Calvin Hawthorne

Calvin Kevin Hawthorne (January 6, 1993 &mdash; February 4, 2014) was an English singer and former reality teleivision show contestant.

In early 2012, Hawthorne appeared on the inaugural series of The Uraps Factor, where he ultimately placed tenth on the show. Later that year, Hawthorne launched his music career and released his debut album Kelvin where it reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart for two weeks. Hawthorne released his second and final studio album Closure in 2013. Hawthorne was signed to Next Generation Records.

Hawthorne's music career was overshadowed by his various scandals, feuds, controversies, incidents, and criticisms that were targeted towards him and his talents. His constant presence in the tabloids and the overemphasis of his personal and professional struggles, undermined his professional achievements. Hawthorne's career went into noticeable decline after it was revealed he faked his death in early 2013.

On February 4, 2014, Hawthorne died at the age of 21 from sudden cardiac death, most possibly from cardiomyopathy after he finished performing on live television in Stockholm, Sweden.

Early life
Calvin Kevin Hawthorne was born on January 6, 1993 in Newcastle, England, United Kingdom to an English mother and Swedish father. Hawthorne's father abandoned him at birth only to reappear in his life when he was five. Though initially friendly, Hawthorne's father bullied and beat him in public, sometimes on the playground he was playing at. After Hawthorne's father broke Hawthorne's arm, Hawthorne's mother became more overbearing and controlling of him.

When Hawthorne was twelve, his mother married a wealthy Swedish businessman, who would later turn out to be his biological half-uncle (his father's half-brother). His stepfather was verbally and emotionally abusive and his mother turned on him so she could stay with her husband. Hawthorne was eventually thrown out of the family home at the age of sixteen and was briefly left homeless, before he was taken in by family friends. Hawthorne later moved to his childhood neighborhood and got himself a job at a clothing store and his own apartment.

From childhood to his teens, Hawthorne was routinely and severely bullied by his classmates and neighbors, including his teachers and other adults. Hawthorne only had two best friends growing up who both died at a young age. After throwing him out, Hawthorne's parents began to spread false rumors about him, intensify the bullying and ostracizing against Hawthorne. Hawthorne eventually dropped out of school and moved back into his old neighborhood that he had lived in before his mother's marriage and found employment at a clothing store and a small flat to live in.

Throughout his early life, Hawthorne was severely bullied by his classmates, neighbors, and even teachers and other adults after his biological father, and later his stepfather and mother, began spreading unflattering false rumors about him. Hawthorne dropped out of school at age 16. To cope with the bullying, Hawthorne's casual interest in music grew.

Hawthorne was nineteen when he found out that his biological father and stepfather were half-brothers. Hawthorne has nine half-siblings; five from his mother and stepfather and four from his biological father by three different women. His half-brothers via his father are Shawn Middlesbrough, Artemis Tolkien, and Lennart and Anders Bjorlin, who all became involved in the music business. Lennart and Anders Bjorlin were murdered in 2013. At the time of his death, Hawthorne had not met his half-siblings by his mother and stepfather. Hawthorne never reconciled with his family before his death.

The Uraps Factor: 2012
Hawthorne auditioned on The Uraps Factor in Newcastle in late 2011 and the show aired in early 2012. He auditioned with "Turning Tables", a song originally done by Adele, and got three out of four yeses from the judge, with Brett Clarkson not wanting to put him through. Hawthorne eventually made it all the way through to the judges' houses round where he once again sang "Turning Tables" and was ultimately sent home from the competition by Clarkson. A subsequent "wild card" voting round by the public, which was able to bring back certain acts per category of the show (that being Boys, Girls, over 25s, and Groups), Calvin for the boys' category was brought back by a narrow 37.5% of the public's vote. Calvin, along with the rest of the Boys' category, would be mentored by Clarkson.

Due to his return via the "wild card" voting, Hawthorne was able to make it to the live rounds. Hawthorne was often seen as the underdog of the competition and his performances often faced criticism. Aside from his quirky and sometimes "questionable" outfit choices, Hawthorne's performances were often seen as "camp" and his vocals were often described by critics and fans as "shaky and pitchy" and that he "needs improvement". Many question Hawthorne's singing ability altogether often stating that "he [couldn't] sing". Despite the criticisms, Hawthorne, for the first four weeks of the live shows, did not ever make it to the bottom two which surprised many including the judges.

