Famous For: Currently in "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of here', she is of course the former lead singer in 'Catatonia'. She had a smash-hit duet with Tom Jones.
Trivia: Her favourite cocktail is 'Death by Chocolate'. The ingredients are half a pint of Stout, Tia Maria and Vodka.
Biography:
Cerys was born in Cardiff, but because her father was a surgeon the family moved around frequently - first to Swansea and then later to North Pembrokeshire where they still live today.
While in primary school she was nicknamed "The Dentist" because she used to extract fellow pupils' milk teeth!
Her interest in music developed during school holidays spent with the family in North Pembrokeshire. It was here that she first picked up an acoustic guitar and began to play Beatles' songs and Welsh folk tunes.
Leaving school with A-levels in biology and textiles, Cerys then spent some time studying psychiatric nursing and nannying in Barcelona before returning to school in Fishguard where she gained two extra A-levels.
In the summer of 1992 'Catatonia' was formed after songwriter Mark Roberts spotted Cerys busking in Cardiff. They signed to Welsh label "Crai" and spent years touring the festival circuit and playing low-key gigs.
Catatonia's first album - 'Way Beyond Blue' - was released in 1996. It introduced the wider world to their catchy pop guitar riffs and passion-infused vocals.
Their first substantial commercial success was with the single 'You've Got A Lot to Answer For'.
In 1998 the single 'Mulder and Scully' entered the Top Five, quickly followed by 'Road Rage'.
Both songs were taken from the album 'International Velvet' which became triple-platinum and raised the profile of Cerys Matthews -briefly - to the 'Queen of Pop', complete with the requisite appearances on the covers of men's lifestyle magazines.
In 1999 the album 'Equally Cursed and Blessed' was released to much critical acclaim. Catatonia were becoming popular for crafting successful pop songs and delivering powerful live performances. 'Paper Scissors Stone' - their fourth album - was released in 2001 and at the same time a tour was announced. The tour never took place because Cerys Matthews left the band, blaming exhaustion and anxiety.
In 2002 Cerys recorded the theme to 'Sali Mali' (a Welsh language pre-school cartoon series). Cerys spent part of 2002 living in Nashville Tennessee, where she recorded a solo album of folk music. Entitled Cock-A-Hoop the album was released on 19 May 2003. This album contains a mixture of root songs and folk, and it features six tracks which were written by Matthews.
On Saturday 22 February 2003 Cerys married Seth Riddle in Rehoboth Chapel near Trefin. Her husband is a record producer from Nashville, USA. On Sunday August 10 2003 Cerys became a mum when she gave birth to a daughter Glenys Pearl y-Felin, in Withybush Hospital Haverfordwest. Cerys became a mum for the second time on July 10 2005 when she gave birth to her son (Johnny Tupelo Jones) in her Nashville home. 2006 sees Cerys back in Wales and releasing her second solo album Never Said Goodbye.
On the eve of the launch of her mini-album, Awyren = Aeroplane, she revealed that she would be living full time in Pembrokeshire and that she had been divorced.
Ruth Andrews has these memories of Cerys:
"I knew Cerys at one point for a short while. It was approximately 1995 and I was in a project (Grass Roots in Cardiff) which helped people get their basis for working with computers, music, video or art. I met this quiet person and discoverd her name was Cerys. She would often sit in the animation room with a bag of fruit, fresh from the market every day. Turns out it was the same Cerys who went on to make mega-bucks. One day whilst I was walking back to my flat a few years later (1998 ish) I saw a group of people, one was wearing a wedding dress and she had boxing gloves on, and there was a guy with a camera, thery were doing a Catatonia photo shoot around the corner from my home! Didn't want to interfere or seem like a mad fan, so I just walked straight by like it as an every occurrence."
Moment of Glory: Huge critical and commercial success in 1998 and 1999
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Lisa Dark Australia
Cerys is amazing.
Fri Jan 16 10:53:14 2009
Mai Roberts, Wales!!!
Wow, I saw Cerys on the 22nd of February, in Monmouth at the Blake Theatre! There were only 500 seats, it was fab...Cerys' voice is special! Loved every second of it... well I hated the end! Cerys has inspired me so much, she inspired me to take welsh as a GCSE, and I'm loving it! I will be a fluent welsh speaker...one day!
Mon Feb 25 10:10:33 2008
Sue, Newcastle Emlyn
Nice to hear you are back home in Wales love - enjoy!
Mon Oct 15 14:45:19 2007
Joe
I went to see Cerys Matthews in late 2005, when we bought the tickets we found out that the seats were randomised, and so we were ecstatic, on the day of viewing, to be pointed to the front row! It was great!
Tue Feb 13 08:58:53 2007
anon anon wales
Cock-A-Hoop is one of the best albums ever!
Fri Aug 11 09:28:09 2006
Craig Williams, New Jersey USA
I love Cerys, I listen to her songs when I feel home sick!!
Tue Aug 16 19:38:10 2005
angelina ballerina
cerys matthews rocks
Mon Feb 21 17:28:30 2005
Cerys Jones
I find it really cool that my brother is called Tom Jones and I like to sing.
Sat Jan 29 17:54:46 2005
John Oz from Llanelli
Great singer!
Sat Dec 25 09:55:11 2004
Mark from Coventry
Cerys sings with great passion. Her Welsh accent wraps itself around her lyrics. She has a terrific range, and is possibly the most emotive rock singer of the last 10 years. It was a pity that Catatonia had to split up, but hopefully she'll return to front a band in the future.
Thu Sep 2 23:57:42 2004
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