| Leona Lewis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Contestant Profile | |
| Birth Date | 3 April 1985 |
| Age | 40 |
| Hometown | Hackney, London, England |
| Occupation | Former waitress Singer |
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| Category | 16-24s |
| Mentor | Simon Cowell |
| Placement | Winner (1/12) |
|
All Stars (cancelled) | |
| Category | Overs (planned) |
| Mentor | N/A |
| Placement | N/A |
| Gallery | |
Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is an English pop-R&B singer. She auditioned for Series 3 of The X Factor UK and made it all the way to the final as part of the 16-24s category mentored by Simon Cowell.
She was crowned the winner defeating Ray Quinn also from the 16-24s category. Both 16-24s were mentored by Simon Cowell.
In 2019 she was confirmed to be a contestant on The X Factor All Stars series. The series was later cancelled.
On 4 December 2019, Lewis was confirmed to be a guest judge on The X Factor: The Band.
The X Factor[]
Lewis auditioned for the third series of The X Factor in 2006, singing "Over the Rainbow" for judges Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and guest judge Paula Abdul. She was placed in the 16–24 category, with Cowell as her mentor. Throughout the course of the show, Lewis was compared with artists such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, performing songs by all three of them. Lewis defeated Ray Quinn to win the competition on 16 December 2006, receiving 60% of over eight million televotes cast in the final. As a prize for winning, Lewis signed a £1 million recording contract with Cowell's record label, Syco Music. Upon winning, Lewis said:
I'm just shocked. It's unbelievable. I feel like my dream has come true, the dream I've been dreaming since a little girl has come true. There were points I thought, "You know what, I don't know if this is going to happen". But with the help from my friends and my family, they all kept telling me to believe in myself and keep on doing it and I did and now I'm here and thank you so much to them.
Lewis's winner's single, a cover of Kelly Clarkson's song "A Moment Like This", was released on 17 December 2006. In the United Kingdom, it broke a world record after being digitally downloaded more than 50,000 times in less than 30 minutes. The song became the 2006 UK Christmas number-one single, selling 571,000 copies in its first week and selling more than the Top-40 combined. It spent four consecutive weeks atop the UK Singles Chart and was number one in Ireland for six weeks. Despite being released on 17 December, "A Moment Like This" became the second best selling single in the United Kingdom in 2006, and it has been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments of over 600,000 copies. As of December 2014, Lewis's version has sold 900,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
Performances[]
| Episode | Theme | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audition | Free choice | "Over the Rainbow" | Advanced |
| Bootcamp 1 | "I Have Nothing" | Advanced | |
| Bootcamp 2 | "Hero" | Advanced | |
| Judges' houses | Free choice | "Without You" | Advanced |
| Week 1 | Motown | "I'll Be There" | Safe |
| Week 2 | Songs by Rod Stewart | "The First Cut is the Deepest" | Safe |
| Week 3 | Big band | "Summertime" | Safe |
| Week 4 | Songs by ABBA | "Chiquitita" | Safe |
| Week 5 | Love songs | "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" | Safe |
| Week 6 | Number ones | "Bridge over Troubled Water" | Safe |
| Week 7 | Songs from the movies | "Lady Marmalade" | Safe |
| "I Will Always Love You" | |||
| Week 8 | Songs by Barry Manilow | "Could It Be Magic" | Safe |
| Contestant's choice | "Without You" | ||
| Week 9: Semi-final | Songs to get you to the final | "I Have Nothing" | Safe |
| "Over the Rainbow" | |||
| Week 10: Final | Favourite performance | "I Will Always Love You" | Winner |
| Celebrity duets | "A Million Love Songs" (with Take That) | ||
| "All by Myself" | |||
| Winner's single | "A Moment Like This" |
Post-The X Factor[]
2006 - 2012: Breakthrough[]
Following her win, her cover of Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" was released and topped the UK Charts, becoming the Christmas #1, and remained at the summit for a month, outselling the rest of the UK Top 40 in its first week. As of December 2015, it had sold 943,000 copies.
Her debut album "Spirit" was released in November 2007 and also claimed the top spot, going on to sell over 3 million copies in the UK alone. Success in the tough American market beckoned with the release of second single "Bleeding Love", which not only gave her her second UK #1 single but also reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first British female solo artist since Bonnie Tyler to score a US single. She scored her third (and to date final) UK #1 single with her cover of Snow Patrol's "Run".
Her second album "Echo" was also a UK chart topper but sold far less than its predecessor. In October 2012, she released her third studio album "Glassheart", which marked a departure from her predecessors by including a dubstep sound and was her first to miss out on the UK #1 spot.