On the fifth week of the live shows in February 2012, Hawthorne infamously performed his rendition of "Fight For This Love". While singing the song on stage, Hawthorne, who did not pay attention to where he was going, fell off the stage and broke his ankle; Hawthorne still continued with the performance. Hawthorne was finally sent to the bottom two that week and was voted off by all four of the judges who chose to save Rhys Lee, the other contestant in the bottom two that week. (Hawthorne was the second to go home as the result shows for that week were double eliminations; Sitty Bang Bang also went home that night.) Hawthorne became the first contestant of that season to be unanimously voted off by the judges.

After the show, Hawthorne immediately returned to Newcastle.

2012 &mdash; 2013: Kelvin
After returning to Newcastle, Hawthorne was approached by record producer Shawn Middlesbrough, who had worked with Suede and Curriculum. Hawthorne at the time did not recognize Middlesbrough as his estranged half-brother until he confronted him, his other half-brothers, and his biological father at a restaurant at a brief meeting. Shortly after the meeting, Hawthorne cut ties with Middlesbrough and gave back the five tracks that Middlesbrough had produced for him. Before severing ties, Hawthorne considered Middlesbrough a close friend and was devastated at finding out the truth about him. Hawthorne eventually found Stephanie Kesh to produce his album, though he was unaware that Kesh was married to Middlesbrough.

In August 2012, Hawthorne was signed to Next Generation Records, a label owned by Kleo and Coral Harris and released his debut single "Pretend". "Pretend" debuted and peaked at #6 on the UK Singles Chart and surprisingly reached #7 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100. In October 2012, Hawthorne released his second single "The Thought of You (Brings Me To Life)" and his debut album Kelvin. With "The Thought of You" being critically acclaimed and also considered to be his signature and biggest hit, it reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart and became his second US top ten hit.

Kelvin, whose title derives from the combination of his first and middle name (Calvin and Kevin respectively), managed to debut and peak at #1 on the UK Albums Chart, staying there for two weeks. It sold more than 96,000 copies in its first week sales and managed to get mixed to positive reviews. The album also reached the top ten on the US Billboard 200 chart and also charted well in Canada and Ireland, despite lack of hit singles from the album in those countries. To date, the album has sold more than 600,000 copies in the UK and has been certified double platinum by the URAPS (Urapopstar Recording Association Phonographic Society).

In December 2012, Hawthorne announced that he was writing and planning to release his first memoir titled Kelvin: My Side of the Story So Far. The memoir was supposed to detail his early life before auditioning for The Uraps Factor while also apparently serving as a "companion piece" to his debut album Kelvin. In January 2013, the publishing company for the book cancelled its release due to some of the content apparently being "too graphic and disturbing" for what they thought was Hawthorne's core fan base of "teenagers, adults, and housewives." Had the book been released, it would have been slated of a January 2013 release and Hawthorne was said to be about 80 percent done with finishing the book.

In December 2012, Hawthorne contributed to the soundtrack of The Devil's Daughter, performing a song titled "Swinging". In January 2013, Hawthorne released his third single from Kelvin, a single mix of "All The Same", which featured his close friend and fellow The Uraps Factor contestant Aimee Stevens. The single peaked at #7 on the UK Singles Chart. In March 2013, Hawthorne released the fourth and final single from Kelvin, a double AA single, "After The Storm"/"Turning Tables", the latter being a cover of the popular Adele song. At the time of the single's release, his career was marred by the scandal of him faking his death which threatened his career and upset his label. The label cut all funding for the single's promotion and the single was also released on CD single (in a cardboard sleeve) and digital download. Despite the lack of stunted promotion, the single debuted and peaked at #6 on the UK Singles Chart.

2013 &mdash; 2014: Closure
In November 2012, only weeks after Kelvin was released, Hawthorne admitted that he had already begun work on his second album in Los Angeles, calling it "accidental" as he was only trying to record songs as potential b-sides of possible future singles from Kelvin. Instead, he found that he could not throw away any of the songs he had recorded and decided to put together a new album. After occasionally hinting at the second album, he revealed in March 2013 that the album should be released in the summer 2013.

In April 2013, Hawthorne announced that he would be releasing a new single possibly from his upcoming sophomore album titled "Against The World", which will be due for release on May 27, 2013.

