Presentation Evening Guest Speaker Announced!
It is with great pleasure to confirm that Rebecca Taylor, also known as ‘Self Esteem’ will be joining our Annual Presentation evening as special guest speaker on Thursday 12th December.
As a Wales High School Alumni who has experienced exceptional achievements in her musical career and more laterally her success on the West End, we are absolutely thrilled to have Rebecca join us!
About Rebecca
Rebecca attended Wales High School from 1998 – 2005, where she studied A Level Music, Media, Theatre and English. Rebecca was a House Captain for Rollo and a dedicated teams player. Beyond sport she fully embraced her creative side, throwing herself into anything musical or theatrical.
After leaving Wales High School, Rebecca went on to become one of the UK’s most exciting breakout stars of the past decade, AKA “Self Esteem”and emerged from cult favourite status to mainstream hero following the huge success of her empowering, truth-telling 2021 single ‘I Do This All The Time’.
Self Esteem’s wildly acclaimed second album Prioritise Pleasure quickly followed, tackling the hypocrisies and joys found in her experiences of modern day womanhood across dating, friendship, comparison culture, self love, women’s safety and sexual assault and much more. Prioritise Pleasure received Mercury Prize, BRIT Award, Sky Arts and NME Award nominations, was crowned The Guardian and Sunday Times Culture’s Album of the Year, and ‘I Do This All The Time’ was also named The Guardian’s #1 song of 2021.
Quite the opposite of an overnight success, Taylor spent a decade as one half of indie duo Slow Club before adopting the pop star persona she’d always dreamed of. She released her first Self Esteem album Compliments Please in 2019, featuring fan favourite singles “The Best”, “Girl Crush” and more.
Gathering a passionate and vast legion of fans ever since, Taylor has appeared on The Graham Norton Show, Celebrity Gogglebox, Friday Night Live, performed three times on Jools Holland including the NYE Hootenanny, graced the covers of magazines from Grazia to NME to Sunday Times Style, and is one of a handful of artists to have been playlisted across BBC Radio 1, 2 and 6 Music simultaneously.
Having reached new heights of acclaim, Taylor has continued to grow, diversify, and create in 2024. Branching out into the world of acting, Taylor starred in a regular role in the recent Sky series SMOTHERED before completing a run playing Sally Bowles in the multiple Olivier Award-winning production of “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” in London’s West End. Starring alongside Jake Shears (lead singer of Scissor Sisters) as Emcee, the pair’s time on stage was extended due to popular demand, and showcased the sheer range of talent in Taylor’s repertoire. “Big Man” / “Love Second Music First” follows a collaboration with Becky Hill on her recent song “True Colours”.
We look forward to having Rebecca Taylor highlight to us all the special journey she has had from the ‘Wales Way’ to her successful path and for making what will surely be a memorable event for all of the Wales High School students and staff involved.
