Rene Woollard
René M.J Woollard (born July 3, 1984) is a British guitarist and vocalist.
Career
René's first work was with the Sugababes in in 2003, where he made his first television appearance on Top of The Pops whilst performing their number 1 single "Hole in The Head". This was closely followed by promotional work with Abs Breen (Ex 5ive) with whom he supported Beyonce Knowles on her UK leg of the "Dangerously in Love" tour. 1
In 2004 he began his own band. During this time he wrote and recorded with producers Rick Barraclough, Steve Lironi and Simon Goggerly. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. After a long struggle of creative differences between another band member René decided to leave the band and return to the session scene. Shortly after this he signed his first publishing deal with MCS.2
The year 2006 saw him back on the road, this time with Irish singer/songwriter Luan Parle.
For the first quarter of 2007 René put down his guitar and began working under Rick Barraclough in Metropolis studios, London for De' Angelis Records as a Pro Tools engineer. By the summer he found himself working alongside drummer Jackson Ellis-Leach as guitarist/backing vocalist for Sophie Ellis Bextor promoting her album "Trip The light Fantastic". They played various concerts and festivals around the UK and Europe and finished the year by supporting Take That on their "Beautiful World" tour. 3 4
Although René continues to perform with Sophie Ellis Bextor, in 2008 he also became part of the Backing band for actor/singer Richard Fleeshman. In February they embarked on the "Neon" tour, named after his début album and in the summer they were honored to be invited by Sir Elton John to join him on his stadium tour. Later that year, Sir Elton asked them back on the UK part of his Red Piano Tour.
As of April 2009 René has been playing guitar for Alesha Dixon and will be supporting Enrique Iglesias all over the UK and Europe.
A detailed interview with Rene can be viewed here:
Music Videos
René can be seen playing guitar in Mutya Buena's "Just A Little Bit" (2007) and playing bass guitar (as well as flicking popcorn at Cheryl Cole) in Girls Aloud's "The Promise" (2008).