Will Young

William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979 in Wokingham, Berkshire) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. Working mainly in pop, he is notable for winning the inaugural series of ITV’s Pop Idol in 2002 and for establishing a long-running recording career in the UK across multiple studio albums.

Young studied at the University of Exeter before training in musical theatre in London. He became widely known through Pop Idol, where his performances led to a first-place finish in the final. Immediately after the programme, he released a double A-sided debut single, “Anything Is Possible” / “Evergreen”, which entered at number one and set a UK sales record for a debut release in its first chart week.

His early recording career developed quickly with the release of his debut album From Now On (2002), which reached number one in the UK. He consolidated his mainstream success with Friday’s Child (2003), which generated several major singles including “Leave Right Now” and became one of his best-performing albums. Across the 2000s he sustained chart visibility with releases such as Keep On (2005) and Let It Go (2008), and he continued to place singles and albums highly in the UK charts.

From the 2010s onward, Young combined music with a prominent acting career, including stage work in Cabaret in London’s West End. His later albums included Echoes (2011), 85% Proof (2015) and Lexicon (2019), followed by Crying on the Bathroom Floor (2021) and Light It Up (2024), reflecting shifts toward contemporary pop production while maintaining an emphasis on vocal-led songwriting and interpretation.

Young’s legacy includes major early-2000s chart records and enduring name recognition associated with the Pop Idol franchise. Guinness World Records credits his debut single with first-week sales of 1,108,269 copies in the UK, and he has received multiple major industry nominations and awards, including two Brit Awards. His recorded output has been credited with worldwide sales of over eight million albums as of 2009, and his career is also marked by continued work in theatre and television alongside his music.