The Wanted
The Wanted at Empire State Building Observation Deck on 24 April 2012 (From Left to Right: Nathan Sykes, Tom Parker, Siva Kaneswaren, Max George, and Jay McGuiness)
Background information
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Dance-pop, pop
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Geffen, Island, Mercury (U.S.)
Website	thewantedmusic.com
Members
Max George Jay McGuiness Siva Kaneswaran Tom Parker Nathan Sykes

The Wanted are a British-Irish boy band. The band consists of Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes. Their debut single, "All Time Low", was released in July 2010 and reached number one in the United Kingdom for one week.^[1] Their debut studio album, The Wanted, was released on 25 October 2010 and peaked at number four in the United Kingdom.^[1] The first single from their second album, "Gold Forever", was released in aid of "Comic Relief" and reached number three on the UK Singles Chart.^[1] The band's second number one hit, "Glad You Came", topped the singles chart in the United Kingdom for two weeks, and in Ireland for five weeks.^[1][2] Their second studio album, Battleground, was released on 7 November 2011 and peaked at number 5.

History[link]

[edit] 2009–10: Formation and The Wanted

The Wanted were formed in 2009 through a mass audition by Jayne Collins, who also put together The Saturdays and Parade.^[3][4] They soon started working on their debut album with producers Guy Chambers, Taio Cruz and Steve Mac.^[3] Their debut single, "All Time Low", was produced by Mac, and also co-written by Wayne Hector and Ed Drewett. It was released in the summer of 2010 and debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, remaining in the Top 40 for 17 weeks.^[1] The band's second single, "Heart Vacancy" again written with Wayne Hector, was released on 17 October 2010. It peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart.^[1] Their self-titled debut album was released on 25 October 2010, peaking at number four on the UK Albums Chart.^[1] The third single from the album, "Lose My Mind", was performed on The X Factor and it subsequently peaked at number nineteen on the UK Singles Chart.^[1]

[edit] 2011–present: Battleground and The Wanted (EP)

In March 2011, the group embarked on their first headline, nationwide tour. The "Behind Bars" Tour was in support of their debut album The Wanted with 16 dates held in theatres in March and April 2011.

The band started working on their second studio album in January 2011.^[5] The album features writing credits from the group, Steve Mac, Wayne Hector, Ed Drewett, Diane Warren and Guy Chambers. The lead single, "Gold Forever", was released in aid of Comic Relief on 13 March 2011.^[6][7] It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart.^[1] In July 2011, the group released the second single "Glad You Came" which became their second UK #1 single, staying there for two weeks and in the UK top ten for six weeks. The single also reached number one in Ireland and remained there for five weeks.^[2] The song also charted in some European territories and Australia. The song later charted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The band did their first American tour in Early 2012 on which two of their shows where sold out in a matter of minutes.^[8]

The third single, from the album, "Lightning", was released on 16 October 2011 which reached #2 in the UK and #5 in Ireland. On 7 November 2011, the group's second album Battleground, was released in the UK. It debuted at #5 in the UK and #4 in Ireland. The fourth single, "Warzone" was released on 26 December 2011 with the music video and radio debut coming in early November 2011.

In addition to shows in the UK including T4 on the Beach, V Festival and the iTunesFestival, the group supported Canadian singer, Justin Bieber in Brazil on 8 and 9 October and also supported Britney Spears on her Femme Fatale Tour at the Manchester Evening News Arena on 6 November. On 9 November 2011, it was revealed by the group that they were planning to re-release the album, including a new track written by Example called "Chasing the Sun" and a duet called "Jealousy" with "a U.S. female singer".

On 22 May 2012 The Wanted opened and performed at the first Q102's Springle Ball concert playing "All Time Low", "Lightning", "Chasing The Sun", and "Glad You Came". Others acts that night included Cody Simpson, Austin Mahone, Chiddy Bang, Chris Renee, Hot Chelle Rae, Carly Rae Jepsen, Enrique, Train, and Flo Rida who closed the show.