2007–2008: Spirit and international breakthrough[]
Main article: Spirit (Leona Lewis album)
In February 2007, Lewis signed a £5 million (US$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. A press release described how Cowell and Davis would work together in a "first-of-its-kind" partnership on both the song and producer selection for Lewis's debut album, Spirit. The songs were recorded in London, Miami, Los Angeles, New York City and Atlanta, while Lewis worked with several songwriters and record producers including Dallas Austin, Walter Afanasieff, Salaam Remi, Steve Mac, Stargate and Ne-Yo. It was released in November 2007 and entered both the Irish Albums Chart and the UK Albums Chart at number one, becoming the fastest-selling debut album in both countries, and the United Kingdom's fourth-fastest selling album of all time. Spirit is one of the biggest-selling albums of all time in the UK and is the best-selling debut album by a female artist in the 21st century.
It was released in several other nations in January 2008, and it went to number one in New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Germany, South Africa and Switzerland. Two more tracks were recorded in 2008 for the US release of the album: "Forgive Me", produced by Akon, and "Misses Glass", produced by Madd Scientist. It was released in the United States in April 2008 and entered the Billboard 200 at number one, making Lewis the first British artist to reach number one with a debut album. A special edition of Spirit was re-released in November 2008 in Europe, including the songs "Forgive Me", "Misses Glass" and a cover of the Snow Patrol song "Run". The album again went to number one in the UK Albums Chart. The album was certified 9× platinum in the UK where it is the fourth best-selling album of the 2000s decade.
Lewis's second single, "Bleeding Love", produced by Ryan Tedder and written by Tedder and Jesse McCartney, was released in October 2007 in the UK, where it sold 218,805 copies in its first week, giving it the biggest first-week sales of 2007 to date. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number one, where it stayed for seven weeks, and in the Irish Singles Chart, it remained at number one for eight weeks. It reached number one in the singles charts of New Zealand, Australia, France, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Canada and the United States. "Bleeding Love" won The Record of the Year in December 2007. In February 2008, "Bleeding Love" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 85 and then went on to peak at number one for four non-consecutive weeks. The song became the first track by a UK female to reach number one since Kim Wilde's "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1987. Lewis's 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 single reached a peak of number two in the UK singles chart selling over 40,000 copies in its first week of physical release. "Better in Time" was released as Lewis's second single in the US, where it peaked at number 11 in the Billboard Hot 100. "Forgive Me" was released as Lewis's fifth single in November 2008; it reached number five in the UK. "Run" was released as a download-only single in the UK, reaching number one and becoming the UK's fastest-selling download-only single, with 69,244 copies sold in two days. Lewis's last single from Spirit, "I Will Be", was released in January 2009, only in North America.
In August 2008, Lewis performed "Whole Lotta Love" with guitarist Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Beijing, representing the handover to London as the host of the 2012 Summer Olympics. In September 2008, she joined several female singers to perform a single for the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer. The single,"Just Stand Up!", was performed live during the one-hour telethon that aired on all major US television networks. Lewis received three nominations for the 51st Grammy Awards in December 2008. "Bleeding Love" was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Spirit was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album. She was nominated for four BRIT Awards: or British Female Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Act, British Album for Spirit, and British Single for "Bleeding Love", but despite being the favourite to win the most awards, she received none. She won two awards at the 2008 MOBO Awards: Best Album for Spirit and Best Video for "Bleeding Love". In December 2008 Lewis was named 'Top New Artist' by Billboard magazine.
2009–2010: Echo and The Labyrinth[]
Main articles: Echo (Leona Lewis album) and The Labyrinth (tour)
Lewis's second album, Echo, was given a worldwide release in November 2009. Production took place throughout 2009, including work with Ryan Tedder, Justin Timberlake, Max Martin, Arnthor Birgisson, Kevin Rudolf, and John Shanks. It was recorded in Los Angeles and took nine months to produce. Lewis described the album as "more guitar-driven" compared to Spirit. Lewis performed her first full UK show at the Hackney Empire in London on 2 November 2009, performing songs from Spirit and Echo. Echo reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and the top ten of Austria, Ireland and Switzerland. Despite previous attempts from Lewis's lawyers to ban the release of Best Kept Secret by UEG Music, claiming that the singer had not given her consent, the album was released in January 2009, when the label insisted it owned the rights to the music and Lewis would receive a 50% share of the album's profits. However, a television advert for the album was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority, who said in a statement: "We considered that the claim 'Leona Lewis's new album' misleadingly implied it was the singer's latest recording rather than a new CD of tracks recorded some years ago." The album was released to iTunes in standard and deluxe editions, and two EPs, "Private Party" and "Dip Down"/"Joy", were released in September 2009.
