The discography of Russell Watson, a British operatic and pop tenor, consists of fourteen studio albums, six compilation albums, ten singles, and a number of other appearances.
| Russell Watson discography | |
|---|---|
 Watson performing at Broadlands, in Hampshire, England, in 2007 | |
| Studio albums | 14 |
| Compilation albums | 6 |
| Singles | 10 |
Watson's debut album, The Voice, was released in September 2000. A mixture of operatic arias and covers of pop songs, it topped the UK Classical Chart and eventually reached number five in the UK Albums Chart. Later, when released in the United States, the album took the number one spot and made history as the first time a British artist had held both the US and UK classical number one. The album contained a collaboration with former Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder, who lent his vocals to the Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé song "Barcelona". The album also featured a duet with Cleo of girl group Cleopatra on the song "Someone Like You". Cleo later duetted with Russell again on his third album Reprise on the song "The Best That Love Can Be".
In late 2002, Watson released the single, "Nothing Sacred – A Song for Kirsty", to raise money for the Francis House children's hospice in Didsbury, Manchester. The campaign to raise £5 million was fronted by Kirsty Howard, a seven-year-old girl with a serious heart defect. The song reached number 17 in the UK Singles Chart.[1]
The self-styled "People's Tenor", who is also known as "The Voice" after his first album, won the Album of the Year at the Classical BRIT Awards in both 2001 and 2002, also collecting awards for Best-Selling Debut Album (2001) and Best-Selling Album (2002).[2][3][4]
Watson collaborated with Welsh singer Aled Jones for albums released in 2018, 2019 and 2022. Their most recent album, Christmas with Aled and Russell was released in November 2022 and charted at number 14 on the UK Albums chart.
Albums
editStudio albums
edit| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [5] |
AUS [6] |
IRE [7] |
NZ [8] |
PT [9] |
SWE [10] |
US [11] |
US Classical [12] | |||
| 2000 | The Voice | 5 | 10 | 23 | 23 | 1 | 17 | 90 | 1 | |
| 2001 | Encore
|
6 | 15 | 27 | 1 | — | — | 114 | 1 |
|
| 2002 | Reprise
|
13 | 11 | 55 | 6 | — | — | — | 6 |
|
| 2004 | Amore Musica
|
10 | 10 | — | 2 | 5 | — | — | 6 |
|
| 2007 | That's Life
|
4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|
Outside In
|
14 | — | — | — | 24 | — | — | — | ||
| 2008 | People Get Ready
|
20 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2010 | La Voce
|
13 | 31 | 56 | 5 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2012 | Anthems – Music To Inspire A Nation
|
5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2013 | Only One Man
|
17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2016 | True Stories
|
30 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2018 | In Harmony (with Aled Jones)
|
8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2019 | Back in Harmony (with Aled Jones)
|
7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2022 | Christmas with Aled and Russell (with Aled Jones)
|
14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Compilation albums
edit| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [5] |
AUS [15] |
IRE [7] |
NZ [8] |
PT [9] |
US Classical [5] | ||
| 2006 | The Voice: The Ultimate Collection
|
2 | 90 | 70 | 9 | — | 40 |
The Very Best of Russell Watson
|
— | — | — | — | 7 | — | |
| 2008 | The Ultimate Collection: Special Edition
|
17 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2010 | With Love from Russell Watson
|
— | — | — | — | — | — |
The Platinum Collection
|
14 | 84 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2020 | 20
|
10 | — | — | — | — | — |
Singles
edit| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [5] |
IRE [7] | |||
| 1999 | "Swing Low '99" | 38 | — | Non-album single |
| 2000 | "Barcelona (Friends Until the End)" (featuring Shaun Ryder) | 68 | — | The Voice |
| 2002 | "Someone Like You" (featuring Faye Tozer) | 10 | 46 | Non-album single |
| "Nothing Sacred – A Song For Kirsty" | 17 | — | Reprise | |
| 2006 | "Can't Help Falling in Love" | 69 | — | The Ultimate Collection |
| 2016 | "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" | — | — | True Stories |
| "Do You Hear What I Hear?" | — | — | ||
| 2022 | "A Spaceman Came Travelling" (with Aled Jones) |
— | — | Christmas with Aled and Russell |
| "O Holy Night" (with Aled Jones) | — | — | ||
| 2024 | "Shine" (with Helen Jane Long) | — | — | TBA |
Video albums
edit| Year | Details | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | The Voice: Live |
|
| 2002 | The Voice Live in New Zealand
|
|
| 2006 | Live 2002 / The Voice: Live
|
|
| 2007 | The Voice: The Ultimate Collection
|
|
References
edit- ^ "Single to boost Kirsty appeal", BBC News, 3 November 2002.
- ^ Jane Wheatley (19 February 2007), "'You have a brain tumour,' the doctor told me. 'Quite a big one'", The Times (times2), archived from the original on 21 February 2007.
- ^ "Classical Brits for ex-factory worker", BBC News, 1 June 2001.
- ^ "Salford singer wins again", BBC News, 23 May 2002.
- ^ a b c d "UK Charts > Russell Watson". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
- ^ "Australian Charts > Russell Watson". australian-charts.com Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
- ^ a b c "Irish Charts > Russell Watson". irish-charts.com Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
- ^ a b "New Zealand Charts > Russell Watson". charts.nz Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
- ^ a b "Portuguese Charts > Russell Watson". portuguesecharts.com Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
- ^ "Swedish Charts > Russell Watson". swedishcharts.com Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
- ^ "Russell Watson Album & Song Chart History > Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
- ^ "Russell Watson Album & Song Chart History > Top Classical Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
- ^ a b c d e "BPI > Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
- ^ "ARIA Charts > Accreditations > 2002 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ "Chartifacts - Week Commencing: 16th May 2011". Australian Recording Industry Association. 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.