Biography
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Born
30 July 1977 (age 46)
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Born In
Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, United Kingdom
Ian Watkins may refer to one of two singers:
1. The lead singer of Welsh rock band Lostprophets, who is currently serving a decades-long prison sentence for child sexual abuse
2. Ian "H" Watkins, one of the singers in British pop group Steps.
1. Ian David Karslake Watkins (born July 30, 1977 in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales) is the former lead singer and founder of the Welsh alternative rock band Lostprophets. In 2013, Watkins was convicted of various sex crimes against children, and was sentenced to 29 years in prison, with six more on extended licence. He must serve 20 years before becoming eligible for parole.
Watkins grew up in the Welsh town of Pontypridd near Cardiff. With his attendance at Hawthorn High School, along with most other members of the band, he learnt how to play drums. His musical interest was in bands such as, Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Megadeth.
He became good friends with Mike Lewis, "We were in the same year at school and we hung out all the way through". Their mutual enjoyment of rock and metal music strengthened their friendship, leading teenage Watkins and Lewis, in 1991, to form a group called Aftermath; a thrash metal band that played in a shed in Watkins's garden.
Whilst spending time in the local Ynysangharad Park - where 17 years later Lostprophets would headline the Full Ponty Festival - Watkins was introduced to future band mate Lee Gaze through a mutual friend. Having abandoned Aftermath, which made two live appearances in the band's lifespan of two years, Watkins and Gaze decided to form a new band called Fleshbind, based on their American hardcore punk influences. The band played several shows, including one supporting Feeder in London, but the group was short-lived.
Watkins reunited with current Lostprophets guitarist Mike Lewis, to be the drummer in a seminal hardcore band called Public Disturbance (formed in 1995). By this time, Watkins and Gaze had left Fleshbind to create their own band, Lozt Prophetz, who made their live debut in May 1997, alongside Public Disturbance, with Watkins as a vocalist for the first time. In 1998, Watkins left Public Disturbance to concentrate on the newly named, Lostprophets.
Lostprophets recorded five albums: The Fake Sound of Progress, Start Something, Liberation Transmission, The Betrayed, and Weapons, and toured extensively in Europe and America playing famous shows such as the Reading Festival in 2004 and 2007.
2. Ian "H" Watkins (born 8 May 1976) is a Welsh singer, dancer and stage actor, known for being one of two male singers of the British pop group Steps. He has said that "H" stands for "hyperactive", describing his character. Steps have recorded five albums: "Step One", "Steptacular", "Buzz", "Light Up the World" and "Tears on the Dancefloor".
H has also recorded an album with Steps member Claire Richards, titled "Another You, Another Me".
In 2013, H was repeatedly abused on Twitter for sharing the same name as the Lostprophets singer.
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