Severe stammering doesn't have to stop you from singing.
The English pop star Garreth Gates is living proof of that having overcome the program after working with speech coaches and finishing a special program in England that teaches kids to speak without impediments.
Gates has loved singing all of his life, he says. He started at the age of nine when he joined the Bradford Cathedral choir and became the head chorister by age 11. The prestige gave him the right to sing solo for the Queen when she visited the cathedral in 1997.
Gates was also accomplished in classical guitar and piano, having gone through the program at England's Royal Northern College of Music before he became famous.
His break came when he competed on the series Pop Idol. The first time on the show he did not win but performed so well he was soon signed up with American Idol judge Simon Cowell's record label BMG. Prior to American Idol, Cowell worked on the Pop Idol show as a judge.
The second time he won and went on to record his first single, a cover version of Unchained Melody which hit the number one spot on UK charts. The single was also voted as the Record of the Year by ITV viewers in 2002.
Gates kept the success going with his third single The Long and Winding Road in which he performed a duet with Will Young.
In 2003, Gates sang the 2003 Comic Relief charity single, Spirit In The Sky, with The Kumars. This was also a number-one hit, staying there for two weeks.
His next two singles Sunshine and Say it Isn't So reached numbers three and four respectively. His second album Go Your Own Way entered the UK chart at number eleven, and achieving platinum status in a number of Asian countries. Gates is considered to be an international star and is particularly popular in South Africa and Asia where he even received Asia's MTV award for Best International Male in 2003-2004.