role in Zaide, in 1982 Sophie in Werther with Opera North and in 1984 Damigella in L'incoronazione di Poppea at Glyndebourne.

Lesley Garrett has performed across the world, in countries throughout Europe, and the United States, Australia, Russia, Brazil, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea.

Lesley Garrett has sung opera and pop classics with Bryan Ferry, Eurythmics and Mick Hucknall to celebrate the arrival of the new century on Millennium Eve in the grounds at the Royal Observatory and National Maritime Museum.

Lesley Garrett played the lead role of Hanna Glawari in the Welsh National Opera's production of The Merry Widow, which toured the United Kingdom in 2005.

Lesley Garrett created the role of Val in Pleasure, the first opera by Mark Simpson, directed by Tim Albery and premiered at the Howard Assembly Room by Opera North, in April 2016.

Lesley Garrett is a member of the board of the English National Opera and a vice president of Harrogate International Festivals.

In 2002 Lesley Garrett was appointed a CBE for her services to music.

Lesley Garrett was awarded with a BASCA Gold Badge Award in October 2010, in recognition of her contribution to music.

Lesley Garrett has performed at several FA Cup Finals, including the 2000 Final, the last to be held at the old Wembley Stadium, the 2007 final held at the new Wembley Stadium, and the 2008 Final.

Lesley Garrett sang the British national anthem on the Champs-Elysees in Paris in 2012 after Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour de France, though her performance was not universally appreciated.

In 2004, Lesley Garrett was one of the participants in the first series of the celebrity talent contest Strictly Come Dancing; she and her dance partner Anton du Beke finished third.

Lesley Garrett was delighted to discover that the musical gene stretched far back and had run in her family for several generations: her maternal grandfather made a living playing the piano with a small orchestra that accompanied silent films at cinemas in and around Sheffield.

Lesley Garrett is a veteran of Dictionary Corner on the Channel 4 game show Countdown, and in June 2005 it was thought that she was to become one of the show's rotating guest hosts while Richard Whiteley was recovering from illness.

Lesley Garrett did not appear on Countdown again until October 2009.

In February 2005, Lesley Garrett was selected to be one of the judges for BBC's Comic Relief does Fame Academy, and in May she hosted and sang at the 2005 Classical BRIT Awards at the Royal Albert Hall on ITV.

Lesley Garrett was a regular panellist on the ITV daytime show Loose Women during 2006; she featured there again in 2009 and 2010, before returning in May 2014.

Lesley Garrett appeared on This Morning and Loose Women in 2007, to perform a song from her latest album When I Fall in Love.

Lesley Garrett continued the post as a judge on Comic Relief Does Fame Academy in 2007.

Lesley Garrett featured on the TV show My Life on a Plate on 10 September 2017; chef Brian Turner accompanied her on a trip to key locations from her childhood in Yorkshire, where she was taught by her parents to make the most out of what was available.

Lesley Garrett was a featured artist on the platinum selling "Perfect Day" single released by the BBC in aid of Children in Need.

Lesley Garrett appears on two other DVDs of complete works from English National Opera, Handel's Ariodante and Xerxes.