In May 2013, Hawthorne released the single "Against The World". The single debuted at #11, threatening to disrupt his streak of top ten hit singles in the UK but in the following week his streak went uninterrupted when it rose to #10. The single is the lowest peaking single of Hawthorne's career of his label's entire singles discography. Hawthorne later confirmed that the single would not be on the album, not because of its lukewarm commercial performance but because "there [would be] no room for the song on the album."

Hawthorne then initially announced that his album would be titled Invulnerable and the lead single from the album would be "I Can't Win", a song written by Ruby Stephingham. However, the album was deleted by intruders who broke into the label's headquarters; it was later revealed that Hawthorne's friends was behind the incident and that Hawthorne wanted the album deleted so he could fix it up. The album was not entirely deleted but was saved on a USB flash drive he kept around his neck for some time.

In August 2013, Hawthorne announced that his sophomore album would be titled Closure and that the lead single from the LP would be "All I Got". "All I Got" premiered in late August and got mostly positive reviews, with much compliments focused on Hawthorne's "emotionally honest" delivery (despite criticisms that he was once again pitch corrected on the track) and the song's lyrics. Closure and "All I Got" was released on September 23, 2013.

Closure debuted at #5 on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified Gold by the URAPS. Internationally, the album was a commercially failure as were its singles "All I Got", which peaked at #13 on the UK Singles Chart, and "What I Was Giving Up", which peaked at #9.

Vocal ability
Hawthorne possesses the vocal range and type of baritone. Positive aspects of his voice can be described as "soothing", "tender", and highly capable of showing and delivering "honest raw emotion". Critics, however, have focused mostly on the negative aspects of his voice claiming that it is "limited, weak, and thin" and "very pitchy, off key, flat, and just wrong".

Hawthorne has been constantly accused of "over-utilizing" pitch correction software, such as AutoTune and Melodyne, on his recordings and material. He has also been accused of being unable to sing live at all or at least "well". Hawthorne has admitted to using pitch correction software on his music but not all the time.

Popjustice, a constant critic of Hawthorne, harshly mocked his vocal ability and commented that he "has no damn talent, let along and especially VOCAL talent, whatsoever. Hawthorne has responded to the criticism about his singing stating that "though I'm no Aurora Reed, I can too sing."

Live performances
Hawthorne's live performances have been subject to controversy and criticism, dating back to when he was still a contestant on The Uraps Factor, where an insider of the show alleged that Hawthorne lip-synced to pitch-corrected pre-recorded vocals when it came time to sing on live shows. Hawthorne, the show's producers, and even the show's judges and hosts (of the first series) have denied this allegation and have come to Hawthorne's defense. During his singing career, he was often accused of lip-synching. In one incident, on the 2012 New Year's Eve Special, Hawthorne was exposed "miming" after his backing track malfunctioned.

Image and relationship with the press
Aside from criticism focusing on his vocal abilities, Hawthorne has also been criticized for his music, certain scandals pertaining to him, and sometimes his fashion. While still on The Uraps Factor, Hawthorne's performances were criticized as being "camp" and "over-indulgent" at times, while his costumes were often called "outrageous. PopJustice was Hawthorne's biggest critic and had criticized him on everything regarding him and often expressed a harsh negative tone towards him; they had been criticizing him since he was on The Uraps Factor. Hawthorne is stated to be mostly known for "being in the papers than being on the charts" stated one pop culture critic.

At the beginning of his career, Hawthorne was initially portrayed as the "victim" and with many feeling that he just couldn't "catch a break". Following his death hoax scandal in early 2013, however, Hawthorne began to be vilified in the press more often as an "attention seeker" and a "scandal driven trainwreck".

Popularity
In March 2013, Hawthorne debuted at #68 on the URAPS RATE 19 with an approval rating of 58.9% and a score of 112.

In February 2013, Hawthorne was nominated for Best New Act at the Urapopstar Awards 23.

Personal life
From age 14 to 16, Hawthorne began dating a guy who he had been friends with since they were both 12. Hawthorne's boyfriend was physically and sexually abusive and often cheated on him with both males and females. Hawthorne was often threatened, humiliated, and beaten in public and would be "beaten back" into the relationship every time he tried to leave his boyfriend. When Hawthorne finally broke up with him, his now ex-boyfriend viciously attacked and brutally beat him in public while they were at school and then threw him down a flight of stairs. Hawthorne obtained multiple injuries including a broken left wrist and hand, concussion, whiplash, and a temporarily disfigured face. Hawthorne did not press charges.

