Everything about Leona Lewis totally explained
Leona Louise Lewis (born
3 April 1985) is a
British singer and winner of the
third series of
The X Factor UK television talent show. Her UK debut single, "
A Moment like This", was released in
December 2006, breaking a world record after it was downloaded over 50,000 times within 30 minutes.
Her debut album,
Spirit, was released in Europe in November 2007, and became the fastest-selling debut album ever in both the United Kingdom and
Ireland.
With her album reaching number one in at least three continents and nine countries, Lewis has had the most successful launch of any television talent show contestant ever.
Lewis wrote her first song at the age of twelve, and won a number of talent competitions. After leaving school, Lewis took a number of jobs to pay to get into a recording studio, including waitressing and several receptionist jobs.
She wrote and recorded a number of songs including a demo album of her own songs called
Twilight, but the album was never released. When she was fifteen years old, she recorded a version of
Minnie Riperton's "
Lovin' You" with music producer Marley J. Wills, after which Lewis and Wills were invited to the U.S. by
Sony. Wills commented that "Leona could hit the notes and I think she did it better than the original."
When her career seemed to be going nowhere, she was considering quitting the music industry until her boyfriend persuaded her to enter
The X Factor. She was mentored by
Simon Cowell.
Lewis' voice was consistently highly praised by all three judges — Simon Cowell,
Louis Walsh and
Sharon Osbourne. On occasions, she was compared with
divas such as
Mariah Carey,
Whitney Houston, and
Celine Dion. On the final night of the show,
Take That joined Lewis on stage for a duet of their song "
A Million Love Songs". After the performance, singer
Gary Barlow told Cowell, "This girl is probably fifty times better than any other contestant you've ever had, so you've a big responsibility to make the right record with her."
On the
Oprah Winfrey Show on 17 March 2008, Simon Cowell said that it was during Lewis' barefoot performance of "
Summertime" in the third live round of
The X Factor (broadcast 28 October 2006) that he "could see her transform from a great singer into a superstar".
After The X Factor
One-million copies of the winner's single, a cover of
Kelly Clarkson's first single "
A Moment like This", were pre-ordered by stores, although at the time, the winner of the show hadn't been announced and it was unknown who would be releasing the single.
"A Moment like This" was released on CD on
20 December,
2006, and was available as a
digital download from midnight on
17 December. It broke a world record after it was downloaded fifty-thousand times in thirty minutes. On
24 December, "A Moment like This" was crowned the 2006 UK
Christmas number-one single, having sold 571,253 copies, beating
Take That's single "
Patience", and outselling the rest of the Top 40's sales combined. It was reported that one chain was "shifting more than 100 of her CDs a minute". The single became the biggest-downloaded song in 2006, beating
Gnarls Barkley's "
Crazy". The single stayed at number one for four weeks, and also stayed at the top spot in the
Irish Singles Chart for six weeks. It went on to sell in the region of 1,000,000 copies.
A four-track download EP, "
It's All for You", that she recorded before entering
The X Factor was released
digitally on
18 December,
2006, through The Schizofreniks record label. However, the single didn't chart.
In
February 2007, Lewis signed a £5 million (
$9.7 million) five album contract in the
United States with
Clive Davis's record label,
J Records, and showcased for several American music executives at the
Beverly Hilton Hotel in
Beverly Hills,
California.
On
16 January,
2007, "A Moment like This" was shortlisted for the British Single award at the
2007 BRIT Awards. It made it to the second round but was eliminated and didn't make it to the final selection. In May, it was awarded the
Ivor Novello Award for Best Selling British Single.
2007–present: Spirit
» Main article: Spirit
On
25 April,
2007, a press release was sent out revealing that Simon Cowell and Clive Davis would work together in a first-of-its-kind partnership on both the song and producer selection for Lewis' debut album, entitled
Spirit. On
24 September,
2007, Lewis performed a special album launch party at the
Mandarin Oriental Hotel in
Knightsbridge,
London, where she performed four tracks from the album. The album was released in the
Republic of Ireland on
9 November 2007, where it entered the
Irish Albums Chart at number one, being Ireland's fastest-selling debut album of all time. It was released on
12 November 2007 in the United Kingdom, where it entered the
UK Albums Chart at number one, and was also the UK's fastest selling debut album, and the fourth fastest selling album of all time.
The album was released in several other nations in January 2008, and went to number one in
New Zealand,
Australia,
Austria,
Germany,
South Africa and
Switzerland.
Spirit was released in the United States on
8 April 2008, and entered the
Billboard 200 at number one.
Lewis recorded tracks for the album in
London,
Miami,
Los Angeles,
New York City, and
Atlanta.
Max Martin,
Stargate,
Walter Afanasieff,
Salaam Remi,
Kara DioGuardi,
Per Magnusson,
David Kreuger,
Richard Page and Novel. She also recorded a track with
Ne-Yo. Two further tracks were recorded in early 2008 for the U.S. release of the album, "Forgive Me" featuring
Akon and "Misses Glass" featuring RockCity.