Members[link]

Max George[link]

Max Albert George, born (1988-09-06) 6 September 1988 (age 23), grew up with his family in Manchester.^[9] Before music, he had been a football player with Preston North End and was on the verge of signing a two-year deal with them, whilst he has been a Manchester City supporter since a young age.^[10] Previously he was a member of Avenue, a five-piece boy band made up of Jonathan Lloyd, Scott Clarke, Ross Candy and Jamie Tinkler in addition to George. They entered the third series^[11] of The X Factor in 2006 and made it to Louis Walsh's Bootcamp. But media reports exposed that Avenue had not strictly adhered to the rules, having been signed by an earlier music X Factor director to a deal. They were banned from participation for having professional representation rather than being specifically formed for the competition.^[12][13][14] Avenue admitted they had failed to duly report their engagements and George admitted it was "not the X Factor's fault"^[15] in the video showing their disqualification in Walsh's office. With Andrew (Andy) Brown joining as a member of Avenue replacing Jamie Tinkler, the band went on to have some success beyond their X Factor appearances with their debut single "Last Goodbye", reaching number 50 on the UK Singles Chart. They had a follow up release with "Can You Feel It?". Avenue disbanded in April 2009. In 2008, while still a member of Avenue, George appeared naked on cover of British gay magazine AXM's "Naked Issue" in support of cancer research. He is engaged to British actress Michelle Keegan after meeting her at one of The Wanted's concerts.^[16] Max George recently revealed that he and his fiancé, Michelle Keegan, have broken off their engagement.^[17]

Nathan Sykes[link]

Nathan James Sykes,^[9] born (1993-04-18) 18 April 1993 (age 19), and known as the baby of the group, grew up in Abbeydale, Gloucester with his mother, who was a music teacher, and younger sister.^[18] He started singing and performing at the age of 6 and attended Sylvia Young's theatre school from the age of 11. He continued to perform as a child singer winning various competitions including "Britney Spears's Karaoke Kriminals" in 2003, The Cheltenham Competitive Festival of Dramatic Art also in 2003. He appeared on ITV's Ministry of Mayhem in 2004, and won the Door Youth Project's "Undiscovered Youth Talenhugyt Contest" held in Derker performing "Mack The Knife".^[19] and performed for the "Live and Unsigned".^[20] Music Competition in Bristol in 2008.^[21] Sykes attempted to represent UK in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004 held in Lillehammer, Norway. In the British qualifying finals, he sang "Born to Dance"^[22] coming 3rd overall, after winner Cory Spedding and runner-up Andrew Merry.

Siva Kaneswaran[link]

Siva Kaneswaran, born (1988-11-16) 16 November 1988 (age 23), grew up in Blanchardstown, Dublin with his Sri Lankan Tamil father, Irish mother, twin brother Kumar and six other siblings.^[23][24] Kaneswaran started modelling at 16 and appeared in various ads and landed a contract with Storm Model Management. Kaneswaran took part in Rock Rivals, televised in eight episodes between 5 March and 23 April 2008.^[25] His brother took part as well. Kaneswaran played the role of Carson Coombs and his brother that of Caleb Coombs. The brothers also appeared briefly in one episode of Uncle Max. The episode "Uncle Max Plays Tennis" aired on 11 July 2008. Kaneswaran was spotted through his modelling campaigns and recruited as a result for the band.^[26] He is the younger brother of former Dove member and former Popstars: The Rivals contestant Hazel Kaneswaren.

Jay McGuiness[link]

James "Jay" McGuiness,^[9][27] (1990-07-24) 24 July 1990 (age 21), grew up in Newark, Nottinghamshire.^[28] He attended Holy Trinity Roman Catholic school in Newark. At the age of 13, McGuiness went to Charlotte Hamilton School of Dance.^[29] He has a non-identical twin brother Tom ^[30] and three other siblings.

Tom Parker[link]

Thomas "Tom" Anthony Parker, born (1988-08-04) 4 August 1988 (age 23), grew up in Bolton.^[31] Parker learned to play the guitar at the age of sixteen after trying out his older brother's. He then went on to audition for The X Factor but did not get past the first round. He went to Manchester Metropolitan University and studied Geography, but dropped out in pursuit of a professional singing career.^[32] Parker joined a Take That tribute band known as Take That II and toured Northern England, before joining The Wanted in 2009.^[33]

Discography[link]

Tours[link]

The Behind Bars Tour was the band's first theatre tour which sold out within weeks of going on sale. It began on 26 March 2011 and concluded on until 15 April. The tour featured 12 different cities with a total of sixteen dates.

It was announced on Friday 16 December 2011 that the group would embark on their first US tour, with 10 dates to be held over January and February 2012.

The Wanted announced that they would embark on their first arena tour across the UK and Ireland in February and March 2012. Known as #TheCode Tour and T.W.A.T., each concert features an interactive element that links to their official Facebook and Twitter pages.

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website