Full name Louise Elizabeth Nurding Age 23 Date of birth 4th November 1974 Star sign Scorpio Height 5' 4" Shoe size 4
Following her triumphant year in 1997, LOUISE storms into 1998, with a Brit nomination for 'Best Female Artist', the launch of her very own website and a new single, ALL THAT MATTERS.
Last year saw the release of LOUISE's second platinum album, WOMAN IN ME, which has so far spawned two huge singles, ARMS AROUND THE WORLD and LET'S GO ROUND AGAIN. To promote the album LOUISE embarked on a month-long 21-date tour of the UK. The sell-out dates stretched from Aberdeen to Paignton and saw her playing to over 40,000 adoring fans.
It's now just over two years since LOUISE left multi-million selling girl group, Eternal, and those two years have seen LOUISE grow from a girl into the woman of her album title. Not that she didn't have her doubts to begin with. She'll even confess to feeling a little scared of what that future had to hold: "I didn't sleep for a few months, put it like that!" But LOUISE had nothing to worry about. Within hours of leaving Eternal EMI U.K. had offered her a solo contract. "I was really lucky and totally honoured - I wasn't expecting such a fast response."
To kick things off in style, LOUISE's first solo single, LIGHT OF MY LIFE, was launched in September '95 with a special early opening at London's Tower Records - the thousand-strong queue stretched round the block and any doubts about LOUISE's ability to cut it on her own were immediately dispelled. Two further hit singles, IN WALKED LOVE and NAKED, were released in early '96 and were followed by the debut solo album, NAKED, which smashed into the Top 10 and has sold over 400,000 copies to date.
To complete the year UNDIVIDED LOVE and ONE KISS FROM HEAVEN both reached the Top 10 whilst LOUISE was busy accepting a plethora of awards. She received two Smash Hits awards for 'Best Female Singer', Live & Kicking's 'Top Woman' award, she was voted 'Sexiest British Woman' by the readers of FHM and was voted 'Sexiest Woman In The World' by Sky magazine. LOUISE, however, doesn't take these last couple too seriously, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't flattered. It's really nice, but I know what I look like when I get up first thing in the morning! I take it all with a pinch of salt."
In recognition of her musical talents, LOUISE was nominated for Best British Female Artist at this year's BRIT Awards. By this time work had already begun on the new album.
LOUISE describes WOMAN IN ME as "a natural progression - I was two years older, I'd learned a lot in Eternal and then a lot with my first solo album, and that just came out. It's just a case of growing up I think."
LOUISE was involved in co-writing several of the album's 16 tracks including the lead-off single, ARMS AROUND THE WORLD, already a Top 5 hit. She was joined by a couple of old friends on production duties: Simon Climie (Eric Clapton) and Johnny Douglas (George Michael) both of whom produced tracks on the last album, NAKED. Other tracks were produced by John Holliday and Trevor Steele who wrote LOUISE's Top 5 single, NAKED; Steve Levine, known for his work with Culture Club; and Nigel Lowis, who produced Eternal's No.1 single, 'I Wanna Be The Only One'.
WOMAN IN ME encompasses a wide variety of styles: the uplifting pop of the first single, ARMS AROUND THE WORLD and the album's only cover, LOUISE's interpretation of the Average White Band classic, LET'S GO ROUND AGAIN; the smoochy ballads I PRAY, TRUST IN YOU and LOVE WILL BRING YOU BACK TO ME; the funky grooves of HAPPY LOVE and SHUT UP & KISS ME; and the calypso influenced, NEW YORK MOON. LOUISE describes the end result as "a complete album, very rounded and varied. It's more mature without me going in and desperately trying to make something that sounded different just for the sake of it."
As LOUISE strides into 1998 with a platinum plus album and having completed a 21-date-sell-out tour of the UK, ALL THAT MATTERS is set to complete the hat-trick of hits from the WOMAN IN ME.