Lewis' second single, "
Bleeding Love", produced by
Ryan Tedder, and written by Ryan Tedder and
Jesse McCartney, was released on
22 October 2007 in the UK. Lewis performed the song on the first live show of the
fourth series of
The X Factor on
20 October. The single sold 66,000 copies on its first day of release and went on to sell 218,805 copies in its first week, giving it the biggest first-week sales of 2007 to date. It entered both the
UK Singles Chart at number one, where it stayed for seven weeks. It also debuted at number one in the
Irish Singles Chart, remaining there for eight weeks.
On
31 October 2007, Lewis appeared on
BBC Radio 1's
Live Lounge, with acoustic performances of "Bleeding Love" and a
cover of
Snow Patrol's 2003 single "
Run". Her version of "Run" was popular with listeners, and as a result, was added to Radio 1's A list (a list of songs receiving the most
airplay). On
6 November she won 'Newcomer of the Year' at the Cosmopolitan Ultimate Woman of the Year Awards.
It was reported on
31 October 2007 that management company UEG Music planned to release an album of ten songs recorded by Lewis before her time on
The X Factor, shortly after the release of
Spirit, called
Best Kept Secret. This is because the management company claimed they wanted to recoup some of the costs incurred in their investment and training of Lewis, including £70,000 of studio costs that they claimed remained unpaid. They also claimed to have offered Sony and Lewis' father to buy the rights of the album but both refused. Cowell was reportedly angered by the release of the album, saying that the company didn't have the rights to release the songs, and that he'd attempt to block the album from being released. He also claimed that the songs are unfinished
demos, that fans should boycott the album and that there's no agreement with Lewis to release it. A representative for Lewis said: "UEG approached Leona and her representatives earlier this year - but they don't have the rights to release these demos." Despite Cowell's attempts, the album was briefly released two weeks after her debut album
Spirit, on
26 November 2007, through online music store
Juno Records, though all trace of the album was removed from Juno the same day.
In the
30 November 2007 edition of American magazine
Entertainment Weekly, Lewis was included among "8 to Watch in '08" in their 2007 "Entertainer of the Year" issue. The list of entertainers expected to become household names in the coming year describes Lewis as "the next Mariah Carey".
On
14 January 2008, Lewis was nominated for four
BRIT Awards, in the categories British Female Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Act, British Album for
Spirit, and British Single for "Bleeding Love". She performed at the awards ceremony on
20 February 2008. Despite being the favourite to win the most awards, she received none.
On
9 February 2008, Lewis performed at Clive Davis's annual pre-Grammy party, as Davis's 'Special New Artist' guest. Lewis performed "Bleeding Love", on
The Oprah Winfrey Show, on
17 March 2008.
In February 2008, Lewis broke the major
American charts as "Bleeding Love" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 85. It peaked at number one for at least four non-consecutive weeks in three separate runs beginning on the US
Billboard Hot 100 chart dated 5 April 2008. "Bleeding Love" became the first track by a UK female to hit number one since
Kim Wilde in 1987. Lewis is also the third British female to go to number one with a debut single, the other two acts being
Petula Clark with "
Downtown" in 1965 and
Sheena Easton with "
Morning Train (Nine to Five)" in 1981, and only the sixth British female to ever top the US singles chart, following Clark, Easton, Wilde,
Lulu and
Bonnie Tyler. "Bleeding Love" is only the second single to ever fall out and return to the number one position on the Hot 100 twice, returning to number one on the charts dated 26 April 2008 and again on 10 May 2008. The first was
Le Freak by
Chic in
1978 and
1979.
Lewis' third single, a
double A-side featuring "
Better in Time" and "
Footprints in the Sand", was released in the United Kingdom in March 2008, in aid of
Sport Relief, and she visited
South Africa for the charity. The songs reached a peak of number 2 in the
UK singles chart selling over 40,000 copies in it's first week of physical release. As a part of Sport Relief, Lewis has set up a website, yougivemestrength.com, for people to share their inspirational stories.
It has been reported that Lewis is planning a £15 million world tour in 2010. A second album is planned for release in 2009.
On
27 March 2008, "Bleeding Love" became number one in the
United World Chart.
On
23 April 2008, Lewis performed "Bleeding Love" on the seventh series of
American Idol during one of the results nights of the show. She was also a presenter at the
MTV Australia Awards 2008 on
26 April 2008, and a special guest performing "Bleeding Love" again at the finale of
So You Think You Can Dance Australia on
27 April 2008.
Personal life
Lewis lives in
Hackney with her boyfriend Lou Al-Chamaa, an electrician, whom she's known since she was ten years old. Lewis has stated that she'd like to marry Al-Chamaa sometime in the future.
Discography
Awards and nominations
Further Information
Get more info on 'Leona Lewis'.
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