Chloe Agnew

Chloe may be young but she is already a musical veteran. Both of her parents, Adéle (“Twink”) King and David Agnew are successful performers and Chloe made her stage debut at 4 weeks old and sang on her mother’s TV show at the age of 6. In 1998, she won the Grand Prix at the First International Children's Song Competition in Cairo, Egypt, representing Ireland with a song called "The Friendship Tree." Her big break came at the age of 11 when she approached Musical Director David Downes with the idea of recording a single for charity.

“It was shortly after September 11th and I saw an ad on TV for the children of Afghanistan and for the children in America who had lost their families,” she remembers. “It really affected me and I remember thinking about it for weeks, just being moved and changed by it. I sat down with a friend to decide what we could do to help; you know do we have a sale or a lemonade stand? I knew that singing was the strongest thing I could do so I asked David if I could record a single with the profits going to charity. He took me into his studio and we recorded “This Holy Christmas Night”, then Celtic Collections released it and I went on Ireland’s biggest TV show and we raised over 20,000 pounds.”

Not one to rest on her achievements, Chloe was signed to Celtic Collections and recorded her first album at 12 and her second at 14 and, in addition to singing, studies piano, guitar and recorder. Most recently, she’s been touring as a soloist in ‘Celtic Woman’. “The show has opened up a huge new door for me,” she says. “I’ve gotten to do things I just never dreamed I could do; traveling the States and meeting so many people. What has been the best though is working with the other girls. They’re the most beautiful talented woman I’ve ever met and it’s been a great experience.”

When you’re meant to be in school, life on the road does have some disadvantages. Chloe has a personal tutor when she tours to ensure that she keeps up with her studies and she credits her friends and teachers for the success of the process. “I said to one teacher ‘thank you very much for being supportive of my having to make guest appearances at school’,” she recounts. “And she said ‘well, it’s not every day that one of our students spends 32 weeks at number one in the world music charts.’ She was just very proud and knowing that you have that kind of support behind you makes so much of a difference.”

Chloe’s system seems to be working as she’s earned honors at school and she would love to get a degree in child psychology. Although even she admits that her music career might be more pressing for a while. “The music has taken off so much I’ll have to see where I go from here on in,” she says. “My mom is such a role model to me, she’s an inspiration. She toured when she was the same age as me and she got her education in with honors so I’ve always said that if she could do it, I could do it. I’m really stubborn, I’d never let anything get the better of me.”

When she isn’t performing, Chloe says that she’s a typical teenage “bouncing along to anything that’s playing on the radio,” and admits “I’m a huge fan of Green Day. So many people say ‘here are you with this angelic voice singing ‘Ave Maria’’ and I’m backstage rocking to Green Day but that’s the teenage side of me. There is a huge different side to me that people haven’t seen yet. I think I want to explore that more before I decide that’s what I’d want to do. Right now the classical songs suit me for who I am right now. I don’t want to rush ahead into things that will burn me out in three years time; I want to make the most of what I have now and then see what happens as my voice changes and progresses.”

Her angelic singing voice has earned Chloe a very active fan-base, something else that she’s grateful for. “The fans have been fantastic,” she says. “Particularly in America, they’re so open to something new. It’s great to see that you can develop this new show and people will grasp onto it and give it a chance. I also love meeting people. When you get up on stage and know that at least one person who likes the show is there, you have someone to play to. “

Not surprisingly, many of Chloe’s fans are children. “I got one letter from a girl who had a very rough childhood and hadn’t spoken in four years. She wrote that she heard my album and had recently joined the choir. Her mom told me that I’d changed her life. That’s when the hard work and blood, sweat and tears don’t matter. When you know that you’ve done that for one person’s life, it brings you to tears.”

More information about Chloë Agnew can be found on her website www.chloeagnew.com.
Up
Down
2007
Jan 1
CW perform on The Brian Boitano Skating Spectacular on NBC at 3pm EST

2006
Dec 25
CW perfrom You Raise Me Up on DasErste Christams Gala in Germany

Dec 22
CW perform Let It Snow on the Megan Mullaly Show

Dec 18
CW CD is certified platinum in US

Dec 6
A Christmas Celebration at No 35 of BB Top 200 Charts

November 30
A Christmas Celebration is certified gold in S Africa

November 29
Return from S Africa

November 23
CW fly to S Africa for a weeks promotional tour

October 25
A Christmas Celebration is No 1 in the Billboard World Music Charts.
Celtic Woman is now at No 2

October 17
Japanese tour ends in Tokyo

October 10
Japanese tour starts in Fukuoka

October 3
Celtic Woman 'A Christmas Celebration' is released

Sept 10
DVD goes gold in Australia

Sept 4
CD hits Number 20 in the German charts

Aug 23 & 24
Celtic Woman film their new show, A New Journey, in Slane Castle

July 12
CW has been confirmed as No 1 in the Billboard World Music Charts for the 68th week. We now hold the record for the longest ever artist to be at No 1

July 11
Summer tour starts in a very wet Chicago

May 22
CD & DVD released in UK

May 12
CW record 'Beyond The Sea' for Toyota Estima Hybrid CM Ad - Japan only

May 8
Girls return to Ireland

May 7
Third US tour ends in Portland

April 1
CD is No 1 on Billboard World Music Chart for 52 weeks.

March 25
CD No 53 in the Billboard Top 200 Chart – New peak position

March 23
Gold in Japan

March 17 & 18
Sold out concerts in Radio City Music Hall

March 17
Performed live on Regis & Kelly

March 16
No 1 on the Japanese International Album Chart (Oricon)

March 15
Gold in South Africa

March 8
Third US tour begins in Toronto

March 4
Olympic figure skating gold medalist Shizuko Arakawa skated to
Your Raise Me Up

February 19
CW fly to Japan for a promotional tour

February 18
CW perform in the Point Depot in Dublin, Ireland

February 1
CW CD & DVD released in Japan

January 21
All CW solo albums enter the top 20 of the Billboard World Music
Charts with the CW still at no 1 for the 48th week

January 10
CW solo albums released

2005
December 6
CW Boxset availabe exclusively to PBS stations

December 1
CD certified gold & DVD certified platinum

November 18
CD & DVD released in Irealnd with CW performing on the Late Late Show

November 8
Perform in Carnegie Hall, New York

October 6
Perform in the Greek Theatre, LA

October 5
Fall tour starts in Phoenix

August 27
DVD No 16 in Top Music DVD Chart – New peak position

August 14
First US tour ends in Sacramento

August 10
DVD is certified gold

August 1
Perform in Wolf Trap, Vienna

July 26
Perform in Bank of American Pavillion, Boston

July 20
First US tour starts in Cleveland taking in 19 concerts in the whole tour

June 30
191 PBS stations aired the CW show during their June pledge with a total of 406 broadcasts

March 19
No 1 in Billboard World Music Charts & No 22 on New Artist Chart

March 18
CD & DVD No 1 on Amazon Charts

March 1
Celtic Woman CD & DVD released in the US

2004
September
The 1st ever Celtic Woman Show performed and recorded in the Helix, Dublin