Ronan Parke (born 8 August 1998) is an English singer from Poringland, Norfolk, UK who came runner-up in the fifth series of ITV show Britain's Got Talent in 2011 when he was 12 despite being the bookies' favourite to win. Since appearing on the show, he had signed a joint record deal with Sony Music and released a charted self-titled debut album Ronan Parke on 24 October 2011 which reached 22 on the Official Chart. He has also released a number of singles, including a Christmas single in 2012 and a charity single "Defined" in 2013 with the anti bullying organisation Kidscape. In 2018 he released a single titled "No Love (Like First Love)" followed by an original album titled Found My Way and a Christmas single titled "Cheers".
Early and personal life
Ronan Parke was born to Maggie and Trevor Parke in Poringland, a village in Norfolk. He has an older brother, Declan. His family are close to the family of ex-Norwich City player Bryan Gunn, whose daughter helped Parke put in his application form for Britain's Got Talent. Parke had been taking singing lessons in his home town before getting the confidence to apply for the show.
Parke attended Framingham Earl High School, Norfolk. He is openly gay.
Career
2011: Britain's Got Talent
Parke auditioned for Britain's Got Talent in London in front of judges Amanda Holden, Michael McIntyre and Louis Walsh (who was filling in for David Hasselhoff.) He performed "Feeling Good" and before the song finished, the entire 2500-strong audience and three judges gave Parke a standing ovation. He received rave reviews after his performance and received three "yes" votes and was through to the next round, with Walsh declaring that Parke "is the one to beat." Following the airing of his audition on the third auditions show on 30 April 2011, Parke quickly became the bookies favorite to win the show. Parke was then shown being put through to the semi-finals a few weeks later.
Parke performed for a second time during the semi-final on 30 May 2011, performing "Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan. After his performance, he received praise from all four judges David Hasselhoff (who was not present at Parke's audition), McIntyre, Holden and Simon Cowell, who was only judging the live finals. Parke received the highest public vote of the night and was automatically sent through to the final.
In the final on 4 June, Parke performed "Because of You" by Kelly Clarkson and received a standing ovation from the audience and judges, who once again gave him praise for his powerful rendition of the song. Louis Walsh, who was in the audience for the final, was referred to by Cowell and also praised Parke saying, "He's made the hairs stand on the back of my neck". However, Parke lost to eventual winner Jai McDowall by a margin of 2.6 percent of the vote.
2011: Debut album
Two days after the final, it was reported that Sony Music were keen to offer Parke a recording contract worth £1 million. The same day, it was also reported that Cowell had hoped for Ronan to duet with Jackie Evancho, although no plans were completed for this to occur.
Parke performed in the Britain's Got Talent Live Tour 2011, making appearances all throughout the UK. The tour opened on 12 June 2011 at Newcastle Metro Radio Arena and finished on 26 June at Bournemouth BIC. During the tour, Parke sang all three of the songs that he performed on the show, collaborating with pianist Paul Gbegbaje for "Make You Feel My Love".
Parke appeared at the Royal Norfolk Show on 30 June to greet fans and sign autographs. Parke also performed at the Hamilton Park Racecourse family night on 9 July, filling in for Joe McElderry who was forced to pull out. Parke performed for an audience of over 50,000 at T4 on the Beach on 10 July, singing Cee Lo Green's "Forget You". He was introduced onto the stage by David Hasselhoff.
Parke signed to Sony Music and Syco as a joint contract in 2011. The album, Ronan Parke, was released in the UK on 24 October 2011.
On 28 July 2011, Parke uploaded a video to YouTube of him performing an acoustic cover of Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory", which has attracted media attention. His Facebook page stated that a new video of him singing an acoustic cover would be released every week as part of a three-part series called Ronan Sings. The second video was an acoustic cover of "Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan, which was uploaded on 10 August. Amazon also showed an exclusive video on the pre-order page of Parke's debut album of him performing an acoustic cover of "Forget You". A new video of Parke singing "Jar of Hearts", by Christina Perri, was released on 6 September 2011.