MIDNIGHT
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| MIDNIGHT on the red carpet at the 2014 iHeart Music Awards. | ||
| Background information | ||
| Born | August 15, 1986 (age 27) | |
| Origin | London, United Kingdom | |
| Genre | Pop, electronic, rock, alternative | |
| Years active | 2010–present | |
| Label | Fusion Records (2010–present) | |
| Associated acts | ||
Victoria Rios (born August 15, 1986), known by her stage name MIDNIGHT, is a British-born Latin singer, songwriter, actress, and short-film director who rose to fame in late 2010.
Often known for her outspoken, feminist-driven, and even flirtatious personality, the singer rose to prominence with the help of her debut single, "Survive", which featured Brazilian R&B singer Paulo Araujo. The single debuted and peaked at #1 for two weeks on the official UK Singles Chart, becoming the first act to do so with a debut single since Ryan Simmonds in 2001.
In November 2010, MIDNIGHT released her debut album, Demons. The album was successful selling 113,733 copies in its first week and debuting at #1 on the UK Albums Chart, enough to be instantly certified Silver in its first week of availability by the BPI and Gold in its third week, eventually going Platinum in its fourth week of release. To date, Demons has been certified Diamond.
She released her sophomore album UNCENSORED in August 2011 to critical praise and huge chart success, debuting at number one in the UK with sales of 193,521, becoming the fastest selling album of the year. Her lead single "Money Equals Love" also topped the singles chart the same week, selling 183,727 copies, the highest first week sales for a single since 2006. To date, the song has been certified 3x Platinum and currently remains as the second best selling single in Urapopstar history.
After giving birth to her son Beau Samuel Jacobs in 2012, MIDNIGHT returned to music in 2013 with the release of her third studio album, Riot Grrrl. The album was a departure in sound from her previous records, taking on a more alternative rock and noise pop sound, which helped the singer to win Best Alt/Rock Album at the 24th Urapopstar Awards. The album spawned three singles "Ashes to Ashes", "Bad Girl" and "Teenage Tragedy".
MIDNIGHT is the first ever artist to have her first eleven singles peak at number one. She has three Diamond certified number one albums thus far, all of which have been awarded Best Album at the Urapopstar Awards. She was also named the Best Selling Singles Artist and Best Selling Artist of 2011 with sales of 3,844,600 in the UK.
Early life and career[edit | edit source]
Early life[edit | edit source]
MIDNIGHT was born as Victoria Rios on August 15, 1986 in London, United Kingdom and spent much time traveling from her home to the United States, Spain and also Jamaica as a young girl for family related reasons.
In a past interview, MIDNIGHT revealed that her father abused her mother and was also a drug user, she then went on to confirm that they are no longer in contact.
MIDNIGHT at first went to acting school to pursue her dream of becoming an actress and managed to appear on several popular televisions shows such as Eastenders in the early 2000's and also a children's television show which was later axed. Many years later, MIDNIGHT dropped out of acting school and believed that a music career was what she had more interest in and hired a vocal coach to help enhance her vocal ability, she later set up a MySpace page and managed to receive some popularity and secure a fairly small but supportive fanbase.
In late 2011, it was revealed that MIDNIGHT was the sister of Kris from pop boy band Difused.
Rise to fame and Demons (2010)[edit | edit source]
MIDNIGHT's debut and lead single "Survive" which features Paulo Araujo was announced on August 6, 2010 and received much buzz from other artists in the industry who praised the look of her and the promising collaboration for the single. The single received positive reviews from critics and was described as a "song to dominates the clubs". The single was released September 27, 2010 on Fusion Records, debuting at #1, the first artist to chart at the top with their debut single since Thorn City in May 2010. Her success continued with the single as it stayed on to top the charts for two weeks, becoming certified Silver in its second week and Platinum in its third.
Her debut single in the U.S "No Forgiveness" was released November 2, 2010 and was written by Elice Claire. After buzz for the songstress built up in the States and the controversial video began to get media talking, the song climbed the charts rapidly, peaking in the top 10 at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, due to scheduling conflicts and her teams wish to build up her fan base gradually over a longer period of time, the U.S release of Demons was cancelled.
In the UK, her second single "Little Miss Murder" was released on November 22, 2010, a week after the release of the album and became her second consecutive #1 hit and has been certified Platinum.
Her third single "Dominatrix" was released January 17, 2011 and gave the singer yet another #1 from the album, debuting with 110,639 copies sold, the highest debut sales frame at the time since Elice Claire's "Cloud Nine/Never Let Go" which was released in August 2010.
