Clare Maguire - VEntertainmentOnline.com

Clare Maguire Biography

The English singer-songwriter Clare Maguire was born on 15th September 1987 in Solihull, Birmingham and signed to Universal Music Group's Polydor Records in 2008 when she was 18-years-old.

On January 3rd 2011 she was placed 5th on the BBC Sound of 2011 list of the Top 15 Promising New Artists.

Maguire was also singled out as one of MTV's Brand New for 2011 Acts. She been compared to Annie Lennox and Stevie Nicks.

When she was 17 she travelled down to London regularly to establish contacts for her music and she also started posting demonstration songs on My Space. One of her tracks "Strangest Thing," which she recorded with Joe Flory, achieved nearly 500,000 plays which brought her to the attention of a number of major record companies.

The American Rapper Jay-Z invited her to his restaurant to meet him and other well-known artists. Among them was Jarvis Cocker who was so impressed with Maguire he offered her one of his songs.

She signed a record contract with Polydor in 2008 and worked on her debut album "Light After Dark" which was produced by Fraser T. Smith, who previously worked with Kylie and Adele.

In October 2010 she began a European Concert Tour supporting Plan B and Hurts an English Synchro-Pop duo from Manchester.

In January 2011 she announced her second single will be "The Last Dance" which she wrote the day after Michael Jackson died. She decided to write it in response to a series of unjustified comments that were made after Jackson's death.

The official video that accompanied the single was directed by Alex and Liane and was premiered by The Sun on 7th January 2011.

It was the Record of the Week on BBC Radio 1's show featuring DJs Fearne Cotton and Dev.

Maguire is expected to become one of the biggest pop sensations of 2011 and she kicks off a UK tour on March 25th which lasts until April 5th. She will be visiting Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin, Leeds, London, Bristol, Birmingham and Oxford.

Christened Clare Rita Mary Maguire, she is one of the few young artists who uses her given name instead of adopting a single stage name.