Fanon:Nathan Banks (Celebrity)

Nathan Peter Banks (Formerly Nathan Peter Cheetham) is a Starlight Shores pop singer and song-writer. Banks was discovered in March 2012 after countless auditions for numerous gigs and shows around his hometown in Sunset Valley. He was asked to perform in front of guests at Lola Belle's birthday part the following month, and was signed the day after by EA Music.

His first album, titled "Arrival", was released worldwide in June 2012 and was certificated platinum in Bridgeport, Barnacle Bay and Banks' hometown, Sunset Valley. The album became number one in several countries, along with three number one singles from the album.

Banks won three awards at the Sims Annual Awards Ceremony in November 2012, he won "Best New Artist", "Best Pop Album" and "Best Vocals". He has since become one of the most watched artists on YouTube and the most downloaded of 2012 - he also has a growing fanbase on various social network websites including Twitter and Facebook.

Early Life
Nathan Peter Cheetham was born on the 3rd of December in 1991 at the Sacred Spleen Memorial Hospital, and was raised in Sunset Valley by his parents, along with his three older brothers. He was the youngest of the family, and was the son of Lynda Banks, and Ian Steven Cheetham. His parents got divorced in 2002 and his Mother, Lynda, was left to raise him, and his brothers alone. Nathan saw his Dad from time-to-time, but no real contact was made; due to the family problems, and lack of interest from his Dad, Nathan legally changed his name to his mum's maiden name. Just before Nathan was signed to EA Music, he received word that his Dad had died from cancer.

During Nathan's time at Primary School to High School, he began to gain an excessive amount of weight, which was due to the snacking, and consuming of fatty foods following his parents divorce. In an interview with Kaylynn Langerak on her talk show, Nathan said he didn't blame his parents divorce for his weight gain, he had no one to blame but himself. Nathan went up to an incredible 16 stone, which compared to his previous weight of 10 stone, was a big increase for him - he has spoken out publically about the bullying he received because of his weight, and how it stopped him from being himself and socialising with friends properly. Nathan went through majority of his teenage life at this weight, and he was going to get bigger; but the was one thing he was always passionate about and that was Music. Nathan loved all kinds of music, and loved singing and experimenting with different styles and sounds, although he never had the confidence to actually perform publically, due to his weight. It was only in the summer of 2011 that Nathan decided that his life had to change and that he was the only one who could do it, so he went on a strict diet, and by the end of summer, he lost 5 and a half stone, and was down to his original weight of 10 stone and a half.

Following Nathan's weight loss, he began to become more confident with himself - he already had learned the basic skills of guitar, so he took it to the Central Park in Sunset Valley and played pieces of his own music to gain tips from locals. As time went by, playing his guitar in the center of his hometown became a regular thing for Nathan, and it wasn't long before he started to fight for more. He auditioned for a gig at the local Coffee House, he initially didn't get it, but the female singer who won the gig pulled out due to injury, so the judges contacted Nathan and offered it to him. Following the success of the gig, Nathan managed to audition for more and more gigs; he went playing in pubs and clubs, before he was eventually contacted by Lola Belle's manager over the phone.

Career
Start Of Career:

In preparation for Lola Belle's Birthday party, her manager, Alan Stanley, was searching for "young, new artists" for her party. He was attending a meeting in Sunset Valley, and in the Theatre he heard about how Nathan had become quite popular amongst the residents of the town for his singing and performing; interested, Alan attended one of Nathan's gigs and was impressed with his "talent, attitude and style". Following this, Nathan was offered the gig of playing at Lola Belle's birthday party in Bridgeport - Nathan accepted and attended the party. Many of the celebrities who attended the party were impressed with Nathan's music, and Alan himself made Nathan an offer of signing him to his record label. Originally, Nathan was willing to accept, but Will Wright, who is the manager of the EA Music Company managed to contact Nathan before he signed to Stanley Records - it was on March 15th that Nathan was signed to EA Music, and preparation for a Studio Album went into production straight away.

Shortly after being signed, Nathan left his hometown of Sunset Valley behind and moved to Starlight Shores, where his manager lived also. They spent days and hours writing and recording different music; Will was originally going to take Nathan down an R&B path, but after testing out different sounds, they agreed that a pop vocal was more Nathan's style. Eventually, the group behind EA Music created a debut song for Nathan, and talks of a "summer album" went underway. At the end of May, Nathan's debut single, "Don't Say Not Now", was released worldwide, and reached number 1 in Sunset Valley, Starlight Shores and Bridgeport. The song was certificated Platinum in Barnacle Bay, and Gold in Starlight Shores.

