Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Ricki-Lee Coulter, now 20, has lived on Australia’s Gold Coast since she was three weeks old. An unrecognised singing talent for years, Ricki-Lee has spent most of her childhood as an active sports fanatic. She was destined for a career in Pro-Netball until a serious knee injury brought it all to a screaming halt. After six years playing competitively for Queensland, the dream was suddenly over…or was it just the beginning?
It was around that time, following a random family sing-a-long at a party, that her vocal abilities were uncovered and she was asked to join local singing sensation ‘REV’. Ricki-Lee very quickly mastered the difficult task of juggling her high school workload and a demanding gigging schedule on the Brisbane and Gold Coast live circuit. Working four to five nights a week, she remained a high academic achiever and leapt head-first into school productions, securing lead musical roles in HAIR, Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, CATS, Rent, The Boyfriend, Phantom of the Opera, Grease, and Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Ricki-Lee’s love of music extended way past the vocal element, taking-up and mastering several musical instruments, including Tenor Sax, the Flute, and the Trumpet - often playing in school concerts and in the school Stage Band. She completed her schooling with honours in academics, music and sporting achievements, however ultimately chose to pursue a career in singing.
Ricki-Lee honed her skills working where she could, with duo, trios and even a ten-piece big band, across all styles - from Rock to Hip Hop and everything in between. Coulter’s own love of music is extremely eclectic, with influences in Pop, Reggae, Rock, Hip Hop, R&B, right through to Mowtown and Soul. Her favourite artists include Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Boyz2Men and Brian McKnight (to name but a few really…).
In her first year out of school, while gigging at nights, Ricki-Lee would spend her days working on her own original music, recording with good friend Xy Latu (who competed in Network Ten’s X Factor with the group Random).
In 2003, Ricki-Lee auditioned for the first series of Australian Idol, but was turned down. Undeterred, she continued to ‘wow’ local audiences with featured performances at such events as the Channel 7 Lord Mayors Christmas Carols. 2004 saw Ricki-Lee make the Top 60 for the Seven Network’s Popstars Live, and again this shot at national fame was ‘not to be’ as she was included in the first group of 20 to go home.
Later that same year, auditions for Series Two, Australian Idol beckoned, and not one to give up easily, Ricki-Lee again auditioned for the show. This time her talent took her through to the show’s Top 12. It was this run on the Network Ten series that saw Australia fall in love with the powerhouse vocalist, and saw ratings on the hit show plummet when she was voted off mid-series 7th, in what the judges described as “misguided voting”.
Ricki-Lee has since been busy travelling Australia making public appearances and performing for her ever-expanding fan-base, having signed a record deal with Public Opinion Music/Shock Records – Australia’s largest independent record company.
In the last 12-months alone, Ricki-Lee has appeared on Channel 9’s hit show Celebrity Circus which also saw her open the finale show with a stunning rendition of Judy Garland’s ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ arranged by Australian music legend, John Foreman; she’s attended several of the industry night of nights, including The Logies and The ARIA Awards (even arrived by Helipcopter due to a schedule clash with INDY!), she’s shot a cameo role in Mick & Martin Molloy’s new feature film, ‘Boytown’; performed the national Anthems for Australia and the United States at the 2005 Lexmark Indy 300 which broadcasts to 150 million people worldwide; has made countless appearances on National television and radio around the country and remains committed to a number of charities including Starlight Foundation, WorldVision, The Clown Doctors, The Abused Children’s Fund and Seeing Dogs.
2005, most importantly saw Ricki-Lee recording her debut self-titled album ‘Ricki-Lee’ in which she relocated temporarily to Melbourne to do so. Ricki-Lee was given complete creative input into the album’s evolution - she received hundreds of songs from publishers/songwriters from around the world. Working with some of the most distinguished producers and artists in the biz, the final line-up included names such as Audius Mtawarria, Israel, Nitty and Jarrad Rogers.
The first single ‘Hell No!’ was recorded with studio genius Andy Baldwin (The Cat Empire) and written by Audius Mtawarira (Delta Goodrem, Paulini, Selwyn). The song stood out from the get-go, with the idea behind ‘Hell No!’ being that it was unlike any previous Australian Idol release. The first single proved to be a major success, debuting at #5 on the ARIA charts, spending 3 weeks in the Top 10, remaining in the Top 40 for over 3 months…oh, and the single went Gold! The clip for ‘Hell No!’ was shot in Melbourne by the ARIA Award winning Bart Borghesi and choreographed by William Forsythe, who has worked with artists such as Kylie Minogue.
Ricki-Lee’s Second Single ‘Sunshine’, which debuted at #14 and went ARIA Top Ten within weeks, is a track that has proven itself time and time again. It could still be seen floating around the ARIA top 40 after four-months in the charts. ‘Sunshine’ has also been accoladed with reaching #1 on the CHR radio airplay chart, #9 on the Hot 100 chart (most played song on radio) and #3 on the most played Australian Artist airplay chart. The track has become a favourite across several networks, with audiences consistently putting it at the top of request charts. ‘Sunshine’ too went Gold, clearly establishing Coulter’s hit making credentials.
Now back on the Gold Coast in 06 and newly engaged to long-term boyfriend, Jamie Babbington, Ricki-Lee is flat-out promoting her album. With third single ‘Breathe’ having just hit the retail shelves in January 2006 after debuting on the charts at #17, one might think there is much to celebrate in Ricki-Lee’s busy world!
‘Ricki-Lee’, the self-titled album, features her three smash hit singles, ‘Hell No!’, ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Breathe’.
