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Oritsé Williams is the founding member of JLS, one of the UK’s most successful music groups of all time. JLS was originally made famous by achieving second place on the X-Factor, but earned a record deal with Sony, which led to JLS becoming one of the X-Factor’s biggest ever success stories. From this, JLS were asked by the Royal Family to perform for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
With JLS, Oritsé has sold over 10 million records and has achieved five no.1s, won two Brit Awards and five MOBO awards along with many other notable achievements that any musician or group would be proud to have under their belts.
Following the announcement of JLS’ return, after their seven-year hiatus, the band instantly sold out a thirty date arena tour, scheduled to take place in 2021. Along with this tour JLS will be putting on a one-off free show to show their appreciation and support to the NHS’ Frontline Workers.
Oritsé’s success stems from his strong-willed, motivated and hard-working characteristics that have helped him overcome numerous hardships throughout his life. At the age of 12, Oritsé’s mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He had to immediately step-up to the plate and quickly found himself taking on the role of a young carer.
Motivated to do something positive, Oritsé Williams and his younger brother were inspired to select their career paths at an early age. Oritsé pursued a career in music and his brother went on to study biomedical science. The aim, at their young age, was to pursue careers in these areas so that money from Oritsé’s music would help fund his brother’s research and eventually help find a cure for their mother.
His success was motivated by the pressure he put on himself to provide the best possible care for his mother and his family. It was this pressure and determination that manifested itself into Oritsé creating JLS, a band that quickly went on to break records and become one of the most successful music groups in UK music history.
In 2014, JLS stopped touring, and Oritsé Williams signed a record deal with Island Records (Universal) where he successfully released his first solo project, the critically acclaimed “Waterline” Ft. Pusha T. During this period he co-found his own boutique management company to help mentor and develop the careers of artists, writers and producers. This company achieved numerous successes with individual acts such as Zayn Malik from One Direction, who’s 2019 single “Flames” racked up over 55 million streams globally.
Today, Oritsé Williams uses his success as a musician to raise awareness about Mental Health and to support Young Carers. Oritsé was proud to receive the ‘M.S. Inspiration of the Year’ award for his fundraising efforts and the awareness he raised about Multiple Sclerosis. He also produced and presented his own very successful Channel 4 documentary called ‘Britain’s Youngest Carers’.
After a tumultuous few years post-JLS, which had a significant negative impact on Oritsé’s mental wellbeing, he turned to music, poetry, martial arts and spirituality to help rebuild himself and sustain his creativity.
In these difficult years, Oritsé Williams did what only the best creative professionals do, and used his emotions to inspire some of the best creative work he has achieved to date. After getting through these difficulties, he wanted to give back to the world by motivating and inspiring people wherever and however he could.
In recent years with the exposure of racial inequality, police brutality and a global pandemic impacting the entire world, Oritsé Williams has been writing and releasing pieces of his spoken word poetry over the last year.
These pieces have had a powerful and inspiring impact on his followers. With a vast amount of life experience, personally and professionally, Oritsé is well equipped to help motivate and encourage others to succeed and overcome the hardships they face on their journey.