"Arrival"

Soon after the release of his first single, Nathan announced the title of his debut Album - the meaning behind the album was an "announcement" for the industry and Nathan himself had arrived on the music scene. The album was released worldwide on the 10th June, and topped the charts in various countries. It has been certificated Platinum in Bridgeport, Barnacle Bay and Sunset Valley. To promote the album, Banks performed on various TV programmes around the world; he performed on "Good Morning Bridgeport", and took part in a competition whilst there. Nathan performed "New Glitz", which is a song off his album, at the Sunlit Tides Music Ceremony the following month. The song went to Number 1 in Sunlit Tides before it had even been released by Banks' label - due to the success, the song was released worldwide, and became number one in several countries, including remaining number one in Sunlit Tides for 6 weeks.

In August, Nathan took part in an anti-bullying campaign, in which he visited bullied children across the world and performed his song "Freeing Myself", which was written by Banks himself about his past experience with bullying in high school. The campaign gained a lot of media respect for Nathan, and his single "Freeing Myself" was released in November, and followed "New Glitz" in topping the charts in various countries. The music video for "Freeding Myself" became a huge talking point upon its release; the video shows a young boy who walks around his school building - as he see's different teachers and students, they begin to mock him for various things. The teachers at Sunset Valley Elementary school complained about the video, claiming that Banks' portrayal of the teachers mocking the student was "unfair and 100% false". The matter became bigger when Banks refused to respond to the complaints, prompting the Head Teacher to file a lawsuit against Banks and his record label. The case was soon dropped, after Nathan eventually responded to the complaints, claiming that the video wasn't entirely about him, and that many students can feel victimised by their teachers as well as the students in schools. The controversy lead to the video for "Freeing Myself" becoming one of the most viewed YouTube videos ever, overtaking Tom Wordy and Lil Bling's "Stop Me", which held the record for the most viewed video on the video website.

World Tour
Following the success of his singles and his album, Nathan and his label officially announced a world tour at the end of November. The tour was titled the "Arrival World Tour"; it officially started in Riverview on January 3rd 2013, and is still continuing through the summer of 2013. Rehearsals took place as soon as the tour was announced; Banks and his backing dancers would rehearse for up to 14 hours a day. Banks has said numerous times that he has had many people doubt his capability of doing such an energetic tour; but this only provoked him to work harder to prove those who doubted him. The Tour itself has gained critical acclaim from reviewers, who have branded Banks a "natural born performer" due to the stunts and the dance routine's involved within the different songs on the tour. Nathan has had some guest artists in different countries; in Bridgeport he was accompanied by Lola Belle; he has also been accompanied on stage by Emmy Starr, Tom Wordy and Dina Caliente. A few tour dates were cancelled at the start of April 2013, after Banks suffered a broken leg following a fall on stage. Many tickets were refunded, but some ticket holders complained about the cancellation, claiming that Banks could have simply "not danced" during the show instead. This promted Will Wright to take to twitter to show people that Nathan's leg was too bad for him to walk, and that the doctors had requested that he rest before performing again. The tour also gained controversy in Champ Le Sims when several fans ran onto the stage; a scuffle between the fans and the security guards took place, which prompted the fans to complain that security treated them unfairly, as they were just trying to get close to their idol.

Style, Image & Personal Life
Nathan's fashion and style has been discussed numerous times by critics; when commenting on his fashion, Banks has always claimed that he loved clothes, and that he likes looking good, so he takes time to plan outfits whenever he leaves the house. Nathan's also said in TV interviews that his pride in clothes comes from his new found pride in himself, after having very little during his teenage years. Nathan's style has become influential amongst teenage boys, with some copying his outfits completely, and even copying his trademark snapback caps.

Nathan's style has also made him a target for critics also, who have often speculated on his sexuality because of his interest in clothes. He has been the target of internet bullying, with most making homophobic, and other abusive remarks towards him. Banks has addressed the question of his sexuality numerous times, he has been in a relationship with his girlfriend Laura-Jayne Sharples for almost a year, and he is "incredibly happy" with their relationship. He has also spoken out about the abuse he gets from different people online, stating that it no longer bothers him, because he has a lot of fans that look out for his best interest, and that's all that matters to him.

Nathan has appeared on various magazines and newspapers; he has done over 600 interviews with different popular teen magazines over the last year, ad has become an influential artist within the industry. His fanbase has continued to grow over the past few months, and his twitter followers seem to rise everyday.

Discography

 * "Arrival" (2012)
 * Second Studio Album (TBA)

Tours

 * "Arrival World Tour" (2013-)

The Real Me
"This is actually Nathan Banks, and I just wanted to say that this Fanon was created for fun; it's half of my life, mixed in with my sims life that I've played over the last year. So I hope you enjoy the story, and I will continue as long as I continue my game like this :) I'd love some comments to hear what you think of it personally, and I'd appreciate feedback too :) Thanks for viewing Nathan"