Aston Merrygold | |
|---|---|
 Merrygold performing on the4th Dimensions Tour atThe O2 Arena | |
| Born | Aston Iain Merrygold (1988-02-13)13 February 1988 (age 37) Peterborough,Cambridgeshire, England |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2002–present |
| Agent | Logan Media Entertainment[1] |
| Television | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | |
Musical artist | |
| Website | astonmerrygold |
Aston Iain Merrygold (born 13 February 1988)[2] is a British singer, songwriter, actor, dancer and television presenter. He is known for being a member of the Britishboy bandJLS, who were the runners-up toAlexandra Burke in thefifth series ofThe X Factor. As part of the group he achieved five number one singles on theUK singles chart and a number one album on theUK Albums Chart. As of December 2013, JLS had sold over 10 million records before disbanding in 2013 and reuniting in 2020. In 2013, he became a judge on the British dance talent showGot to Dance.[3]
Aston worked on his debut solo albumShowstopper for a planned mid-2016 release,[4] but it remains unreleased. The lead single of the album, "Get Stupid"[5] was released on 24 July 2015 and reached number ten on theARIA Charts and was certified Platinum. In August 2017, he was announced as a contestant for thefifteenth series ofStrictly Come Dancing, and was controversially eliminated on 5 November 2017,[6] coming in tenth place. Merrygold has also appeared in television series includingFun Song Factory andAlmost Never.
In 2024, Merrygold is starring in the UK tour ofThe Wizard of Oz as theTin Man. He's set to reprise the role in theWest End at theGillian Lynne Theatre.[7]
Merrygold was born on 13 February 1988 to aJamaican father and anIrish mother, who split up when Merrygold was young. He is one of seven children: he has five brothers and one sister between his biological and step parents.[2] He was born and raised inPeterborough by his mother Siobhan and stepfather, Orjan; where he attendedJack Hunt School.[8] Merrygold stated that he loved to dance and perform and certain TV appearances got him into singing. Through auditions, he met future band memberMarvin Humes and they stayed in contact. Whilst still attendingsecondary school, he playedfootball on behalf of England in the European Youth Games.[9]
In 2002, he enteredStars in Their Eyes where he appeared asMichael Jackson, singing "Rockin' Robin". He finished in second place.[9] Shortly afterwards, Merrygold took on a job as an entertainer at Pop Star Studios in Fletton Peterborough, eventually leaving to follow his musical career. Merrygold performed in school productions and, after leaving school in 2004, was cast in theITV children's programme,Fun Song Factory alongside presenterLaura Hamilton.[10]
Friend Marvin Humes had already successfully auditioned to become a member of UFO, (laterJLS), formed byOritse Williams when Humes encouraged Aston to audition.[11] Merrygold andJB Gill were recruited soon after, and they changed their name to JLS. In 2008, they auditioned for thefifth series ofThe X Factor, where they went on to finish in second place toAlexandra Burke.[12] After the series finished, JLS signed with record labelEpic Records[13] The band have released four studio albums (JLS,Outta This World,Jukebox, andEvolution) and appeared in a film,JLS: Eyes Wide Open.[14] In August 2012, Merrygold was confirmed as a judge on the fourth series of theSky One dance talent showGot to Dance[15] and would appear alongsideDiversity dancerAshley Banjo and formerPussycat Dolls memberKimberly Wyatt. Merrygold said the experience had been "inspiring".[16] In 2014, it was confirmed that he would not be returning to the show due to pursuing other projects.[17] On 22 December 2013, JLS performed for the last time.[18]
On 23 September 2014, Merrygold signed withWarner Bros. Records to release his debut albumShowstopper,[4] preceded by lead single "Get Stupid" on 24 July 2015. He premiered the "Get Stupid" video on 26 May 2015.[19][20][21] Merrygold then announced that he would be releasing a six-track EP instead of theShowstopper album, titledPrecious. Merrygold posted a yellow picture on hisTwitter andInstagram accounts, asking fans to "play around" with the filters to reveal a "hidden message", which revealed the name of the EP and its release date, 28 April 2017.[22][23] Only the single "Precious" was included on the EP. On going solo, Merrygold has explained that he can be "expressive as [he likes]" rather than considering what his fellow JLS members would think of a song.[24]
On 5 May 2017, Merrygold released the single "Trudy".[25] On 27 May 2017, Merrygold guest presented an episode ofThe Playlist. In August 2017, Merrygold was announced as a contestant for thefifteenth series ofStrictly Come Dancing.[26] He was partnered with professional dancerJanette Manrara and reached the seventh week of the competition, losing the dance off toMollie King andAJ Pritchard.[27] The decision to eliminate Merrygold instead of King was not popular with viewers and bosses, who went on social media to vent their anger at the decision.[28] In February 2018, Merrygold's 2015 singleGet Stupid featured in a newly launched TV commercial released bySamsung promoting the Galaxy S9 smartphone.[29] Merrygold was picked in July 2018 asElvis Duran'sArtist of the Month. He was featured onNBC'sToday show hosted byHoda Kotb andKathie Lee Gifford, broadcast nationally in the United States on 19 July 2018 where he performed a live version of his single "Get Stupid". In 2019, he was cast in theCBBC seriesAlmost Never as Jordan. He stated that he used his knowledge of the music industry, particularly from his time with JLS, as inspiration for the role.[30][24]
From 2020 to 2021, Merrygold competed in the ITV singing seriesThe Masked Singer UK as Robin; he finished in third place.[31] He chose the alias of Robin because Robin fromDC Comics's real name isDick Grayson and Merrygold's son's name is Grayson.[24] In 2022, Merrygold returned in thethird series final masked as Robin to perform a duet withCharlotte Church masked as Mushroom.
