Charlie McDonnell
Encyclopedia
Charles Joseph "Charlie" McDonnell (born 1 October 1990) is a British vlogger and musician from Bath, Somerset, England. , his YouTube channel, charlieissocoollike, is the most subscribed in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. On 15 June 2011, his channel was spotlighted on YouTube's front page in the Entertainment category after being the first UK channel to reach a million subscribers.

Early life and background

McDonnell was born and raised in Bath, Somerset with his younger siblings Bridie and William. He was educated at Beechen Cliff School
Beechen Cliff School
Beechen Cliff School is a boys' secondary school in Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in 1896, it has 1,145 students aged 11 to 18.There are around 830 boys in years 7 to 11 and a co-educational sixth form of over 200 students...

, a state comprehensive foundation school
Foundation school
In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools....

 in Bath. McDonnell is currently living in a house in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 with friend and fellow vlogger, Alex Day ("Nerimon" on YouTube).

YouTube

After setting up the YouTube channel, "charlieissocoollike", in April 2007, McDonnell started posting video blogs to a small audience. He first came to prominence when his video entitled "How To Get Featured on YouTube" became very popular when it was featured on YouTube's UK homepage. His audience jumped from just under 150 subscribers to over 4,400 in two days.

In celebration of gaining 25,000 subscribers, McDonnell asked for challenge suggestions from subscribers, and he is completing them in a series of 25 videos entitled "Challenge Charlie". He has completed 21 of these challenges , one of which was suggested by TV presenter, Phillip Schofield
Phillip Schofield
Phillip Bryan Schofield is an English broadcaster and television personality best known for presenting shows such as This Morning, Dancing on Ice, and various game shows including The Cube.-Early life and career:...

, and his daughter Molly, for McDonnell to do the dance that accompanies "Hoedown Throwdown
Hoedown Throwdown
"Hoedown Throwdown" is a song performed by American recording artist Miley Cyrus, combining elements of country, dance, pop and rap. It was released as a promotional single from the soundtrack for Hannah Montana: The Movie...

". McDonnell has since posted a large range of videos on the site including his most viewed "Duet with Myself". In 2010 McDonnell set up an alternative YouTube channel "charlieissoboredlike" for the videos he makes when he "has nothing better to do". In 2009, McDonnell created another YouTube account named "CharlieAtE3". This channel followed Charlie when he travelled to E3 2009. In 2011, McDonnell became the first YouTuber in the United Kingdom to ever reach 1 million subscribers. He made a celebration video for this, with references to the game Portal 2
Portal 2
Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle-platform video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The sequel to the 2007 video game Portal, it was announced on March 5, 2010, following a week-long alternate reality game based on new patches to the original game...

. YouTube also congratulated him by featuring him on the front page of the website after he had made his video. As of late October 2011 McDonnell has more than 1,250,000 subscribers and is currently ranked 30th in the world in YouTube subscriptions. His channel has recently been gaining around 1,500 new subscribers daily, according to the site VidStatsX. McDonnell's videos currently end with an outro by Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...

.

In 2008, McDonnell participated in a video-blog collaboration with four other YouTube personalities, entitled "FiveAwesomeGuys," a spin-off project of the "FiveAwesomeGirls" which featured hayleyghoover and italktosnakes. The project ran from 28 January to 31 December.

Chameleon Circuit

McDonnell is one of the founding members of Chameleon Circuit
Chameleon Circuit (band)
Chameleon Circuit is a band known for creating music inspired by the British television series Doctor Who. Composed of popular UK YouTube vloggers and Doctor Who fans, the band released their self-titled debut album on 1 June 2009....

, a band known for creating music inspired by the British television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

. With fellow vloggers Alex Day ("Nerimon" on YouTube) and Liam Dryden ("Littleradge"), former member Chris Beattie ("CowInParachute"), Chameleon Circuit released their self-titled debut album on 1 June 2009. In July 2010, their song "Count the Shadows" also appeared on DFTBA Records, Volume Two, a compilation sampler that was given for free in the grab bags at VidCon
VidCon
VidCon is the world's first and largest Online Video Conference/Convention. Organized by Hank and John Green of the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel, VidCon is the largest gathering of the online video community that draws millions of subscribers and billions of views.-VidCon 2010:The first VidCon was...

