Daniel Pearce

2002: Popstars: The Rivals

In 2002, Pearce took part in Popstars: The Rivals.

Host Davina McCall announced the names of the five contestants who had qualified. Keith Semple was the first member to be announced followed by Matt Johnson. Third was Pearce and fourth Anton Gordon. The last available place went to Jamie Shaw whereas Chris Park was eliminated from the boys competition. Pearce and the four other contestant winners (Anton Gordon, Matthew Johnson, Keith Semple and Jamie Shaw) went on to form the group One True Voice. The show also produced the girl group Girls Aloud.

2002–03: One True Voice

Pearce became a member of One True Voice, a British boy band created on the ITV television series Popstars: The Rivals. The band was created by the public, who voted for their favourite hopefuls each week. The group, whose name was later shortened to OTV, was made up of Pearce, Anton Gordon, Matt Johnson, Keith Semple and Jamie Shaw.

Their debut single, Sacred Trust/After You're Gone, went head-to-head with Girls Aloud on 16 December 2002, for the Christmas number one spot. One True Voice lost out to the girls and had to settle for the number 2 position. One more Top 10 hit followed, in the form of Shakespeare's (Way With) Words, which reached number 10 in the UK, in June 2003. A few weeks later, it was announced that Daniel Pearce, who as arranger and co-writer of some of their songs had quit the group to pursue a solo career. The next day the group disbanded. The group also appeared at number 32 in Chantelle's Top 50 Reality TV Stars, ahead of both Phixx and Clea who also appeared in Popstars: The Rivals.

He appeared briefly in several roles mainly playing himself as member of One True Voice in TV Burp, Kelly, V Graham Norton (all in 2002) and Smile, Loose Women, Lose Lips (in 2003) and in Hell's Kitchen and The Weakest Link.

2003–09: Post-split

After the split-up of the band, Pearce appeared as the lead in Jailhouse Rock, the West End musical in London, and provided back-up vocals for Craig David. He continued to perform as a gigging musician and singer for many years to support his wife and children.

2009: The X Factor

Pearce auditioned for the 2009 series of The X Factor, where he made it through the first round of auditions to the bootcamp stage. In the audition, he sang Seal's "Kiss from a Rose" and Prince's "Purple Rain" at the boot camp. He was selected one of the final 24 acts, in the "Over 25s" category, mentored by Simon Cowell. He sang George Michael's "Praying for Time", at the "judges' house" phase but he was not selected for the live finals.

Another former One True Voice band member, Keith Semple, attempted a similar comeback in 2010 on the ninth season of the American Idol. He was given a "golden ticket" to Hollywood but was disqualified because of his residency status in the United States.

Collaborations

Pearce sang with Dizzee Rascal on the 2009 Christmas and New Year editions of Top of the Pops, singing Rascal's song "Holiday". He also appeared with Dizzee Rascal on Later...with Jools Holland on 31 December 2009 as one of the back-up singers singing "Holiday". More recently he has been seen as a backing singer for Dizzee Rascal singing on the hit "Dance wiv Me". Pearce has also collaborated with Rascal on the latter's single "Dirtee Disco", appearing with him on 30 April 2010 on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross singing backing vocals and playing the drums on the song. He also performed "Dance wiv Me" with Rascal at Reading and Leeds Festival 2010.

In May and June 2013, Pearce sang with Rascal as support on Muse's UK dates for their Unsustainable Tour. In June 2013, Daniel again supported Rascal, on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. In January 2014, English drum and bass duo Sigma released a bootleg remix of "Bound 2" by Kanye West and Charlie Wilson as a free download. After the song received radio support from major radio stations, it was reworked into an original track, with Pearce covering Wilson's vocals. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, though Pearce was uncredited on the single cover. Pearce performed the song with Sigma at the Capital Jingle Bell Ball. He has toured with the drum & bass duo ever since.

Shuffler

In 2011, Pearce founded the funk, rock and soul band Shuffler alongside three members of British band Jamiroquai, bassist Paul Turner, guitarist and songwriter Rob Harris and drummer Derrick McKenzie. Pearce is the lead vocalist of the band, who play both original material and covers and released their debut self-titled album Shuffler in 2013.

Personal life

Pearce was born in Kent, England. He was married in 2004 to fellow singer Charlotte Hodson. His adoptive mother, Maryanne Morgan, was a songwriter who penned songs for bands such as Sugababes.

Singles

Albums