Voice's Tyler James signs deal with Amy's label

The Voice finalist Tyler James has signed a record deal with the label which propelled his late pal Amy Winehouse to stardom. Tyler has landed a deal with Island Records and is now working on an album following his exposure on the BBC One series. It also marks a return to the label because he was previously signed to the same company before being dropped after one album in 2005. Tyler has been writing with his mentor from The Voice, Will.i.am, with whom he also performed at Radio 1's Hackney Weekend last month. He is also to perform a headlining one-off show at London's O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on November 21. "I'm loving being in the studio - but can't wait to share the music I'm making with the people who have helped me get to this point," he said. "Performing live is always exciting as I just love being in the moment with the crowd. Being London born and bred and performing in my home town is the best way to start and I hope to see the rest of the UK soon." Tyler has seen sales of his previous album, The Unlikely Lad, pick up on the back of making it to the final three in the TV talent show. It made it into the iTunes top 10 due to the renewed interest.

CATEGORIES

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.