 2010. At the beginning of 2011, Chameleon Circuit, in their new line-up following the departure of Beattie and the addition of Ed Blann ("Eddplant") and Michael Aranda, began work on their second album Still Got Legs. It was released on 12 July 2011, and peaked at No. 23 in the UK iTunes Album Chart, and No. 4 in the iTunes Rock Album chart.

Sons of Admirals

In 2010, McDonnell, along with three other YouTubers, Alex Day
Alex Day
Alex Richard George Day is a musician and YouTuber from Essex, England. He has performed and recorded solo and as a member of the groups Chartjackers, Youstage, Chameleon Circuit and the now dissolved Sons of Admirals...

, Ed Blann and Tom Milsom formed a new project entitled "Sons of Admirals". Their first single was released via YouTube on 14 June 2010 on McDonnell's channel. The group covered Cat Steven
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....

s' song "Here Comes My Baby". It features all four members on vocals. The track peaked at No. 61 in the UK.
In October 2010 the band released an EP including "Here Comes My Baby"; an acoustic version of the same song; a cover of "Believe in Yourself", which is well known as the theme of children's television show Arthur
Arthur (TV series)
Arthur is an American/Canadian animated educational television series for children, created by Cookie Jar Group and WGBH for the Public Broadcasting Service...

; the video of "Here Comes My Baby"; and a behind-the-scenes video. The band has been known to perform a cover of "You're Not There", originally performed by band member Ed Blann, and a cover of Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...

's "Creep".

Sons of Admirals is not a band in the traditional sense. They are all solo artists, but as well as having their solo careers, they come together to form one group. The idea of this came from the Admiral's Men
Admiral's Men
The Admiral's Men was a playing company or troupe of actors in the Elizabethan and Stuart eras...

, which was a Shakespearean group of actors that came together to perform, while still retaining their individual careers.

Sons of Admirals disbanded in May 2011, publishing a statement on their website that "the core goal of the group – to get into the charts, and to increase exposure for the group members' individual talents proved to run against too many of our beliefs and approaches to music and promotion".

This Is Me

A prominent feature of McDonnell's YouTube channel are the songs which he writes and performs himself, usually on a ukelele, but also featuring other instruments such as the guitar, melodica, and—in one song—a kazoo and a xylophone made of filled water glasses. The most popular of these, and McDonnell's all-time highest-viewed video, is "Duet with Myself." On 1 December 2010, in response to many fan requests to do so, he released his debut album entitled This is Me via DFTBA Records. The album features several songs from his channel that were remixed for the album, as well as several new, previously unreleased songs.

Charity and media work

On 30 September 2008, to celebrate his 18th birthday, McDonnell and Day dyed and then shaved their hair off whilst live on BlogTV
BlogTV
blogTV is an online video service. blogTV began in June 2004, in Israel, and was a pioneer in the webcasting industry. Its goals were to supply anyone and everyone, with internet access, a way to express their talents & ideas to the world and to socially network with people face to face. In 2006...

 for a period of seven and a half hours in aid of Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK is a cancer research and awareness charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Its aim is to reduce the number of deaths from cancer. As the world's largest independent cancer...

. They managed to raise nearly £5000. The broadcast viewership peaked at 4,500. Another friend, Jazza John McMillan-Clenaghan (known as "Rhymingwithoranges" on YouTube) promised to shave his head if they hit £4000 and did so about a month later with help from Kristina Horner (known as "italktosnakes" and "Monday" on the YouTube collab-channel "fiveawesomegirls").

In October 2009, McDonnell was named as one of a number of prominent YouTube users who would be participating in a project called "RNLI Shout". The aim of the project is to raise money to purchase a lifeboat for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....

.

On 4 September 2010, McDonnell and fellow YouTuber Myles Dyer co-presented Stickaid, a 24-hour live webshow. Starting from 12:00 noon BST
British Summer Time
Western European Summer Time is a summer daylight saving time scheme, 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in the following places:* the Canary Islands* Portugal * Ireland...

, the two hosted the fifth annual charity event from Middlesex University's
Middlesex University
Middlesex University is a university in north London, England. It is located in the historic county boundaries of Middlesex from which it takes its name. It is one of the post-1992 universities and is a member of Million+ working group...

 Trent Park campus in London. Their goal was to raise £10,000 ($15,900), which they more than doubled. All the proceedings went to UNICEF.

