Essex-raised artist Charlotte Awbery found fame weeks before Covid first hit, when a clip of her singing Lady Gaga’s Shallow went viral and she was flown Stateside to appear on talk show Ellen, a long-time favourite of Barack and Michelle Obama. Denise Marshall discovers how Charlotte’s life has changed three years on, as she prepares to release her debut album Pride…
To captivate millions of people across the globe with a 44-second video clip is the dream of many in our social media-saturated society. And it was by unintentionally shocking the world in this way that the profile of Essex resident Charlotte Awbery soared back in February 2020.
After 15 years dedicated to performing at bars and functions, the 34-year-old was simply strolling through Liverpool Street station to meet a friend when fate intervened, and she was approached by influencer Kevin Freshwater.
Kevin had been inviting commuters across the capital to ‘finish the lyrics,’ on his microphone for the previous fortnight. Not only did Charlotte play along, her passionate high notes left him stunned. Days later, while mid-air across the Atlantic en route to a pre-planned shopping trip, her story was hitting the breakfast television headlines.
Upon touching down at JFK airport, she discovered American artist Ariana Grande had followed her on Instagram and the Ellen production staff were summoning her to Los Angeles to sing on set.
‘They flew me in from New York,’ reveals Charlotte. ‘It was that quick! Just before I got on the plane Kevin messaged and said, “have you uploaded my Instagram on to Twitter?” I replied, “I haven’t even got Twitter!” And he said, “well you’re going viral.”
‘I was walking through JFK airport and people were saying, “there’s that girl” and asking me for pictures. I downloaded Zoom on my phone to talk to the Ellen team, as I was walking into my hotel. When I flew on to L.A. they gave me my own car, dressing room and name plaque.’
Despite Ellen later being taken off air amidst allegations of staff bullying behind the scenes, Charlotte is grateful her experience was nothing but positive, and her clip has now amassed one billion views across all platforms.
‘She was really nice to me,’ assures Charlotte. ‘She didn’t come and meet me before I went on air for the interview so what you saw was all natural. I grabbed hold of her and cuddled her, but I’m not in touch anymore.
‘I just want to carry on getting my music out there. If that show was still running, it would have been perfect to have gone back and said, “you’ve given me that prize money (a £10,000 cheque), and it’s gone into an album.”’
Charlotte’s single, Pale Moon, a powerful ballad about lost love, was launched in February, after the release of her cover of Shallow in summer 2020.
But although giving viewers goosebumps, she explains her experience was difficult to process initially, and made harder by the fact that much of the world was plunged into lockdown days after she had appeared on Lorraine in the UK.
‘I was like a rabbit caught in headlights,’ reveals Charlotte. ‘I’ve always worked for myself. I fell into it, never had an agent or manager, and it was scary. It blew my mind. You think, “how am I going to manage this on my own?”
‘My dad’s a builder with my brother and my Mum is a housewife, with us 24/7 growing up. I’m very lucky to have that support, but they’d never dealt with this side of things. On the Ellen show, they were like, “Oh my God girl. Who is managing you?”’
The last big gig Charlotte headlined pre-Covid was at the famous G-A-Y & Heaven night club in central London where the crowd adored her.
‘I had record labels interested off the back of going viral and was meant to sing at the Royal Albert Hall with Luke Evans (West End star), but we all went into lockdown, Charlotte says. ‘I thought, I can either sit and cry or think positive.’
With Ellen’s funding, Charlotte got to work writing and recording in the studio, and in January, she got to perform Pale Moon with a live band at The Inspiration Awards for Women at London’s Landmark Hotel, a charity event that honours fundraising endeavours.
She confirms she felt ‘good energy’ as her track was well-received by the audience, before she had a ‘pinch me’ moment in the ladies.
‘I walked out the toilet and Emma Thompson was at the sinks. I said, hello and she said hello back. I was thinking, this is Nanny McPhee. She’s so lovely. When you watch Love Actually, the scene where she finds her husband has bought a necklace for someone else, it gets you every time. You can really feel where that woman’s at and then you think, “I wonder if she’s really nice in real life?” And then you bump into her in the toilet and she’s even better. It’s a whole different world, meeting new people.
‘Denise Van Outen also waved to me at the Global Gift Awards. She didn’t have to do that and it went a long way.’
Determined to make the best of the pandemic’s enforced break, Charlotte is cautiously excited for the future. ‘Lockdown gave me that gap where I could sit and be on my own with my own thoughts. We’re nearly there with the album. I’m going to get the singles out first, it’s so nice to do your own material. I did covers 24/7 at weddings so I was always restricted. Now I want to start doing festivals and tour.’
In May 2022, Charlotte had the honour of joining the Royal Family attending the Top Gun: Maverick premiere in Leicester Square. ‘It was surreal being on the red carpet with Tom Cruise rocking up,’ she smiles. ‘Kate and William were on the ledge above me. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t meet them, but just for them to be in the same room as Charlotte from Romford...’
Charlotte grew up in Gidea Park and has always been an animal lover; she loves walking her dogs in Southend. She also attended Shenfield High School at the same time as reality stars Billie and Sam Faiers. ‘I used to sing to them in the toilets when we were just kids, they are lovely girls.
‘I wasn’t very academically bright. I really struggled, but I always had jobs. When I left school, I went straight to work. If I wasn’t a barmaid, I was at a plant hire company doing temp work on reception, at Dagenham market or even working as a chauffeur. I worked at the FTSE (Stock Exchange) for a bit, that was funny there. Then I’d sing all weekend.’
With her goal to work in the States and collaborate with other artists, the time feels very right.
‘My close friends, I can count on one hand,’ says Charlotte. ‘They’ve all got families. As a woman, I’d love to have children. It hasn’t gone like that for me yet, so it’s a good work time for me.
‘I’d love to get married one day and be like my Mum and Dad and Nan and Pops. As long as I’m working, that will all come in time. If Prince Charming comes along, he comes. Pale Moon is about two people who are separated but want to be in each other’s lives. I can’t put into words what happened to me. I just hope people are going to like my music.’
Distinctive, candid and committed, Charlotte certainly deserves her chance to shine.
Charlotte’s new single PALE MOON is out now and her album PRIDE will be released this summer