Hawthorne then began dating a girl only months after he broke up with his former boyfriend. Hawthorne's girlfriend was also physically abusive and her attacks put Hawthorne in the hospital multiple times with various bruises and some broken bones. Hawthorne's relationship with her lasted only eight months and ended when she was sent to prison for the robbery, assault, and attempted murder of a store clerk. After she was sentenced, she advised that Hawthorne move on with his life and broke up with him, leaving him devastated.

Two years after they broke up, at age 18, Hawthorne's former boyfriend found him and tried to reconcile with him. When Hawthorne refused, his ex-boyfriend attacked him and dragged him to a park at night and proceeded to beat and sexually assault Hawthorne. To avoid further attack, Hawthorne faked having seizure, causing his ex-boyfriend to panic and run off. One year after the attack, Hawthorne's ex-boyfriend tried to reconcile with him once again but Hawthorne rebuffed his advances. In March 2013, Hawthorne ran over both feet of his ex-boyfriend's, following an attack from him and three of Hawthorne's estranged family members.

Hawthorne is currently single and has stated that he doesn't want to be in another relationship again, stating that "it's nothing but trouble". Hawthorne also does not wish to have children stating that he has "lost all hope" in parenthood. He lives in both London and Newcastle, where in the latter, he still lives in the apartment he got when he was sixteen. He also speaks fluent Swedish, something he learned without him actually knowing he is of Swedish ancestry after all.

In July 2013, Hawthorne moved to Ireland. One month later, in August 2013, the house he moved into in Ireland burned down. Local police blaming faulty wiring but have not ruled out foul play, citing the house was in "rather good condition".

Controversy
Hawthorne has been the subject of much controversy since his first appearance on The Uraps Factor and since the start of his music career. He has been involved in plenty of controversies, incidents, and scandals which have all threatened to undermine his professional acheievements and overshadow his music career.

Hawthorne has infamously feuded with his former The Uraps Factor mentor Brett Clarkson and alternative rock singer Arianna DiCorso, who he considers his favorite singer though she completely hates him. Hawthorne also has frequent clashes with his label Next Generation Records and his label bosses Kleo and Coral Harris. In November 2012, a day after appearing on Saturday Night Live, Hawthorne disappeared in New York City but reappeared one month later, in December 2012, in Los Angeles where he revealed he was working on his sophomore album.

October 2012 car accident/false reports of death incident
On October 5, 2012, while driving in London from a photoshoot to a meeting with his label Next Generation Records, Hawthorne was texting and driving, causing him to become distracted from the road. He eventually lost control and crashed into another car before his vehicle flipped over once on its side. Hawthorne's "entire" left side, mainly his hand, wrist, arm, ribs, and shoulder, were injured. Hawthorne was rushed to the hospital but arrived and maintained in "relatively good condition", with doctors noting that he had serious but non-lethal injuries, which would need "extensive and intense recovery".

However, on October 6, the following day after the accident, Hawthorne was falsely reported by the press to have died from the car accident, with the media saying that he had "severe and lethal head and neck injuries" that he supposedly succumbed to. It was also falsely reported that his car had flipped over seven times. Following the initial report of his death, many celebrities and publications, even those who often criticized Hawthorne, offered their condolences and sympathy.

On October 7, one day after the false story broke, Hawthorne posted a video on Ustream to confirm that he was (obviously) alive and did not die from the car accident and that he only suffered "grievous but not so deadly" injuries. He also dispelled rumors about how many times his car flipped over and the fact that no one visited him in the hospital, when actually his closest friends from Newcastle were the first to be by his side after the accident.

After Hawthorne revealed himself alive, the incident sparked controversy and many critics, including those accused Hawthorne of pulling a PR stunt to raise sales of his debut album, which ironically was to be released days later. Some publications, such as PopJustice, retracted their condolences and sympathy for the singer, while many other publications and celebrities, including his industry friends James Moss and Aimee Stevens, the latter who was on the same series as him on The Uraps Factor, expressed support for him and even sent him a card and flowers.

