Collabro
Collabro are a UK-based musical theatre group and winners of the eighth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2014. The group consists of Michael Auger, Jamie Lambert, Matthew Pagan and Thomas J. Redgrave, and previously, Richard Hadfield until his departure from the band in June 2016. Collabro was voted the UK's favourite Britain's Got Talent Winners in a National Poll.
The band have a following who they refer to as their "Collaborators" and famous fans include Jade Thirlwall from Little Mix. Their debut album Stars was released on 18 August 2014 and debuted at number one in the UK. They also had second album called Act 2, which debuted at number 2, and their third album, Home, was released on 3 March 2017 and debuted at number 7. They now also have a fourth album that came out on 31 August 2018 called Road to the Royal Albert Hall.
Career
Formation, ''Britain's Got Talent'' and ''Stars''
Collabro formed in January 2014. Pagan and Lambert knew each other already, and used social media to find three additional singers to complete the band's line-up. Pagan and Lambert held auditions where they found Auger and Redgrave. They found Hadfield on YouTube singing "Bring Him Home". They sang together for the first time at the Miller pub in London Bridge. It was not long after this that they decided to audition for Britain's Got Talent, as they had 'nothing to lose'.In February 2014, a month after forming, Collabro auditioned in London for the eighth series of Britain's Got Talent. They received a standing ovation from both the audience and judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams for their rendition of the song "Stars" from the musical Les Misérables. The judges were initially seen to have low expectations due to their styling and the fact that they had only been together for a month at the time. Cowell claimed that "Britain really has got talent" and they received a unanimous "yes" verdict from the judging panel, with Cowell also describing their performance as a "hit record", while Holden was reduced to tears.
Collabro progressed to the live semi-finals. They competed in the first semi-final on 26 May, performing the song "Bring Him Home", also from Les Misérables. The performance was praised by all four judges, again receiving a standing ovation, and they received the highest number of votes from the public, ensuring their automatic progression to the final.
During the live final on 7 June, Collabro performed a different arrangement of their audition song "Stars" for which they received 26.5% of the vote, winning the competition by a wide margin.
On 12 June 2014, Collabro signed a record deal with Cowell's record label, Syco Music, and released their debut album on 28 July. On 17 June, they announced that they would be going on their first ever tour, along with runner-up Lucy Kay, in 2015.
The group's debut album Stars, which includes cover versions of songs such as "All of Me" and "Let It Go", was released on 18 August and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. On 31 October, it was announced that the album would be re-released as a special edition. The re-released version features the seasonal "White Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as well as "Falling Slowly" from the musical Once and "Say Something".
2015: ''Act Two''
On 22 April 2015, Collabro revealed they had signed a record deal with Sony Masterworks in the US for £1 million. The following week, they announced that their second album would be called Act Two and would be released on 1 June. It debuted at #2 in the UK Albums Chart.Tours
Collabro's debut tour 'Stars' sold 50,000 tickets culminating in a headliner show at The London Palladium. In 2016 the group did their second tour around the UK after the success of their last tour. They finished their first official tour in Japan and also been touring around the US as well as Canada. On 20 March 2017, the band announced they would be joining Cliff Richard on his summer Just Fabulous Rock 'n' Roll Tour of the UK. Following that, they also did their Home tour between September and December 2017 and will soon premiere their new 51-date tour, Road to the Royal Albert Hall from February to April 2019.2017: ''Home''
Following the departure of Richard Hadfield from the band, Collabro announced their third album Home would be released in March 2017 having set up their own record label "Peak Productions". The band artistically controlled everything and decided to "go home to Musical Theatre" having done pop crossover tracks on their first two albums. This new offering featured a selection of stage classics, fan favourites and their first original song 'Lighthouse' . Following this, their third U.K. Tour took place in 2017, titled "The Home UK Tour".Other public appearances
On 25 April 2014, the group appeared on the ITV television programme This Morning to discuss their appearance on Britain's Got Talent and they performed the song "Let It Go" on the show on 11 July. On 18 May 2014, Collabro appeared at the Soccer Six charity football tournament at The Valley, home ground of Charlton Athletic F.C.. They made appearances on QVC and Weekend to further promote the album.They also performed at the 2014 Royal Variety Performance in front of the Royal Family, which is part of the prize for winning Britain's Got Talent. On 9 May 2015, they performed at in Horse Guards Parade, London.
In 2016, following the departure of Richard Hadfield, Collabro were invited back to Soccer Aid - performing live on ITV to 7 million viewers for the first time as a four piece.
In 2019, Collabro was seen in, eliminated at the Preliminaries.
In 2020, Collabro was seen in Season 2, eliminates at the Preliminaries.
Members
Michael David Auger
Michael Auger lives in Petersfield. At the time of Collabro's BGT audition, he was working at a petrol station. He attended Churcher's College in Hampshire before moving to Alton College where he studied A Levels in Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Geography. He later attended the University of Bath to study Accounting and Finance. Also attended London Academy of Musical Theatre.Auger was a member of ‘the 100’ on BBC talent show All Together Now, alongside Geri Halliwell.
Jamie Alexander Lambert
Jamie Lambert, was raised in Washington, Tyne and Wear and studied at Dame Allan's School, Newcastle. At the time of Collabro's BGT audition, he was working part-time in the finance department of Barts Health NHS Trust in London. He previously worked at the South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust of which his mother, Lorraine Lambert, is the chief executive.Lambert has performed solo at a number of events including mayoral charity events, the South Tyneside Summer Festival, and Cancer Connections in South Shields. He has also won regional talent competitions Open Zone Idol and Talent on the Tyne. He came out in the press as gay.
Matt Paul Pagan
Matthew "Matt" Pagan was raised in Carlisle, Cumbria. At the time of Collabro's BGT audition, he was working as a kitchen salesman.Thomas Jamie Redgrave
Thomas J. Redgrave is from Saltfleetby. He chose his stage surname from a theatre poster. He studied at Monks' Dyke Tennyson College. He performed in St James' Choir for seven years and was also part of the Louth Playgoers Group. At the time of Collabro's BGT audition, he was working in a Japanese restaurant. Thomas became an ambassador for The IBS Network, the UK charity working to support people living with irritable bowel syndrome, in March 2017.Past members
Richard Hadfield
Richard Lester Hadfield lives in Portslade, East Sussex. At the time of Collabro's BGT audition, he was working as a labourer. He was part of Collabro between 2014 and 2016.Hadfield attended Hurstpierpoint College in West Sussex, busking during the school holidays to earn money to pay the school's fees.
In June 2016 Hadfield parted ways with Collabro, stating they "wish each other continued success and support for each other's future careers." Hadfield had reportedly made the decision to leave the group after the Britain's Got Talent final. A source close to him admitted he had been "unhappy for a long time."