In recent days, Gary Barlow’s albumn Sing has topped the UK album charts with sales of 40,000 copies.
Two hundred and ten musicians, including the African Children’s Choir and the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force Band, helped record this special tribute to The Queen. Produced by Barlow with the assistance of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gareth Malone, Sing also features Prince Harry on the tambourine, Hayley Westenra, Alfie Boe and the Military Wives choir. Sing will be performed this evening at a special concert at Buckingham Palace in the presence of Her Majesty.
Another tribute I was alerted to came from a singer named Anton Lorien who contacted me via Twitter. He was approached in 2011 by the British Monarchist League who asked him to produce a song for a lady he describes as having: “Given her life selflessly to the people of Britain and the Commonwealth.”
Mr Lorien’s song, Like A Diamond, is available to download on iTunes but I wholeheartedly recommend that you watch the video clip available above. It contains some wonderful footage of The Queen and the clip at 3:33 where our Monarch runs to watch her racehorse is especially worth seeing.
Gary Barlow pictured with Prince Harry on the tambourine working on Sing
Both Sing and Like A Diamond capture the feelings of our nation brilliantly. Be sure to sing along tonight.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II governed as constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states and headed the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations. Supported by her gaffe prone husband, “Brenda,” as Private Eye nicknamed her, served steadfast through good times and bad. She liked to drive a little quickly when given control of the wheel of a Range Rover and also found washing up relaxing. This monarch like no other will never be forgotten.
This dynamo opened her first store at 154 Walton Street in Chelsea in 1994 and admits she had no money and made every error in the book whilst starting out. It all paid off as the Jo Malone brand that was created in her kitchen was sold to Estée Lauder in a multi-million pound “deal of a lifetime” in 1999. Malone grew up in a council flat in Bexleyheath and readily admits she’s a “merchant at heart.” She’s now moved into television presenting and also launched a new fragrance brand, Jo Loves, in March 2011.
Educated at Eton and Cambridge, this British born investment banker exploited the “special relationship” between America and Britain when he founded his Atlanticist dining society. With his stunning wife, the designer Lucy Sykes, he’s amongst New York’s most invited and he’s said to care very much about elegance. Always impeccably dressed, here’s a gent who is a big fan of the tailor Tom Brown.
Whatever she does, “The House of Hancock comes first.” This little known Australian daughter of a bush pilot and prospector is now the world’s richest woman with a worth of some £18 billion. Known as the “Iron Lady,” twice-married Rinehart’s fortune is expanding at a rate of £21,000 a second and if this continues this larger than life lady will be the richest person on the planet. When Prince Philip met her he asked if she’d been invited simply because she had “the largest hat in Western Australia.” Her father called her his “right-hand man” and “young fella” and she’s even taken on three of her own children in court. The Hancock Mountain Range is named after her and commemorates her family’s contribution to mining in the Pilbara region.
This New Yorker founded theNativeSociety private social networking website that cleverly brings together the most exceptional individuals under the age of 40. Oliver Estreich is also involved in the hospitality division of his father’s architecture practice, David Estreich Architects, and lists his favourite author as Bret Easton Ellis. Here is a gent who brings style and substance to all that he involves himself in.
Steven Berkoff is a titan of the stage and a might with a pen. He’s best known for playing the darkest of characters but in reality he’s charm personified. Berkoff beat Julie Burchill in a libel case in 1996 and finds it “flattering” to play evil characters. He lives on the river in a converted warehouse in Limehouse with his delightful partner, the Danish pianist Clara Fischer, and often sports the snazziest loafers in town.
The daughter of the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber lives in New York and is a contributor to MSNBC. Her Single Girl’s Guide was published in both the UK and America and her debut show Touched… For The Very First Time was a mighty success in the West End in 2009. Described as a “petite polymath,” Imogen Lloyd Webber digitally published The Twitter Diaries in May 2012. Turning tweets into a novel, this co-written e-book has been lauded as: “Bridget Jones tries social networking.”
Thomas “T.J.” James peruses the works of artist Conor Mccreedy
Conor Mccreedy is an internationally known artist, art collector and entrepreneur who lives between New York City, South Africa and Paris.
Conor Mccreedy wearing his synonymous “Mcreedy Blue”
Originally from Johannesburg, Mccreedy was intrinsically drawn to painting in his youth. He attended St. David’s Marist Inanda where he excelled at soccer and went on to represent South Africa in the Gothia Cup junior world soccer tournament in Sweden.
Next came a stint at Hilton College. Here Mccreedy was awarded the Kennith Beghin memorial prize for art and also a first prize in the annual university arts competition. At the time, Mccreedy’s art professor stated in a letter of recommendation:
“Conor is one of the most outstanding pupils to come through the department of art in the last decade. He is undoubtedly one of the most naturally talented individuals I have ever seen in my lifetime.”
Obtaining an IEB Matric pass with Distinction in Art gave Mccreedy admission to the University of South Africa but instead he attended university in North Carolina on a golf scholarship. Later, he decided to change paths again and transferred to the Pratt Institute in New York.
By happenstance he met the American comedian Chris Rock’s uncle and through him gained an introduction to the president of the National Arts Club. This brought a significant break and Mccreedy became the youngest artist to be invited to hold a solo exhibition entitled, Outliers, at the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park, New York in 2010.
“Where to Begin” by Conor Mccreedy“Portrait of Mentor” by Conor Mccreedy, 2009
Mccreedy’s artistic style has developed significantly over the years. His masterful strokes of the brush and lines are now considered unsurpassed. Mccreedy’s paintings are dabbled with ambiguity, which causes one to develop a new understanding and outlook. His paintings truly evoke truth and the sublime. In them also, he uses his figures as a tool to question modern views of sexual, racial and social identity.
As an example of his style, Mccreedy’s Indigo Blue Series providethe viewer with a lugubrious surface but, as the eye becomes entranced by his work, the somber veil is lifted and an array of expressions and emotions are revealed.
“Her Stride” by Conor Mccreedy, 2010“Five Female Nudes” by Conor Mccreedy, 2011
Mccreedy uses a specific type of blue for his paintings. He named it “Mccreedy Blue” and it now transcends from his art into his unique style. The implementation of this colour in both his dress and art create a unifying theme of distinction and also are representative of the brand that he has become. Resultingly, GQ Magazine listed Conor Mccreedy as South Africa’s best dressed man for 2012 which is surprising given that he detests shopping.
Mccreedy is also heavily involved in social media also and highly influential in this domain. He is the most followed South African on twitter with just under 300,000 followers and tweets to them regularly. He uses his fame for good as well and chooses to support the Faces of Hope Foundation that provides funding to support children and adults with leukemia and lymphoma.
When home in South Africa Mccreedy becomes inspired by the euphoric scents of the African bush. He has a love for animals, especially lions, and is intrinsically connected to the raw nature and beauty of Africa.
Conor Mccreedy
Mccreedy will be spending this summer in The Hamptons and Manhattan this year. Here he’ll continue to create and be inspired by the world around him.