In the days following following the false news of Hawthorne's "death", four people working at the hospital that Hawthorne was staying at were fired by officials for falsely leaking the story and for also "technically" violating patient privacy and confidentiality policy. Various publications blame the four for "misleading" them about Hawthorne's "death".

January 2013 death hoax scandal
On January 7, 2013, one day after his twentieth birthday, it was reported that Hawthorne was rushed to the hospital and placed in a coma. On January 11, it was reported that Hawthorne had died. An autopsy report, later proved to be fake, revealed that he had died from alcohol poisoning and pill overdose. In actuality, Hawthorne, tired of the public scrutiny he faced and his estranged family forcing their way into his life, wanted to fake his own death, change his identity, and start life over somewhere else. On January 15, Hawthorne's fake funeral was held and arranged by his close friends with them, industry friends, and others in attendance. His family was banned from attending.

The initial reaction to Hawthorne's (second) "death" were poor with plenty expressing their remorse and devastation. On the second series of the The Uraps Factor, a brief tribute was paid to Hawthorne. Some accused Hawthorne's manager of possibly having some involvement in his "death", which as something he denied. Hawthorne, hiding out in Los Angeles during this time, began to feel guilt over faking his death.

In February 2013, one month after he faked his death, Hawthorne via YouTube revealed himself to be alive and tearfully apologized for his actions. This sparked outrage with the public and critics and Hawthorne began to experience a massive backlash. He began to be vilified and shamed in the press and media and his career became in jeopardy. The incident caused strain on his friendships with multiple people in the music industry, some who became "too upset" to speak or consider Hawthorne as friend again.

March 2013 hit-and-run incident and April 2013 trial
In March 2013, as he left his apartment to get something from his car, Hawthorne was confronted by all of his estranged family who were still upset that he had faked his death in January 2013 and wanted to reconcile with him. Instead, Hawthorne and his family got into a heated argument and exchanged verbal insults and assaults with each other. The argument attracted the attention of his neighbors who looked out their windows and even came out of their apartments to see what the commotion was.

Hawthorne continued to argue with his biological father, stepfather/uncle, one of his paternal half-brothers, and former boyfriend as their verbal row continued to escalate. Eventually, Hawthorne's biological father then lost his temper and began punching Hawthorne in the face. Hawhthorne's stepfather/uncle, half-brother, and former boyfriend proceeded to join on the attack with all four men physically attacking and brutally beating Hawthorne. The rest of Hawthorne's family and neighbors watched in shock but nothing to intervene, instead taking video of the incident.

Hawthorne eventually managed to break free from his attackers, get into his car, and speedily drive off. His family continued to stay in the parking lot, still determined to confront Hawthorne further. Hawthorne suddenly turned his car around and sped back into the parking lot. At full speed, he then ran over his father, half-brother, and both feet of his former boyfriend's, injuring all of them severely. He then attempted to run after his stepfather and mother but missed both of them and crashed into a tree instead. After he crashed his car, Hawthorne ran away from the scene while his father, half-brother, and former boyfriend were rushed to the hospital.

Hawthorne turned himself in 45 minutes after the incident. Police took photos of his bruised and bloodied face he got from the beating and also his mugshot. Police also collected video from Hawthorne's neighbors which showed the whole incident happen. Hawthorne was charged with attempted murder of his father and half-brother as well other charges related to the case. His father, half-brother, former boyfriend, and stepfather did not face charges for beating Hawthorne. In April 2013, Hawthorne was acquitted by a judge of all charges, causing controversy in his hometown of Newcastle (where his speedy trial took place) who mostly wanted Hawthorne jailed. Hawthorne was found not guilty after a successful plea of temporary insanity.

Death
On February 3, 2014, Hawthorne was in Stockholm, Sweden where he performed his then new single "What I Was Giving Up" on live Swedish television. Shortly after he finished the performance, Hawthorne went backstage and suddenly collapsed. Hawthorne was immediately rushed to the hospital.

In the early morning hours of February 4, 2014 (Swedish local time), Hawthorne died at the age of 21. The cause of death was complications from cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, or other sudden cardiac-related deaths. According to sources, relatives of his in Stockholm did not rush to his deathbed as he laid dying. At his funeral, only six of his friends attended as many people did not believe he had died. His family, whom he was not on good terms with, did not appear at his funeral either. His friends has since stated that Hawthorne "died alone" and "with no one to love him they way he deserved to be love and appreciated".