Regina Harper

Estela Regina Penélope Harper (born November 22nd, 1994), known professionally as Regina Harper, is a singer/songwriter, actress, model and philanthropist from Madrid, Spain. She was the winner of URAPS Idol 12.

Harper released her #1 debut album "How Many Miles To Hollywood?" in July 2012 to critical acclaim and huge success. The album spawned four singles, including the number 1 hits "American Pie" and "The Pact". She released her sophomore album Serenity in January 2014.

Early life
Harper was born in midland Spain to an French/Spanish mother (Isabella Sanchez) and Spanish father (Carlos Harper). She is an only child. She attended school and graduated top of her class in 2010 before attending the URAPS Idol 12 auditions.

Early career
Harper auditioned for URAPS Idol 12 in July 2011. Her audition song, "My Life Would Suck Without You", failed to impress the judges much, however they let her through. Harper went on to be the winner of Idol, beating Rory Jacobs. Her winner's single, "What I Started", was written and produced by China. It charted at #3 on the singles chart and received a platinum certification.

How Many Miles To Hollywood? era
Regina Harper's debut album, "How Many Miles To Hollywood?" was released on July 9th 2012. She described the album as being "strongly feminist" and it's message is to "show that woman can do what they want, we're not slaves nor will we ever be again". She says the album's sound has been inspired by the works of Lana Del Rey and Marina Diamandis, while maintaining her 'pop rock' sound through each song. The album's lead single was the Brian Higgins produced "American Pie" which reached #1 on the Uraps singles charts. The second single released was "Your Own Reflection (Echo)", which was written and co-produced by Regina herself. It was released on September 24th 2012 charted at #3 on the Uraps singles charts. The third single lifted from the album was "Sydney", released on January 7th 2013, which failed to make much of an impact internationally. The single did, however, earn huge success in the UK, reaching a peak at #2 on the singles charts and being eventually certified platinum.

In August 2012, Regina embarked on the Hollywood Babylon Tour, which visited 76 venues around the world. Regina received high critical acclaim for the tour which has been described as "a delightful, intimate encounter with the woman who writes the most amazing songs ever". The second leg of the tour visited slightly larger venues than the first leg and had a slightly different setlist and different outfits.

On April 8th 2013, Regina's debut album was re-released under the title ''How Many Miles to Hollywood? - The Babylon Edition''. The Babylon Edition of the record came with 4 brand new tracks, including the lead single "The Pact" and a collaboration with Hey Lolita's Nyla Harley. The Babylon Edition charted at #2 on the week of release, and "The Pact" peaked at #1, becoming Regina's second #1 single and fourth consecutive top 3 single. Since it's re-release, the album has been certified diamond for sales of over 1,000,000 copies.

Serenity era
In early December 2013, Regina officially announced the release of her second album Serenity. Harper worked on the album with Jeff Bhasker (executive producer), Emile Haynie, Rick Nowels and Liam Howe. According to the press release issued by Fusion Records, the album was the "polar opposite" to her debut; the opposite side of the coin. Harper herself described the album as being a lot happier both in terms of sound and lyrically.

The first single released from the album was "Soft Grunge". The pop-punk song was written by Harper and produced by Harper, Rick Nowels and Jeff Bhasker. Despite the song's title, it was Harper's most mainstream single release to date. In an interview with Ellen in December 2013, Regina told her "The label wanted a hit and that's what it [Soft Grunge] is. The title certainly got people talking though and I guess that's how music sells".

Upon release, Serenity received mostly positive reviews from critics and fans. Many praised it's simplicity and complimented how it showed maturity and growth in her sound. Some noted that the album lacked up-tempo tracks and slow songs and mid-tempos began to get a bit stale as the album reached a closing.

Controversy
In the midst of her success, Regina proved to be a rather controversial being. She had a baby at only seventeen years old and was constantly quoted shading other celebrities. The most controversial of all was her summer 2012 homophobia outburst, which damaged her name forever.

Homophobia Scandal
In July 2012, Regina made headlines by announcing she thought "marriage belongs between a man and a woman only". This offended many people, including Regina's now ex-friend Arianna DiCorso. It also resulted in her boyfriend and the father of her baby, Caymon, ending their relationship. Caymon said he was "disgusted" with her attitude and it upset him greatly as his older brother Jason is gay. The damage done was fixed greatly when Regina told everyone that her comments were completely unnecessary, but what she said was the result of a bitter divorce between her parents when she was just a little girl after her father came out as a homosexual. "It really affected my childhood. I hardly ever saw my father and my mother said very hateful things about him. I do want to apologize and say I have nothing against homosexuality. Love is love, whether it is between a man and a man, a woman and a woman or a man and a woman. I do encourage every closeted homosexual to come out and be themselves, rather than hiding who they are. It will only end in tears". Due to her apology and explanation, Regina gained respect from fans and the media and the outburst did not end up affecting her record sales. Her debut album ended up selling more than Fusion Records originally estimated. Arianna DiCorso, however, will still not speak to Regina and says she can "never forget those words".

Teen Pregnancy
Regina fell pregnant in April 2011 with her then-boyfriend, Caymon's, baby. On January 1st 2012, the couple gave birth to a baby girl named Sylvia Doria Kasselbaum Harper Adams. This sparked outrage amongst parents, who called Regina a "terrible role model". Regina lashed back saying "I never aimed to be a role model for spoilt five year old shits, so why are you all getting your dicks in a twist?". Caymon (after their break-up) was quoted saying Regina was a brilliant and doting mother who puts Sylvia before her career.

Products and endorsements
In November 2012, Harper released her first fragrance with Elizabeth Arden, Infinity, which broke the company's first-week gross for perfume. The perfume went on to be a best seller and Regina landed herself a permanent contract with Elizabeth Arden to continue endorsing beauty products for them. In April 2013, she released a second perfume, called First Date. The perfume contains kiwi, cupcake accord, white chocolate, musk, amber, candy and sensual woods scents and sold over one million bottles in its first week of release, breaking more records. Regina shot an advert for First Date which used her song "Key to my Heart" as it's theme. A music video for "Key to my Heart" was released to coincide with the perfume's release, essentially being an extended advert for the fragrance.

Initiate
Main article: Initiate  It was revealed in a press release by American television company ABC on Friday, February 1st 2013 that Regina Harper would play the lead role in their new action-thriller series Initiate. Harper will play an assassin called Titania, who plans on taking out her bosses after they order her to kill an innocent five year old girl and her mother, in order to keep them from spilling a secret US government conspiracy. ABC ordered a total of 24 episodes for season one which began airing on September 15th 2013.

In December 2013, soon after the announcement of Regina's second album, ABC renewed Initiate for a second season of 24 episodes to begin airing in September 2014. The second half of season one had not even aired at that time (it was due to air in late February 2014), but ratings for the first half of the season were good enough to warrant a renewal.

Personal Life
Harper dated Caymon for 13 months. The couple had a baby girl called Sylvia Doria Kasselbaum Harper Adams on January 1st 2012. They split up in June 2012 when Caymon claimed he'd had enough of her "diva tantrums" and her homophobia outburst. Regina then dated Kieran Harris from popular boyband Difused for 5 months. The pair split up on December 2nd 2012. At present, Regina is in a relationship with indie singer-songwriter Tommy Gunn.

In late March 2013, Regina bought herself a home in Phoenix, Arizona, for herself and her daughter Sylvia to live. According to Harper, she didn't want to live in high-profile areas like New York City or Los Angeles as she wants to keep Sylvia sheltered from the celeb-world. Phoenix will also be the shooting location for Initiate, an ABC Original Television series starring Harper.