The first single released from Echo was "Happy", which was written by Lewis, Tedder and Evan Bogart and produced by Tedder. The single was released on 15 September 2009, peaking at number two in the UK, and reaching the top ten in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Japan and Switzerland. Lewis also recorded the theme song for the 2009 science fiction film Avatar, directed by James Cameron. The song, "I See You", was written by James Horner and Simon Franglen. It was nominated for Best Original Song at the 67th Golden Globe Awards. Another usage of Lewis's album can be found in "My Hands", which was used in the international release of the Square Enix video game Final Fantasy XIII. In January 2010, Lewis provided vocals on a cover of "Everybody Hurts", released to help raise money for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The second single from Echo, "I Got You", was released in February 2010. In April 2010, she featured on a duet with Italian singer Biagio Antonacci, called "Inaspettata (Unexpected)", from his album Inaspettata. They performed the song on the Italian TV show Io Canto on 22 October 2010. Lewis performed a 13-piece set list at the Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon, Portugal, on 22 May 2010, including songs from Spirit and Echo.
Lewis signed a book deal in January 2009 to release an illustrated autobiography in October 2009. The book, Dreams, contains mostly pictures taken by photographer Dean Freeman. At a book signing for Dreams on 14 October 2009, at the Piccadilly branch of Waterstone's book store in central London, Lewis was assaulted by a 29-year-old man from south London who began punching her in the head. He was arrested at the scene; the assailant was sectioned under the Mental Health Act 2007 and was charged with common assault. He admitted to the offence and was hospitalised for an indeterminate period.
Lewis's first tour, titled The Labyrinth supporting Spirit and Echo, started in May 2010. Lewis was scheduled to tour North America from July to August 2010 supporting Christina Aguilera's Bionic Tour, but Aguilera cancelled the tour, leaving Lewis's plans unknown. A DVD of the tour, along with a ten-track CD, was released with the title The Labyrinth Tour Live from The O2 on 29 November 2010.
2011–2013: Hurt, Glassheart, and Christmas, with Love[]
Main articles: Hurt: The EP; Glassheart; and Christmas, with Love
Lewis began work on her third album, Glassheart, shortly after she had completed The Labyrinth tour. Though originally announced to be released on 28 November 2011 in the UK, it was eventually released in October 2012. The album was released on the RCA Records brand after RCA Music Group disbanded J Records along with Arista Records and Jive Records. Lewis described Glassheart as "energetic, deep, [and] unique" and said it would have a darker tone. She cited Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush and Tears for Fears as the album's primary influences. For the album, Lewis worked with numerous writers and producers including Ammo, Jonas Quant, Chuck Harmony, Claude Kelly, Ryan Tedder, Fraser T Smith, Al Shux, Steve Robson, Dallas Austin, Rico Love and Ne-Yo.
Lewis released a single, the dance-pop song "Collide", written by Autumn Rowe and produced by Sandy Vee, in the UK on 4 September 2011 and Germany on 9 September 2011. It debuted on the official UK top 40 singles chart at number 4. Furthermore, "Collide" charted at number one on the Dance Club Songs (Billboard) in the US, with the Afrojack remix nominated for Best Remixed Recording at the 2012 Grammy Awards. Lewis released an EP on 9 December 2011, Hurt: The EP, containing three covers. Lewis went on to perform on the American version of X Factor, and as the featured performer for the closing of the 2011 Doha Film Festival, where she sang ten songs, including several cover versions. In June 2012, she performed at BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend 2012 after being announced on 25 May 2011 as an ambassador for the event. It was the BBC's biggest ever free-ticketed live music event. Following the announcement that Lewis would be an ambassador, she performed a special Live Lounge at the Hackney Empire, with a reggae version of "Better in Time", which incorporated Rihanna's "Man Down", and a cover of Labrinth's "Let the Sun Shine". At the Hackney Weekend, Lewis performed further cover versions and debuted the song "Come Alive" from Glassheart.
In August 2012, Lewis announced that the lead single from Glassheart would be "Trouble", released on 7 October 2012. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number seven. The album debuted at number three in the UK and at number four in Ireland, respectively. The second single, "Lovebird", failed to reach the UK top 200 in the absence of radio support. Lewis embarked on a 16-date tour in the UK beginning in April 2013.
In February 2013, Lewis left her management, Modest! Management. It was announced that she would begin work on her fourth studio album, which would be released later in the year. In July 2013, Lewis revealed that her new studio album would be a "Motown-influenced" Christmas collection, with both classic covers and original material. The album, Christmas, with Love, was released on 2 December 2013 and the lead single, "One More Sleep", was released on 5 November 2013. Lewis performed the song on the semi-final of the tenth series of The X Factor on 8 December 2013. The same day, "One More Sleep" debuted at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart with Christmas, with Love debuting at number 25 on the UK Albums Chart. A week later, Christmas, with Love advanced to number 13 and "One More Sleep" climbed 31 places to number 3, making it Lewis's highest-charting single since 2009's "Happy". With "One More Sleep" peaking inside the top five on the UK Singles Chart, Lewis set a new record for British female solo artist with the most top five singles in the history of the chart, bringing her total to eight. She has overtaken Olivia Newton-John's tally of seven top five singles.
