(I stumbled onto his debut album in 2001 while preparing for my MRCP part 1. The songs from his debut album is really refreshing, inspiring and motivating to a certain extent. It enabled me to survive my 2 week marathon revision sessions (16hr/day). I would listen to 1-2 of his songs whenever I get 'saturated' and then return to the books)
Watson was born on 24 November 1966 in Salford, Lancashire,England.
He never sought a career as a professional singer.
He left school with no GCSEs, and started earning £90 a week on a Youth Training Scheme as a bolt-cutter in Irlam, near Manchester.
Then married with a baby, to help support his young family he began to earn extra cash singing Elvis Presley and MC Hammer covers in north-west clubs.
The turning point in his career came at an engagement at Wigan Road working men's club one night, when the secretary suggested he try singing "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's Turandot.
In 1999 he sang the UK's national anthem at the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, then finally got to sing at Old Trafford before the last match of the Premiership season between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
This appearance sealed his success.
Watson's debut album entitled The Voice followed in May 2001.
The album took the number one spot and made history as the first time a British artist had held both the US and UK classical number one.
In 2005, Watson began having headaches, which he described as "like a knife being pressed into the bridge of my nose". He consulted a specialist who told him there was nothing to worry about as he was suffering from stress and should find ways of relaxing. When his peripheral vision began to be affected in late 2006, he visited another specialist who also said he was suffering from stress.
Watson told him, "The only thing that's stressing me is this pain in my head."
In September 2006, Watson flew to Los Angeles, California, to record his album That's Life. On the flight, he told his producer that he was experiencing terrible pressure inside his skull. When they landed, his producer suggested a game of tennis to clear his head. Watson could not see the ball at all. After a visit to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and an MRI scan, he was advised that he had a developing pituitary adenoma, a type of brain tumour, which was the size of two golf balls.
Watson then returned to the UK, and had a five-hour emergency operation to remove the eight-centimetre lump at St George's Hospital in Tooting, South London, on Monday, 24 September 2006. He recovered post operatively with minimal neurological sequelae.
(He trusted the UK doctors despite them failing to diagnosed his tumour twice! If I were him, I would have had the treatment in US instead as I'm sure money was no problem for him.
Also he had the 8cm tumour removed trans-nasally. 8cm tumour trans-nasally?. Not sure about that)
Whilst in the middle of the studio recording of his album Outside In on 24 October 2007 his symptoms recurred in addition to a new onset left hemiparesis. An MRI scan showed he had a regrowth of his tumour with bleeding into his brain. He underwent emergency surgery to remove the tumour at the Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, and was for a while in critical condition in the hospital's Intensive Therapy Unit.
Apparently despite radiotherapy, the tumour has not disappeared and doctors are worried that this might be his last christmas....
Watson has been reported as saying: "The brain tumour changed my priorities. Made me appreciate the importance of relationships, of friends and family and, most of all, my two daughters. My fear for them if I died – that was the worst part."
He is due to sing on 31/12/2008 as part of the new year celebration.
Some of his songs must be in you tube. Listen to his debut album as I feel that was his best 'performance'.
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