Blind, yet blessed with a Latin-style natural beauty and soulful voice which "conjures up images of the great divas of soul past", Charlotte is an award-winning singer/songwriter whose songs are based on close personal experiences, affording her the unique ability to sing from the heart with passion.
Think Babyface meets Sade - Charlotte portrays a unique blend of soulful, sophisticated, R&B-influenced Adult Contemporary music with heart-felt, bluesy vocals, accompanied by string overlays and ever-present guitars!
Credits include "Skin", a US No.1 Billboard Dance Hit, 2 further Top 10 US hits, 2 Soul 2 Soul UK hits and songs for Lisa Stansfield and Tom Jones.
One of her most memorable moments to-date was singing a duet with Isaac Hayes on live French TV .
Charlotte has already gained the attention of Simon Cowell of "American Idol" fame who described her as "the best thing since Elton John and The Bee Gees"!
The story so far!
Born totally blind in Coventry, UK, of mixed black
Caribbean/white English parentage. Fortunately,
Charlotte regained partial sighting in one eye and,
although she is officially registered blind, you cannot tell!
Charlotte’s childhood was particularly tragic and
extremely traumatic, hence Charlotte’s wealth of natural soul and passion! From the age of just 7, Charlotte started writing and singing soul songs as a way of expressing her emotions. At the age of 15, Charlotte was offered a record deal by Big Life Records for when she turned 16.
Charlotte was put to work with both Lisa Stansfield and Jazzie B of Soul 2 Soul, so impressing the latter that he asked her to join the group. Charlotte agreed to be their featured lead singer and subsequently went on a world tour with Soul 2 Soul.
During her time with Soul 2 Soul, Charlotte sang &/or wrote the songs, "I Care" (UK chart #11), “Don’t you dream” and “Wish" (UK chart # 9).
One of Charlotte's most memorable events was being interviewed with Jazzie B and Isaac Hayes on the hit live French mainstream TV show, “Tara Tata”, where she sang an improvisation with Isaac first, followed by “Papa was a rolling stone”.
Around this time, Charlotte met and worked with the legendary Tom Jones for whom she wrote the song, “I’m ready”.
EMI then offered Charlotte a record deal and licensed her songs to US label, Nervous Records. Through Nervous, Charlotte wrote & performed the US #1 Billboard Dance Hit, "Skin", and 2 further Top 10 hits, "Someday" and "Don't be afraid of the dark" (3 & 5) in 1999/2000! As a result, Charlotte played numerous gigs in New York, Boston, Miami, Toronto and Japan, from 1999 to 2002.
Unfortunately, EMI failed to both capitalise on her success in the US and to promote/market her effectively, so they both agreed to part company amicably.
Nervous Records immediately offered Charlotte a record deal in the US, but she declined and, instead, secured a publishing deal. Through her publisher, Simon Cowell heard her songs and was so impressed that he put them all on hold.
Simon then called a private meeting with Charlotte at his London office, in which he described Charlotte to her face as "the best thing since Elton John and The Bee Gees". He then proposed a documentary on Charlotte, whereby a film crew would follow her every move and which would be screened on a weekly basis, gradually releasing singles as the documentary progressed. Charlotte declined as she is anxious not to be labelled as yet another "Reality TV show discovery"!
Since then, Charlotte has been busy working on new material, for which she has received numerous awards including: R&B 1st prize (2004) & Honorary Mention award (2005) in the USA Songwriting Competition, with a total of 6 songs in the Top Ten Finals from some "32,500" entries; R&B 1st prize in the 2006 UK Songwriting Contest with 3 Runners-up, 2 Finalist & 2 Semi-finalist places in both Pop & R&B; both "Best UK Female Artist" & "Best UK Songwriter" awards in the 2006 Music Aid Awards; and R&B 1st prize in the 2007 Unisong competition - a most remarkable achievement!
Charlotte's unique blend of soulful, sophisticated, R&B-influenced Adult/Contemporary music, combined with a beautiful voice in the Whitney Houston/Toni Braxton mould, has worldwide appeal!
Charlotte is now looking for a pro-active A&R exec with vision!
"Charlotte's voice conjures up images of the great divas of soul past. Not those wannabe vocalists you hear everywhere nowadays, but one of those old-school types who sang from the heart and could deliver the blues, as if she's from the golden era of Billie Holiday. Charlotte is one singer who definitely delivers." - The Village Voice