Biography

Katy has been in love with making music since she was 4 years old. Learning piano from a very early age, she decided to pursue a career as a musician long before she left school.

Regular gigs at folk clubs near to her birthplace, Chalfont St. Giles, in her early teens were well attended and she soon gained a reputation for her powerful and mature vocal prowess. This all helped her take the step into full-time work as a performing musician before her 20th birthday in 1990 and, shortly after, she flew to Florida and worked with a touring rock band in the USA.

Further contracts of international work followed throughout the 1990s. Lengthy stints in Cyprus (resident band at the Annabel) and Japan (9 months, no idea where, couldn’t understand the signs!) were interspersed with more varied work throughout the UK.

In 1993 she teamed up with guitarist David Young and entered the world of the tribute artist. Performing as Cher, Katy quickly realised her ability to change her voice was the key to her success.

Working and writing with David Young, as ‘Katy’s Komet’ they soon gained a recording contract and more touring followed.

In 2000 Katy auditioned as one of the female vocalist for the successful touring show ‘That’ll be the day’. Belting out a couple of Cher songs the gig was immediately hers and the opportunity to learn her stage skills was born

‘That’ll be the day’s’ director, Trevor Payne, suggested different artists for Katy to impersonate: Tina Turner, Debbie Harry, Shirley Bassey, Sandie Shaw, Brenda Lee, Doris Day, Shania Twain and many more were honed at this time. But the masterstroke came with the discovery of Katy’s uncanny ability to ‘be’ Dusty Springfield, and every night she would bring the audience to a standing ovation with renditions of all the Dusty classics.

In 2007 Katy decided to take Vocal Coaching lessons with Kim Chandler to develop her vocal skills even further. It was Kim who suggested Katy enter the BBC1/Endemol show ‘The One & Only’ and, after reaching the final 10 as both Cher and Dusty she won through to the live contest in January/February 2008. After 6 weeks of completely live performances in front of a regular 7 million viewers, Katy beat 11 other contestants (including Sinatra, Madonna, Britney and Robbie Williams) to the prize – a 3-month performance contract in ‘Legends’, Las Vegas.

During the TV series, mentors and coaches David & Carrie Grant, said of her ‘You don’t have to say you love me’ “…the best performance of the entire series” and were moved to tears (along with host Graham Norton and most of the studio audience) by her “stunning” ‘All I see Is you’. The Grants also said “…Katy is a great singer. We’ve worked with the likes of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, and she could easily hold her own with the REAL artists”

Katy loves being Dusty and all the other characters in her considerable repertoire, but she also has a truly great voice of her own.

Back to performers