Her fourth and final UK single from the album was announced on February 17, 2011 to be the rock-influenced "License to Kill". The single debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming her fourth consecutive Platinum single and number one hit; selling 96,028 copies in its first week. To date, the album has sold over 1,000,000 copies and has been certified Diamond.
UNCENSORED, fragrance and U.S fame (2011)[edit | edit source]
UNCENSORED was first announced in a press release which was posted on her official website on July 10, 2011, which also confirmed lead single "Money Equals Love" and the release date of August 15 for both single and album, the single was MIDNIGHT's first to receive a simultaneous global release and topped charts around the world, including the UK and the U.S. The single has become the best selling song of all time. The album also opened at number one in the UK with sales of 193,521 and topped charts around Europe, debuting in the top ten in the U.S too. On the same date as the album, MIDNIGHT released her debut fragrance Rebellion around Europe, explaining herself that the scent was designed to be alluring and seductive. Rebellion was later released in the U.S in December 2011. In an interview, MIDNIGHT confirmed a world tour will support the new album, the UNCENSORED Tour was later announced on July 25 on her official site in support of the album and began in October, although some reviews negatively pointed out how the show was a bad influence on younger members in the audience, the tour overall received positive reviews.
The second single to be released from UNCENSORED was "Lady Danger", a song that MIDNIGHT has spoken favourably about in the past, claiming that it was originally planned to be the lead single from the album. The single was released December 5, 2011 and became her sixth consecutive number one single, its romantic horror short film music video which goes under the title of Show Me Your Heart was released two days before its release and received universal acclaim, later being released on DVD due to high demand.
Pregnancy and hiatus (2012)[edit | edit source]
On January 28th, 2011, MIDNIGHT gave an exclusive to popular media source Diva, revealing that she was pregnant, and that Rory Jacobs was the father. Both MIDNIGHT and Rory dated briefly in late 2011 when the male newcomer was on URAPS Idol. The news sparked an online frenzy, '#BABYNIGHT' became the most tweeted term on social network site Twitter since its 2006 launch, and the singer received many well wishes from other stars. Soon after the pregnancy revelation, rumours came out that both MIDNIGHT and Rory were back together, the news was later confirmed to be true when the pair appeared at an event together.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1 on Valentine's Day, MIDNIGHT confirmed that after third single "Withering Love" from her album UNCENSORED, she planned to take a break to have time to herself and to enjoy being a mother, adding that she will think about her next step in music sometime in 2013. The single was later scrapped for unknown reasons, and instead, a download only release of the song was made available on March 5, 2012 as a new mix which featured Aurora Reed.
At 6:07am on July 24, 2012, MIDNIGHT gave birth to a healthy baby boy, named Beau Samuel Jacobs, weighing at seven pounds and nine ounces.
Return to music (2013)[edit | edit source]
A press release was issued on MIDNIGHT's official website on December 27, 2012 which confirmed her third studio album, Riot Grrrl, as well as lead single "Ashes to Ashes". Both single and album were confirmed for release on February 11, 2013 with Fusion Records.
The lead single premiered on popular music blog SOUND, shocking fans and critics with its notably different direction to her past releases. Despite the drastic change, the single gained positive reviews, as many complimented it for its "heartbreaking lyrics". Ahead of the album's release date, MIDNIGHT started promotion by talking to Inside the Music about what to expect from the record, stating that it was "a lot darker", and that she wanted to make music that could be considered "timeless and classic". Two days later, the album cover and track listing was revealed on MIDNIGHT's official website, the cover a recreation of the surrealistic portrait In Voluptas Mors, a collaboration between Philippe Halsman and Salvador Dalí. The image shows multiple images of MIDNIGHT naked, wearing just pasties, placed in the position of a skull. The cover was praised among fans, many calling the cover the "best in a while" and "iconic".
MIDNIGHT debuted at #1 on the UK Official Charts with both her lead single and album, scoring her eighth consecutive number one single and third consecutive number one album. Shortly after the success of the releases, she announced her Wild Heart Tour which saw the singer tour stadiums around Europe, as well as arenas in North America and Australasia. Tickets for the UK shows went on sale first and sold out in a matter of a few days, the rest of the shows followed a similar pattern.
Continuing promotion for the record, MIDNIGHT released collaboration single "Bad Girl" with Sienna Martinez on April 29, 2013. The song was a #1 hit, and has been certified Platinum. On September 8, 2013, "Teenage Tragedy" was confirmed to be the third official single from the record, which was released on October 14, 2013. The single became MIDNIGHT's third number one from the album and her tenth overall.
