Fatai Explained

Fatai
Native Name:Fatai Veamatahau
Birth Date:4 June 1995
Birth Place:Melbourne, Australia
Genre:Indie, Urban
Instrument:Vocals, piano, guitar
Years Active:2009–present
Label:Past – Mercury Records Australia. Current – Independent

Fatai (born Fatai Veamatahau on 4 June 1995) is a Melbourne, Australia-based singer of Tongan descent. She rose to fame soon after being a semi-finalist on the first season of the Australian version of The Voice.[1] Following her success on The Voice, she signed a deal with Mercury Records Australia.[2] In mid-2015, following two and a half years on the Mercury label, Fatai became an independent artist. Her debut single as an independent artist, "Purple", was released on 16 August 2015, soon followed by her live debut EP, Undone, on 20 November 2015.

History

Early life and career

Fatai began singing professionally with her family from the age of seven. In 2009, she began a solo career, singing to audiences at various festivals and community events.

2012: The Voice

Performances

PerformedSongOriginal artistResult
Blind Audition"Songbird"Fleetwood MacDefaulted Team Seal
Battle Rounds"Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" (against Mitchell Thompson)Rihanna & EminemWinner
Live Show Final, Part 1"Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down"Alicia KeysSeal's Choice
Live Show Final, Part 3"Ave Maria"BeyoncéSeal's Choice
"Kiss From a Rose"
(as part of Team Seal)
Seal
Live Show Final, Part 5"On the Radio"Donna SummerEliminated

2013–present: Post The Voice

Fatai sold out her own first headline tour spanning Australia and New Zealand in 2014.

In 2014, her videos covering Disney's Frozens "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" found its way to an online audience of many millions of people globally on Facebook and YouTube.[3] Soon after, Fatai was requested to record a studio version of "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?", which was released as the lead single on Universal Music Australia's Christmas compilation album We Love Disney, in November 2014.

In 2015, Fatai supplied backing vocals on Guy Sebastian's "Tonight Again"[4] and was the support act for Sebastian's 2015 arena tour.

Fatai released her debut EP, Undone, on 20 November 2015.

In 2016, Fatai was invited to be a part of Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. While being based out of Chicago, she toured in North America for the first time, selling out two shows at Hotel Café in Los Angeles, two shows at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 in New York City and Schubas in Chicago.

Discography

Singles

YearSinglesPeak positions
AUS
[6]
2012"Songbird"168
"Love The Way You Lie"32
"Empire State of Mind (Part 2)"43
"Ave Maria"25
2013"Silent Night"
2015"Purple"

Notes and References

  1. News: Fatai Veamatahau a surprise pick for The Voice semi-finals . 5 June 2013 . Herald Sun. 30 July 2014 .
  2. Web site: The Voice Australia Battles Fatai Veamatahau v Mitchell Thompson . 2013 . Sydney Affairs . 30 July 2014 .
  3. Web site: T-Mobile and Zedd to Offer Free Music Downloads. PP-corn. en-US. 2017-02-22.
  4. Web site: Tonight Again places fifth at Euro-vision 2015. Eurovision.tv. 16 August 2015.
  5. Web site: Undone (EP) (DD). Apple Music. 8 September 2021.
  6. Web site: Fatai discography . Hung Medien . australian-charts.com . 8 September 2021.