Dan Gillespie Sells
| Dan Gillespie Sells | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Daniel Giles Gillespie Sells |
| Born | 20 September 1978 |
| Origin | London, UK |
| Genres | Rock, pop, soft rock, power pop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar, piano, vocals |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Labels | MCA Music, Inc., Island Little World Records |
| Associated acts | The Feeling |
| Website | http://www.thefeeling.com/ |
Daniel Giles Gillespie Sells (/ɡᵻˈlɛspi/; born 20 September 1978 in London, UK) is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known as being the lead vocalist and frontman for the pop/rock group The Feeling.
Biography
Sells and his brother were co-parented, being brought up dividing their time between their father's house and their mother's house after their parents split when he was three years old. His mother is the disability rights campaigner Katherine Gillespie Sells. He was also parented by his mother's former partner Dilis, whom he refers to as his other mother.[1] Sells attended The Ashmole School in London along with fellow students Amy Winehouse and Rachel Stevens (S Club 7). He studied at the BRIT School which many new British groups originate from such as The Kooks in Croydon.
In early 2007, Sells was seen in an advertising campaign for the Autograph range at Marks and Spencer. He says he took part partly because his grandmother liked M&S, and would like to see him advertising it.[2]
In addition to his work with The Feeling, he co-wrote songs for Sophie Ellis-Bextor's third solo album, Trip the Light Fantastic. The two songs he co-wrote appear on the track-listing as , "Only One" and "Love Is Here". Both tracks also feature his vocals, and "Love Is Here" includes his bandmate Richard Jones, Sophie Ellis-Bextor's husband, on bass guitar. Ellis-Bextor features on The Feeling's album, Together We Were Made, in song "Leave me Out Of It".
Sells co-wrote and co-performed (both with Ian Masterson) the theme tune to the 2008 BBC comedy drama series Beautiful People, an adaptation of the memoirs of Simon Doonan. In addition, Sells also contributed another original track, entitled "Beautiful People", as well as a 2006 cover version of Hall & Oates's "She's Gone" with his The Feeling bandmates. All three tracks appeared on the Beautiful People soundtrack album released in October 2008.
As well as his accomplishments within the music industry he has also branched out in recent years into various theatre projects.
In 2014 he began his collaboration with world renowned choreographer Javier de Frutos on a ballet piece entitled '3 With D' which featured The Royal Ballet's principal dancer Edward Watson (dancer) and premiered at The London Coliseum.
A brand new musical theatre show 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie' which Dan has written with TV, film and stage writer Tom MacRae has been announced by The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield and is due to open there in Feb 2017.
Dan is gay, and won two Stonewall Awards for Entertainer of the Year in 2007 and Entertainer of the Decade in 2015. Dan featured on the cover of an issue of Attitude magazine in 2008, being the first cover shoot Sells had done and was later on the front cover again on the September 2008 issue, alongside Alan Carr and Sir Ian McKellen. He also revealed that he had given input into a future issue of Gay Times and that his middle name is Giles.[3] As well as shooting the March cover for 'Winq' magazine.
In 2012 Dan wrote about his coming out experience for http://www.rucomingout.com.[4]
Influences
Sells has stated that Karen Carpenter was "one of the greatest vocal technicians ever". He also cites Freddie Mercury and Neil Young as influences.[5]
References
- ↑ "The Way We Live". The Times. Retrieved 2011-10-30.(subscription required)
- ↑ Autograph at Marks and Spencer
- ↑ The Feeling
- ↑ Dan G Sells on Coming Out, I don't know why I struggled with it for so long. Other people in much tougher circumstances came out much earlier than I. I guess we all get held back for different reasons (I think for me it was school) but as long as we get there in the end we can all be happy..
- ↑ "The Feeling interview". Sing365.com. Retrieved 2011-10-30.