Caister singer John Galea to support McFly
A Norfolk singer/songwriter who battled cancer as a teenager is set to support the band McFly on their UK tour in April after winning an online contest voted by fans.
John Galea, from Caister, is a classically trained pianist and describes his music as 'gritty electro pop' which is 'very commercial'.
John attended Caister High School and was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymph gland cancer non-Hodgkins disease when he was 15.
He was playing the role of Parchester in the Dusmagrik theatre group production Me and My Girl at Gorleston's Pavilion Theatre when he began to feel unwell.
He was admitted to the James Paget University Hospital, Gorleston, and had to undergo a gruelling stint of chemotherapy.
When he was 19 he headed to London to pursue a music career and won a national singer/songwriter award judged by Charlotte Church's ex-manager Jonathan Shalit and a panel of industry insiders.
The 24-year-old released his first track called Do It My Way last year and the video has so far received over 50,000 hits. His track Frontline, which was recorded by Maltese singer Thea Garrett, reached number one in the Maltese chart recently.
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Mr Galea, who is unsigned, said he was delighted after being selected to support McFly in Reading on April 6 after fans voted for him in an online Battle of the Bands contest.
'It is a great chance,' he said. 'I am so grateful to all the people who voted for me. I am a huge fan of McFly – it is going to be great.'
He added: 'I am the only solo artist to be selected and the rest are bands.'
Mr Galea, who now lives in Bow, east London, said his family, dad Michael, mum Frances and brother Martin, have been hugely supportive of his music career.
He has an EP due out soon called The Scrap Book and the second track due to be released next month is called Drunk on You.
emily.dennis@archant.co.uk