Chartjackers

In the autumn of 2009, McDonnell featured with three other YouTube users on the BBC Switch
BBC Switch
BBC Switch was the brand for BBC content aimed at UK teenagers. The brand launched on Saturday 20 October 2007 on BBC Two And ceased broadcasting on Saturday 17 December 2010...

 documentary series Chartjackers
Chartjackers
Chartjackers is a British documentary series, produced by Hat Trick Productions and commissioned by BBC Switch. It premièred in the United Kingdom on 12 September 2009 on BBC Two...

. The programme documented their attempt to achieve a number one single in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 within 10 weeks, by crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing is the act of sourcing tasks traditionally performed by specific individuals to a group of people or community through an open call....

 resources provided by the online community
Online community
An online community is a virtual community that exists online and whose members enable its existence through taking part in membership ritual. An online community can take the form of an information system where anyone can post content, such as a Bulletin board system or one where only a restricted...

. McDonnell was cast in the series for his familiarity to young British YouTube viewers and to "act as a Pied Piper to the teen audience".

Over the course of Chartjackers, McDonnell solicited lyrics, music, performers and stylists to record the final single and video via a YouTube channel named "ChartJackersProject". An unofficial charity single for Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...

, the completed song was titled "I've Got Nothing
I've Got Nothing
"I've Got Nothing" is a song released by the participants of the BBC Two documentary series Chartjackers and is credited as such. The track was produced by university student Marc Dowding and its music video was filmed by YouTube user Charlie McDonnell. It was released by the record label Swinging...

" and was sung by vocalists Miranda Chartrand
Miranda Chartrand
Miranda Chartrand is a Canadian singer who is currently based in London. Born and raised in Guelph, Ontario, Chartrand studied at the John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute and played on their open girls' rugby team, before moving to the United Kingdom in 2009 to work as an au pair...

 and Adam Nichols. McDonnell edited the single's official music video, which was shown nationwide on British music channels
Music television
Music television is a type of television programming which focuses predominantly on playing music videos from bands, usually on dedicated television channels broadcasting on satellite or cable. Music TVs may host their own shows charts, award prizes. Examples are VIVA, Scuzz, MTV, JBTV, MuchMusic,...

 such as 4Music
4Music
4Music is a music and entertainment channel in the United Kingdom and available on some digital television providers in the Republic of Ireland - its web component can be found at with its own and pages. It is the only channel within the Box Television Network to be branded under Channel 4 and...

 and Viva
Viva (UK & Ireland)
Viva is a music video and entertainment channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel was officially launched on 26 October 2009 by Alexandra Burke, with an exclusive live performance of her single "Bad Boys". The channel replaced TMF. The channel is owned by MTV Networks Europe and was...

. "I've Got Nothing" was released exclusively through the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...

 at midnight on 9 November 2009 and reached No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart. Sales of the single raised a total of approximately £10,000 for Children in Need.

FirstTV

In July 2010 McDonnell was signed up alongside KateModern
KateModern
KateModern was the sister series of lonelygirl15. The series, which was announced on July 16, 2007, began filming on July 9 and the first video, Fight and Flight, was released on July 16. The show is produced by EQAL in partnership with Bebo...

star Emma Pollard and X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...

contestants Nicola and Fran Gleadall to present a TV show run by Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan , known professionally as Piers Morgan, is a British journalist and television presenter. He is editorial director of First News, a national newspaper for children....

 called FirstTV, an offshoot of First News newspaper. On First TV he did a few challenges like trying to break a Guinness world record by typing
Typing
Typing is the process of inputting text into a device, such as a typewriter, cell phone, computer, or a calculator, by pressing keys on a keyboard. It can be distinguished from other means of input, such as the use of pointing devices like the computer mouse, and text input via speech...

 the alphabet
Alphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...

 on an iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...

 keyboard
Keyboard (computing)
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...

 quickest and he got asked to tell a joke
Joke
A joke is a phrase or a paragraph with a humorous twist. It can be in many different forms, such as a question or short story. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices...

. However, after filming four episodes of FirstTV, McDonnell decided to leave the show because he did not enjoy presenting pre-scripted work.