In September 2021, Merrygold became a judge on the Irish talent showThe Big Deal along withBoy George,Jedward,Lyra, andDeirdre O'Kane.[32]
Merrygold is a supporter ofArsenal F.C.[33] Merrygold has numerous tattoos, including three stars behind his right ear, two stars on his pelvis, a music note between his shoulder blades and a sleeve which consists of a tattoo ofMichael Jackson, whom he cited as an inspiration.[34] In 2011, Aston's close childhood friend Lisa died in an accident. As a tribute to his late friend, he got her face tattooed on his forearm.[35]
In September 2017, Merrygold announced viaInstagram that his partner, Sarah Louise Richards, was expecting a baby. He said that her pregnancy had encouraged him to take part inStrictly Come Dancing. The couple announced their engagement in December 2017.[36] On 30 January 2018, Richards gave birth to their first son.[37] Their second son was born on 5 June 2020.[38] They wed in September 2022.[39] In March 2024, they announced the birth of their third child.[40]
In September 2010, an "Aston doll" was launched, alongside the other 3 members of JLS.[41]Durex teamed up with JLS to produce a condom range called "Just Love Safe", with each member of the group having their own box.[42] In 2010, Merrygold alongside Gill, Humes and Williams endorsed NintendoWii Party, appearing in 7 different TV adverts.[43] JLS were also part of theWalkers crisps "Make sandwich more exciting" advertising campaign. This resulted in the band doing a surprise performance atSandwich Technology School, which appeared on the television advertisement.[44] Merrygold also appeared on advertisements forCoca-Cola in the UK promoting their 'Share a Coke' range.[45]
JLS founded "The JLS Foundation",[46] a foundation that sets out to raise money for 6 different charities:Cancer Research UK, Rays of Sunshine, Brook,Childline, Beat Bullying and theMS Society. Despite the band's split, the foundation still remains active. Merrygold is an ambassador for the charityBeatBullying, a cause he "feels strongly about" after enduring racial bullying growing up.[47] Merrygold has appeared onChildren in Need nights since 2010. All sales from the JLS number one single "Love You More" went to Children In Need.[48] In 2011, Merrygold did a VT for the charity in which he met 7-year-old Emily, who suffers fromosteogenesis imperfecta. In 2012, JLS performed at the "Children in Need Rocks Manchester" concert, performing "Take a Chance on Me".[49] In 2013, Merrygold appeared on Children in Need for the last time as a member of JLS where the group sang a medley of JLS songs at theBBC One soap operaEastEnders set.[50]
JLS also helped raise money forComic Relief, appearing in comedy sketches with bothMiranda Hart[51] andJames Corden.[52] In 2012, JLS visited Uganda forSport Relief, and appeared in VTs throughout the show.[53] In the same year, JLS also released the official Sport Relief charity single "Proud", which peaked at number 6 in the chart,[54] as well as hosting a special charity concert "JLS Sing for Sport Relief"[55] and doing the Sport Relief Mile.
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Precious[23] |
|
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [56] | AUS [57] | IRE [58] | SCO [59] | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Get Stupid" | 2015 | 28 | 10 | 72 | 15 | Non-album singles | |||||||||||||||
| "Show Me"[60] | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
| "I Ain't Missing You" (featuringLDN Noise) | 2016 | 126 | — | — | 70 | ||||||||||||||||
| "Too Late" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
| "One Night in Paris" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Precious" (featuringShy Carter) | — | — | — | 74 | Precious | ||||||||||||||||
| "Trudy"[25] | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||||||||||||||
| "Across My Heart" (featuring Gawler) | 2018 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Bon Appetit" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
| "Poison Ivy" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
| "Whine Up" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Overboard" | 2021 | —[A] | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| "Share a Coke" | —[B] | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
| "Hundreds and Thousands"[63] | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
| "Emergency" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Something over the rainbow | Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [64] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| "Money Maker" (Throttle featuringLunchMoney Lewis and Aston Merrygold) | 2016 | 65 | Non-album singles | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Rockstar" (LDN Noise featuring Aston Merrygold) | 2017 | — | |||||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
