Natalie Imbruglia is a popular Australian-British singer best known for some of her hits such as Glorious and Torn. However despite her musical talents, she had intact started her career in the show biz as an actressーit wouldn’t be until the late 90’s that she’d release her first album. Having initially appeared in a handful of television commercials during her childhood, Natalie eventually made the decision to pursue acting at the age of sixteen. Chasing her newly found dream, she later landed a regular role in the Australian soap opera, Neighbours in 1992; a character which she’d continue to portray until 1994. Following her time on the show, she went on to appear as a minor cameo in the drama series, Law of the Land in 1997.
After her brief time during the early 90’s as an actress, Natalie soon began to venture towards singing; she would go on to break out into the music industry in the late 90’s with a hit cover of Torn by Ednaswap. Signing a record deal with the label BMG, the aspiring singer released her first studio album, Left of the Middle in November 1997. A huge commercial hit, the album would eventually top the charts in Australia and earn Natalie three different Grammy Award nominations. Praised by music critics across the world, Left of the Middle played a significant part in kick-starting her professional singing career during the 90’s. Since then, she has released four more studio albums throughout the yearsーWhite Lilies Island (2001), Counting Down the Dats (2005), Come to Live (2009) and Male (2015).
A highly celebrated music artist, Natalie has received countless awards over the years including eight ARIA Music Awards, two BRIT Awards, a Billboard Music Award, a MTV Video Music Award as well as an IFPI Award for having achieved over 2,000,000 sales. In addition, she has also received numerous nominations including three for the Grammy Award, two for the Premios Amigo Award, one for the American Music Award and one for the Ivor Novello Award, amongst several others. As an actress, Natalie also received a nomination for “Best Actress” at the Asian First Film Festival for her role in the drama film, Closed for Winter.
But what has the multi-talented singer and actress been up to as of late? Is she busy acting or recording music? What happened to Natalie Imbruglia? Where is she now in 2018?
Natalie Imbruglia’s Early Life in Austrlia
As a teen, she landed her first television gig in a Japanese bubble gum commercial; she later also appeared in a commercial for Twisties and Coca-Cola. Despite her initial desire to pursue dancing, Natalie soon chose to become an actress following her brief time on the small screen; she eventually left school at the age of sixteen to chase after her acting dream. As luck would have it, she landed a role in the Australian soap opera, Neighbours in 1985 the following year at the age of seventeen.
First premiered in March 1985, the series revolved around the lives of various families and neighbours in the fictional suburbs of Erinsborough. Created by Reg Watson, the show has featured a wide range of cast members throughout its 31 year run; it is currently on it thirty-second season after a running of over 7000 episodes. Despite having initially struggled with viewership, the series eventually took off during the 90’s and 2000’s, attracting millions of viewers in Australia every week. In the series, Natalie played the role of Beth Brennan, a teen who came to live on Ramsay Street after having received abuse from her stepfather at home. She made her first appearance on Neighbours as Beth in January 1992 during the show’s seventh year; she later left the show after two years in August 1994ーher portrayal of Beth would ultimately be one of her most well-known acting roles in her career as an actress.
Natalie Imbruglia’s Music Career During the 1990’s
Her debut song as a professional singer was a cover of Ednaswap’s Torn. As her first international single, it was a huge hit, having reached number two on the Singles Chart in the United Kingdom by 1997. Remaining on the Billboard Hot 100 Air Play Chart for fourteen weeks, Torn would go on to become one of the most played songs in Australian radioーthe single is estimated to have been played over 300,000 times since it was first released.
In December 1997, Natalie released her first studio album entitled, Left of the Middle. Consisting of twelve tracks, all of which were co-written by the music artist herself, the album was a hit across the globe. Upon its release, it quickly reached the top of the charts in Australia and secured a spot in the top ten both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Praised for its “ample possibilities”, Left of the Middle later spawned five successful singlesーTorn, Big Mistake, Wishing I was There, Smoke and Identity. Since it was first released in the late 90’s, the album has received 5x platinum certification in Australia, double platinum certification in the US and Europe as well as quadruple platinum certification in the UK. As of 2002, the album as sold well over 7 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling debut record ever by a female Aussie singer. It would also go on to earn Natalie three Grammy Award nominations for “Best Female Pop Vocal Performance”, “Best New Artist” and “Best Pop Vocal Album”.
Natalie Imbruglia’s Music Career During the 2000’s
Four years later, the singer released her third studio album, Counting Down the Days in April 2005ーit would also be her first record under the new record label, Brightside. Featuring twelve tracks, the album debuted in the UK at the number one spot and soon sold over 40,000 units during the first week of release; it was later certified gold after having sold 600,000 units worldwide. The album was also a hit in Australia, where it peaked at the number twelve position on the Albums Chart. Although Counting Down the Days was released digitally online in the United States in September 2010, it had never been formally released as a physical CD in the country.
In early 2009, Natalie left Brightside Recordings to create her own recording company called Malabar Records. Under the new label, she released her fourth studio album, Come to Life in October 2009. Initially recorded during 2008, the album debuted at number 67 in the Albums Chart in Australia and sold only 740 copies during the first weekーmaking it her worst-performing album to date. While the Come to Live was eventually made available in the UK in February 2010 via Amazon, it was never formally released in the United Kingdom; it also never received an official release in the United States.
Following come to Life, Natalie took a short hiatus from music recording to focus on her attention in acting. During the 2010’s, she appeared in three moviesーUnderdogs (2013), Among Ravens (2014) and Little Loopers (2015). After having spent time working as an actress for a few years, the singer returned to the music scene with her fifth studio album entitled, Male in July 2015; it would be her first full-length album in six years. Met with positive reviews from critics, the album featured thirteen tracks, most of which were cover songs. The album peaked at number 25 on the Australian Albums Chart and at number 20 on the UK Charts; it later spawned the single Instant Crush.
What’s Natalie Imbruglia Doing Now in 2018- Recent Updates
In terms of relationships, Natalie was recently seen dating a man by the name of Ryan Bienefelt this April. According to the star, he is the cousin of Shannon Voss and currently works as an employee at a rock climbing company. Despite earlier rumours of Natalie being together with soccer player, Rahpael Spiegel just a few months ago, the new couple was spotted smitten, enjoying a romantic walk together on the beach.
While it’s been a year since her last album release, Natalie hasn’t quite given up on music yetーshe recently took to the stage for a performance at Manchester Arena, sporting a classic mini-black skirt. But the question remains, will she be releasing a new album anytime soon? Only time can tell!
If you’d like to stay up to date with the talented singer/actress, you can do so by following her on social mediaーyou can find Natalie Imbruglia on Twitter (@natimbruglia) or on Instagram (@natalie_imbruglia). Or if you’d prefer, you can also visit her official website (natalieimbruglia.com) or her Facebook page for some of the latest news on the star!