Upcoming album and other projects (2014/15)[edit | edit source]
MIDNIGHT collaborated with Eoin O'Neill in April 2014 on a song titled "Hunters & Wolves" which became Eoin's second single from his album. The song was met with positive reviews and was released June 2, 2014. It became MIDNIGHT's first single not to debut at #1, which led to an extensive fan campaign to get the song to #1 to preserve her record-breaking streak. The following week, it climbed to the peak of the singles chart, marking MIDNIGHT's eleventh number one single.
In January 2015, MIDNIGHT began to tease fans with two buzz videos, one announced new music, and the second teased her new single, "Hallucinate". The song premiered in full a week later to positive reviews from critics. During promotion for the single, MIDNIGHT revealed to Glamour magazine that her fourth studio album would be released late spring. The single debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart with sales of over 110,000, remaining at the peak of the chart for two weeks.
Presenting[edit | edit source]
Since her debut, MIDNIGHT has been recognised for her distinctive personality which has led to many presenting offers come her way. She has gone onto present the following shows:
- 2010 URAPS Christmas Chart Show
- Happy New Year 2010
- The 10th Anniversary Chart Show
- Happy New Year 2011
- Happy New Year 2012
Discography[edit | edit source]
Main Article: MIDNIGHT Discography
Albums[edit | edit source]
2010: Demons
2011: UNCENSORED
2013: Riot Grrrl
Singles[edit | edit source]
2010: "Survive" (feat. Paulo Araujo)
2010: "No Forgiveness" (U.S Only)
2010: "Little Miss Murder"
2011: "Dominatrix"
2011: "License to Kill"
2011: "Money Equals Love"
2011: "Lady Danger"
2012: "The Act Is Over" (with Kleo)
2013: "Ashes to Ashes"
2013: "Bad Girl" (feat. Sienna Martinez)
2013: "Teenage Tragedy"
2014: "Hunters & Wolves" (with Eoin O'Neill)
2015: "Hallucinate"
Awards and nominations[edit | edit source]
- 2010 Video Music Awards — Best Video by a Female "Little Miss Murder" — Won
- 2010 Video Music Awards — Best Video by a Newcomer "Survive" — Nominated
- 2010 Video Music Awards — Best Video by a Newcomer "Little Miss Murder" — Won
- 2010 Video Music Awards — Best Pop or Dance Video "Little Miss Murder" — Nominated
- 2010 Video Music Awards — Best Hip-Hop/R'n'B Video "No Forgiveness" — Nominated
- 2010 Video Music Awards — Best Collaborative Video "Survive" — Nominated
- 2010 Video Music Awards — Best Art Direction "Little Miss Murder" — Nominated
- 2010 Video Music Awards — Breakthrough Video "Little Miss Murder" — Won
- Urapopstar Awards 19 — Best Album Demons — Won
- Urapopstar Awards 19 — Best Overall Artist — Won
- Urapopstar Awards 19 — Best Female Artist — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 19 — Best Newcomer — Won
- Urapopstar Awards 19 — Best Pop/Dance — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 19 — Best Video "Little Miss Murder" — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 19 — Best Collaboration "Survive" (featuring Paulo Araujo) — Won
- Urapopstar Awards 19 — Best Promotion — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 20 — Best Single "License to Kill" — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 20 — Best Overall Artist — Won
- Urapopstar Awards 20 — Best Female — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 20 — Best Video "License to Kill" — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 20 — Best Collaboration "Promotion" — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 20 — Best Promotion — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 21 — Best Single "Money Equals Love" — Won
- Urapopstar Awards 21 — Best Album UNCENSORED — Won
- Urapopstar Awards 21 — Best Female — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 21 — Best Pop — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 21 — Best Female Video 'Show Me Your Heart' — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 21 — Best Live Act — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 21 — Best Promotion — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 22 — Best Collaboration "The Act Is Over" (with Kleo) — Won
- Urapopstar Awards 23 — Global Superstar — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 24 — Best CD Cover Riot Grrrl — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 24 — Best Banner "Ashes to Ashes" — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 24 — Best Misc. Art Web Store — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 24 — Best Alt/Rock Album Riot Grrrl — Won
- Urapopstar Awards 24 — Best Female Video "Bad Girl" — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 24 — International Superstar — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 24 — Best Promotion — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 24 — Best Collaboration "Bad Girl" (featuring Sienna Martinez) — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 24 — Best Album Riot Grrrl — Won
- Urapopstar Awards 24 — Best Female — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 25 — Best Single "Teenage Tragedy" — Nominated
- Urapopstar Awards 25 — Best Rock/Alt Act — Nominated
URAPS Rate
- URAPS Rate 15 — #6
- URAPS Rate 16 — #12
- URAPS Rate 17 — #1
- URAPS Rate 18 — #27
- URAPS Rate 19 — #4
- URAPS Rate 20 — #12
- URAPS Rate 21 — #10
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