Press

McDonnell was interviewed on BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...

 about his rise to internet stardom. He also participated in the Euro 2008 Zeitgeist Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

 conference, where he spoke about YouTube along with Mia Rose
Mia Rose
Mia Rose is the stage name of Maria Antónia Teixeira Rosa, a Portuguese and British singer-songwriter notable for her popularity on the video sharing website YouTube.-Musical career:...

 ("miaarose") and Peter Oakley ("geriatric1927"). This was a conference to honour online users of popular websites. He featured as a guest on Robert Llewellyn
Robert Llewellyn
Robert Llewellyn is an English actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known as the mechanoid Kryten in the hit sitcom Red Dwarf, and for his role as presenter of Scrapheap Challenge.-Early career:...

's web series Carpool
Carpool (web series)
Carpool is a web series presented by English actor and comedian Robert Llewellyn. In each episode he interviews a guest while giving them a lift in an eco-friendly car . The guests are often well-known British television personalities such as Jonathan Ross or Ade Edmondson...

in the episode released on 15 May 2009. McDonnell has also made guest appearances on Lily Allen and Friends
Lily Allen and Friends
Lily Allen and Friends is a British TV talk show presented by Lily Allen. The programme is produced by Princess Productions for BBC Three. It was first shown on 12 February 2008. The audience consists entirely of Lily's online friends, who sign up via the programme's website...

and The Gadget Show
The Gadget Show
The Gadget Show is a British television series focusing on technology and is broadcast on Channel 5. Originally a thirty minute show, it was extended to forty-five minutes, then later to fifty five minutes. Repeats have also aired on the digital channels 5*, Dave and Channel 5's Internet on-demand...

.

McDonnell was also interviewed for Outlook on the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...

 and for an article in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

where he talks about the five years of YouTube and his life on the video website.

On 6 June 2010, McDonnell presented the YouTube Audience Award to The Inbetweeners
The Inbetweeners
The Inbetweeners is a British sitcom which aired for three series from 2008 to 2010 on E4. Created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, the show follows the life of suburban teenager Will , and three of his friends at the fictional Rudge Park Comprehensive. The Inbetweeners Movie was...

as part of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...

 Television Awards. In mid-July 2010, McDonnell appeared on KTLA with Hank Green
Hank Green
William Henry "Hank" Green II is a professional vlogger and entrepreneur. He is the founder of VidCon and EcoGeek.org and the co-founder of DFTBA Records. He is also a singer/songwriter and has released three studio albums...

, known on YouTube as one of the Vlogbrothers
Vlogbrothers
The Vlogbrothers are two American vloggers, John Green and Hank Green, who host a YouTube channel together. The two began with their Brotherhood 2.0 project before continuing their channel as regular vloggers. While they frequently use their channel to educate their viewers, the Green brothers also...

, and Justine Ezarik
Justine Ezarik
Justine Ezarik , is an American viral video comedian, and Internet personality. She is best known as iJustine, a lifecaster who communicates directly with her thousands of viewers on her Justin.tv channel, ijustine.tv. She has made more than 400 videos, including videos on such subjects as Lost and...

, known as iJustine, to promote VidCon 2010, the first international conference for online video makers. That October he made a programme with James Max
James Max
James Max is a journalist and radio presenter specialising in business issues. He currently presents programmes for London speech radio station LBC 97.3. He was a semi-finalist on the first series of the British version of The Apprentice television programme.- Pre-Apprentice :Born in London in May...

 of LBC 97.3
LBC 97.3
LBC 97.3 is a London-based talk and phone-in radio station. It is one half of the latest incarnation of LBC, the news and speech service which was Britain's first commercial radio station when it went on air in October 1973...

 about how to make money on the internet. In December 2010, McDonnell filmed a series of behind the scenes videos for Doctor Who Confidential
Doctor Who Confidential
Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly...

during the filming of the Doctor Who Christmas special "A Christmas Carol".

McDonnell was purportedly approached to be a contestant on the 2011 series
Celebrity Big Brother 2011 (UK)
Celebrity Big Brother 2011 was the eighth series of Celebrity Big Brother and the first series of Big Brother UK to air on Channel 5. It launched on 18 August 2011 at 9 pm on Channel 5. It ran for 22 days concluding on 8 September 2011 and was followed by the twelfth regular series of Big Brother...

 of Celebrity Big Brother (UK) but declined the offer.

External links

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