McElderry rose to fame after winning The X Factor and signing a million pound record deal with Simon Cowell's company Syco, His debut single "The Climb" debuted at number two selling over 450,000 copies in its first week of release.

After releasing his debut album Wide Awake, McElderry was dropped from Syco despite its number three chart placing.

McElderry later signed a record deal with Decca after winning Popstar to Operastar.

On 19 August 2011 McElderry released Classic, which debuted at number two on the UK albums chart.

On 28 November the same year, McElderry released his third studio album Classic Christmas, which debuted and peaked at number 15.