Ricki-Lee Coulter
Australia
RICKI-LEE COULTER was born in AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND on NOVEMBER 10TH 1985. Now a proud “Melbournite”, Ricki-Lee previously lived on Australia’s beautiful GOLD COAST.
A script-like story unfolds for Ricki-Lee, who remained an un-recognised singing talent amongst her family and friends until her mid-teens. Spending most of her childhood as an active sports fanatic, it was believed she was destined for a career in Pro-Netball, until a serious knee injury brought six years of competitive play for Queensland to an end. In a twist of fate, after a serious knee reconstruction, she was told ‘ she would never play again’. Ricki-Lee’s future was already in the hands of change.
Ricki-Lee’s vocal abilities were “accidentally” uncovered months later, when a family member, overheard her singing in her bedroom, in what could only be described as “a breathtaking, HUGE voice for a 15 year-old girl”. Ricki-Lee’s very musical family had NO idea of her secret talent until this point in time.
From there, Ricki-Lee leapt headfirst into “performance” in general. A combination of live circuit gigging around the Gold Coast and Brisbane areas with live bands, as well as school productions, as she secured lead musical roles in HAIR, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, LES MISERABLES, MISS SAIGON, CATS, RENT, THE BOYFRIEND, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, GREASE, AND ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW.
Network TEN’S hit show, AUSTRALIAN IDOL (SERIES 2) officially launched her public profile when her talent, personality and charismatic performances took the budding songstress all the way through to the TOP 12. Ricki-Lee was considered an instant “favourite to win” – performing hits such as DON’T STOP TIL YOU GET ENOUGH, PROUD MARY, WE CAN WORK IT OUT & I HAVE NOTHING. When Ricki-Lee was voted off mid-series, in 7TH PLACE, there was outrage from viewers nationally. TEN saw ratings suddenly plummet, in what the judges described as “misguided voting”.
In 2005, after finishing the show and not signing-on with major label SONY BMG, Ricki-Lee went on to take a brave independent route after securing a deal with SHOCK RECORDS – AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST INDEPENDENT RECORD LABEL. Three years on, with 7 TOP 20 singles across 2 GOLD selling albums under her belt, 22 year-old RICKI-LEE is fast becoming ingrained into the fabric of Australian popular culture.
Her undeniable talent for writing hit pop songs took her ability to a new level with 2007’s PLATINUIM SELLING smash hit CANT TOUCH IT. CANT TOUCH IT catapulted RICKI-LEE into a new level of commercial success in 2007 after debuting at #2 ON THE ARIA CHARTS and spending 38 WEEKS in the TOP 100. As a proud independent artist, Ricki-Lee’s tireless commitment to the independent music scene was rewarded when she spent 10 WEEKS AT #1 ON THE AIR CHARTS (AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENT RECORD LABELS ASSOCIATION) and received an AIR AWARD NOMINATION FOR BEST PERFORMING INDEPENDENT SINGLE
With an ever- expanding profile and continued career growth in the Australian marketplace, RICKI-LEE has gone on to secure several international record deals, including the worlds biggest and most respected dance label, MINISTRY OF SOUND, UK/EUROPE, and the worlds second-largest music territory, JAPAN, via respected independent Japanese record label PONY CANYON. And the success has followed with U WANNA LITTLE OF THIS (a remixed & re-titled version of CANT TOUCH IT released through HED KANDI/MINISTRY OF SOUND) peaking at an incredible #1 ON THE UK COMMERCIAL CLUB POP CHARTS AND #2 ON THE UK UPFRONT CLUB CHARTS IN 2008.
Claiming its her “CAREER HIGHLIGHT TO DATE”, RICKI-LEE’S media profile hit an all time pinnacle and high when she was invited to open the 2007 INAUGURAL ARIA AWARDS RED CARPET PERFORMANCE with a stunning, ten dancer-deep LIVE strut of CAN“T TOUCH IT. “I still can’t believe I was a part of such an amazing moment – it has been the absolute highlight of my career to date and I can’t imagine anything beating it”, says RiCKI-LEE of her ARIA performance experience.
Beyond kicking goals in the pop arena, a love and desire to forge a career that spans many medians has been steadily developing and growing behind the scenes. Showing prowess across TV AND RADIO, Ricki-Lee has met many media challenges over the past year, such as stepping up to the role of co-hosting a full week of Austereo’s popular HOT 30 NIGHTS PROGRAM WITH TIM LEE at the end of 2007; joining B105’S BREAKFAST TEAM IN BRISBANE OVER THE SUMMER OF 2008; AUSTEREO’S NATIONAL BREAKFAST SUMMER SHOW throughout December, with co-hosts Brian McFadden and Mike Goldman; starring in hit TV show IT TAKES TWO as part of the professional cast, as well as co-hosting a week of FOXTELS HIGH-RATING KIDS TV SHOW “SARVO” with Kyle Linnehan. If nothing more, the past year has simply prepared RICKI-LEE for her recent nostalgic challenge of joining the 2008 HOSTING TEAM for SERIES 6 OF AUSTRALIAN IDOL, CHANNEL TEN’S hit reality TV program, which gave RICKI-LEE her incredible career kick-start back in 2004!”.
WIGGLE IT, Ricki-Lee’s last single DEBUTED AT #11 ON THE ARIA CHARTS, and follows that same successful “Ricki-Lee recipe” of humour, sexiness and undeniable pop beats. Co-written with successful Australian artist and Producer ISRAEL CRUZ, the track also features an amazing rap by new Australian urban artist, SAMIR.
WIGGLE IT completes the tracklisting for her current album package, RICKI-LEE: THE SINGLES. The singles album will be released through Public Opinion/Shock Records. The package is a double-disc compilation which includes 15 audio tracks on one disc showcasing her 7 x hit singles and 7 x hit remixes plus bonus track, OVER THE RAINBOW and the entire collection of all her music videos on the second disc.
Associated videos:
RICKI-LEE – U WANNA LITTLE OF THIS
