Marcus Collins

Marcus Collins (born 15 May 1988) is an English singer who finished as the runner-up of the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011. Collins finished second to girl band Little Mix. Whilst on The X Factor, he was mentored by Take That frontman Gary Barlow, who continued to work with Collins on his debut album.

Marcus Collins
Birth nameMarcus Collins
Born (1988-05-15) 15 May 1988
Crosby,Liverpool England
GenresPop, R&B
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2011–present
LabelsRCA

His debut album, the self-titled Marcus Collins which featured production by the London-based Metrophonic team of Whitney Houston and Cher fame, became his first top 10 UK album which has his single "Mercy". His debut single from the album was "Seven Nation Army", a cover of The White Stripes hit, which also became his first top 10 UK single.[1]

Career

Eton Road

Prior to his solo audition in 2011 Collins was a member of four piece boyband Eton Road, who rose to fame on the third series of The X Factor. Collins did not appear on The X Factor that year, but joined the band after original member Anthony Hannah left the band due to exhaustion. Anthony performed over 150 gigs with the band.

The X Factor (2011)

In 2011, Collins chose to audition as a solo artist for the eighth series of The X Factor. He beat over 200,000 other contestants to earn his place in the grand final, where he came runner-up to four-piece girl band Little Mix, who became the first group ever to win the series. Collins performed the following songs on The X Factor:

Show Song choice Theme Result
Auditions "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"[2] Free choice Through to bootcamp
Bootcamp 1 "Born This Way"[3] Bootcamp challenge Through to bootcamp 2
Bootcamp 2 "Kiss from a Rose" Free choice Through to judges' houses
Judges' houses "One Big Family"[4] Free choice Through to live shows
"Rolling in the Deep"[5]
Live show 1 "Moves like Jagger" Britain vs America Saved by Barlow
Live show 2 "Russian Roulette" Love and heartbreak Safe (7th)
Live show 3 "Are You Gonna Go My Way" Rock Safe (4th)
Live show 4 "Superstition/Need You Tonight" Halloween Safe (6th)
Live show 5 "Reet Petite" Floorfillers Safe (2nd)
Live show 6 "Another One Bites the Dust" Lady Gaga vs. Queen Safe (4th)
Live show 7 "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" Movies Safe (4th)
Quarter-Final "I'm Your Man" Guilty pleasures Safe (3rd)
"Lately" Heroes
Semi-Final "My Girl" Motown Safe (2nd)
"Can You Feel It" Songs to get you to the final
Final "Hey Ya!" Free choice Safe (2nd)
"She's Always a Woman" (with Gary Barlow) Mentor duet
"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" Favourite performance Runner-up (2nd)
"Last Christmas" Christmas
"Cannonball" Winner's single

2012: Debut album and Hairspray

In January 2012, Collins signed a record deal with RCA Records and announced that was set to release his debut studio album in March. On 21 January, it was announced that his debut single would be a cover of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army". The single was released on 4 March. It was an exact copy of an arrangement of the song previously recorded by French artist Ben l'Oncle Soul that had been a hit in Europe. The song received a mixed reception, with fans of The White Stripes comparing the song in unfavourable light to the original. The song charted at number nine on the UK Singles Chart and spent three weeks on the chart. Collins then released his self-titled debut album on the 12 March 2012 and debuted and peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart.[6] "Mercy"[7] was released as the second single from the album, making it Collins' first self penned single. The music video for "Mercy" was released on 24 April 2012, with the single released on 3 June 2012. It was relatively unsuccessful, reaching only 194 on the UK Singles Chart, due to lack of proper promotion.

On 16 October 2012, it was announced that Collins would star as Seaweed Stubbs in the 2013 UK Tour of Hairspray, from February–September 2013.[8] After completing the tour, Collins, Beth Tweddle, Jazmine Franks, Tom Scurr and Kelly-Marie Stewart took part in a world record-breaking charity skydive.[9]

2013–present

He has appeared in Kinky Boots the musical at The Adelphi Theatre in London's West End which stars Matt Henry and Killian Donnelly. On 27 September 2013, after finishing with Hairspray, Collins revealed that he had left RCA and signed with a new record company: "It was all mutually agreed. To be honest, it just didn't feel like we were going in the same direction. I loved working with them but it just got to a point where we both could go either way." Regarding his new album,[10] He announced that he would be back in the recording studio "for the majority of October". Regarding his new album, Collins explained: "We've got about seven or eight songs that we're going to put down. We've got some new tracks and we've got some acoustic ones that are a little bit different. [Acoustic songs are] something that I've done before, but the record label I was with previously had different ideas and that's kind of why we separated."[10] As of 2019 neither a new recording contract or album have been confirmed nor released.

He latterly was on tour playing Hud in the stage show Hair.

Discography

Albums

Album Album details Peak chart positions
UK IRE SCO
Marcus Collins 7248

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK HUN IRE SCO
2012 "Seven Nation Army" 913499 Marcus Collins
"Mercy"[11] 194
Year Singles Peak chart positions
UK IRL SCO
2011 "Wishing on a Star"
(as part of The X Factor finalists 2011 featuring JLS and One Direction)
111

References

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