Karen Harding

Karen Harding (born 18 November 1991) is an English singer and songwriter from Consett, County Durham. Her first single, "Say Something", released in February 2015, entered the top 10 of the UK singles chart.

Early life Born to an English father and Filipino mother, She used to work at her parents' oriental food store and, in 2008, won a regional music competition called Music Means Life. One of her first recordings was a cover version of the anti-racism song "Strange Fruit", made famous by Billie Holiday.

She is a supporter of Newcastle United.

Music career In 2010, she competed on the television programme Eurovision: Your Country Needs You, the national final deciding who would represent the United Kingdom in that year's Eurovision Song Contest. She was eliminated in the penultimate round after singing Kylie Minogue's "What Do I Have to Do". Harding was a contestant on the tenth series of the television singing competition The X Factor, but was eliminated at the boot camp stage during the controversial six-chair challenge. Her first single, the MNEK-produced "Say Something", was released in January 2015 by Method and Capitol Records and attracted notice from Fact magazine, MuuMuse, Noisey and The Singles Jukebox. "Say Something" entered the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number seven, with frequent airplay on BBC Radio 1 and its sister station, 1Xtra. It spent 26 weeks on the official charts and achieved platinum status.

Harding has worked with producers and songwriters such as Tom Aspaul, CocknBullKid, Mark J. Feist, Rodney Jerkins, Jimmy Napes and Richard Stannard. and on Blonde's single "Feel Good (It's Alright)", released in August 2015. Harding played at several festivals during mid-2015, including Birmingham Pride, Ibiza Rocks, Lovebox, Manchester Pride and Parklife.

Harding's influences include female solo artists such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and Lisa Stansfield, as well as dance and garage acts Artful Dodger, Craig David and Madison Avenue. She has also cited house music of the 1990s as an influence.

In May 2016, Harding was selected to perform the English national anthem at the 2016 FA Cup Final. However, she missed her cue, and only managed to join in with the crowd for the last few lines.

"Need Your Love", a 2023 single she recorded with Felix Cartal, was the winner of the Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2024.

Discography Studio albums Title Details Take Me Somewhere Released: 29 September 2023 Label: Ultra Records Formats: Digital download, CD, LP

Extended plays Title Details Sweet Vibrations Released: 15 October 2021 Label: Ultra Records Formats: Digital download, streaming, CD

Singles

As lead artist

Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album UK BEL(Wa) IRE NZHot SCO "Say Something" 2014 7 80 73 — 11 BPI: 2× Platinum Take Me Somewhere "Open My Eyes" 2016 — — — — — "Like I Can" — — — — — Past Present Future "Runaway" 2018 — — — — — "Picture" — — — — — "You Already Know" 2019 — — — — — "I Don't Need Love" — — — — — "It Must Have Been Love" 2020 — — — — — "Rely" — — — — — Sweet Vibrations EP "Undo My Heart" — — — — — "Let's Get Together" (with Illyus & Barrientos) — — — — — "Morning" 2021 — — — — — "The Best" — — — — — "Only One"(with Felix Cartal) — — — — — Expensive Sounds for Nice People"You & I (All I Need)" — — — — — Sweet Vibrations EP"Celebrate" — — — — — "White Horses" 2022 — — — — — "Other Side of Love" — — — — — Take Me Somewhere "True" — — — — — "Last Christmas" — — — — — "Wings (I Won't Let You Down)" — — — — — Take Me Somewhere "Sweat" 2023 — — — — — "Oops" — — — — —"Back to You" — — — — — Take Me Somewhere"Worship You" — — — — — "Show You" — — — — —"Need Your Love"(with Felix Cartal) — — — — —"Wrong Places" — — — — — Take Me Somewhere"Guardian Angel" 2025 — — — 7 — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

As featured artist Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album UK (Tujamo featuring Karen Harding) 2018 — — "Stay"(Le Youth featuring Karen Harding) — — "All for You"(Wilkinson featuring Karen Harding) 2019 — — "Unity"(Röyksopp featuring Karen Harding) 2022 — — Profound Mysteries II "Free to Love"(Louie Vega featuring Karen Harding) — — "Bring Me Joy"(Rudimental featuring Karen Harding) 2024 63 — BPI: Silver 2018 Example Bangers & Ballads

Songwriting credits Year Artist Song Album Ref. 2015 The Magician "Together" 2016 Alex Newell "Shame" Power EP Anton Powers "Love You Better" 2018 Felix Jaehn "Figure You Out" I Rika "The Others" Kokiri "Pyramids" BODE "Side" 2019 Claire Richards "Shame on You" My Wildest Dreams Just Kiddin "Stay the Night" Sonny Fodera "Control" Rise "What is Love" Kream "Go Somewhere" Vion Konger "Her Bed" 2020 Tom Ferry "I Think That I Like You" Majestic "Bodywork" Crazy Cousinz "Outline" Just Kiddin "Time Alone" Eli Brown "Immortal" Alyx Ander "Without You" Paris Blohm "Waiting" Henri PFR "No One Knows" Kandy "Free Me" 2021 Justus "Meant to Be" Marcus Santoro "It's Not About You" Pablo Bravas "Visions" Tom Ferry "Not Going Home" Shane Codd "Always on My Mind"