2013 - present: Departure from Syco, Island Records and move into theatre[]
In December 2013, she released what would be her final album with Syco, the seasonal "Christmas, with Love", which stalled at #12 but produced the hit single "One More Sleep", surpassing Olivia Newton John's tally of UK Top 5 singles. After her departure from Syco she signed with Island Records to release her fourth studio album "I Am", which also failed to crack the UK Top 10, stalling at #13. Following this, the label dropped her and she decided to pursue a career in theatre, even moving to the US to appear on Broadway in a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats", playing the role of Grizabella.
Over the course of her career, she has sold over 20 million records worldwide, making her the most successful winner of the original version of the show and Syco's second most successful act after One Direction. She returned to the show to perform during the final with Series 15 finalist Scarlett Lee.
2014–present: I Am, collaborations, and acting[]
Lewis featured on Michael Bolton's cover of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" for his album of the same name, which was released in May 2014. The same month, she performed the traditional pre-match anthem "Abide with Me", and the national anthem "God Save the Queen", at the FA Cup Final, and the song "La La La" with Naughty Boy at the 2014 World Music Awards.
In June 2014, Lewis had parted ways with Syco Music, and signed a new record deal with Universal Music's Island Records UK. Lewis later revealed that her departure from Syco had come after "several years" of consideration. She also stated that when she expressed her desire to part with the label, she was threatened with the public being told that she had been dropped instead of parting amicably. However, further creative differences in relation to her fifth studio album finally caused Lewis to leave the label. Of her departure, she stated, "I was asked to make a record that would not have been true to myself. By all means as an artist in this climate, I was thankful to even get the chance to make another record. But I cannot make music that does not speak to my soul, and as scary as it seemed, I could no longer compromise myself, and so I decided to leave".
In April 2015, during an intimate showcase in London, Lewis revealed "Fire Under My Feet" to be the lead single from her fifth studio album. The song premiered on BBC Radio 2 on 11 May 2015. In July, "I Am" and "Thunder", were released as the album's second and third singles, respectively; "Thunder" served as the album's lead single in the US. The album I Am was released on 11 September 2015, in the UK. That day, Lewis announced her third headlining concert tour, titled the I Am Tour, which ran from February to March 2016. On 13 September 2015, she performed songs from I Am during her set on the main stage at Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park. On 26 September 2015, Lewis appeared as a special guest at the Nashville concert on Taylor Swift's The 1989 World Tour, where the pair performed "Bleeding Love" as a duet. After the show, Swift took to Twitter, stating, "Oh my God @leonalewis sang 'Bleeding Love' tonight in Nashville and I may never recover". In December 2015, Lewis performed a cover of "Girl Crush" with Adam Lambert at the CMT Artists of the Year event. The performance earned the pair a CMT Music Award nomination in 2016.
Lewis split from Island Records in June 2016 because of "something that didn't click". In December, she reimagined Hans Zimmer's "Now We Are Free" on the album Hans Zimmer: The Classics. The following December, she paid tribute to Lionel Richie with a performance at the 40th Annual Kennedy Center Honors. In 2018, Lewis collaborated with Calum Scott on a new version of his song "You Are the Reason" recorded as a duet, with Pitbull on "Amore", the lead single for the 2018 film Gotti, and with Hellberg on the song "Headlights". "You Are the Reason" peaked at number 43 in the UK and charted across the world, and was later certified gold by the BPI and platinum by the RIAA. In 2018, Lewis performed at the National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C., and at the 92nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. She appeared as a musical guest in an episode of NBC's 2019 television show Songland, searching for upcoming songwriters. Lewis recorded the winning song, "Solo Quiero (Somebody to Love)", which was written during the show. In November 2019, she performed at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, at Royal Albert Hall, London, honouring servicemen and veterans.
During this period, Lewis turned to acting. She appeared in a supporting role of Elena in the 1980s-inspired 2014 musical film Walking on Sunshine. She also made her Broadway debut, as Grizabella, in the July 2016 revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats. She left the role, after three months of playing the character, on 9 October 2016. In 2018, she was cast in the recurring role of Amber Hall in the Sony Crackle's TV series The Oath, which premiered in February 2019. Lewis also appeared as a judge on the UK TV series The X Factor: The Band.
In December 2020, Lewis sang alongside Smokey Robinson, Tori Kelly and Sam Fischer on a cover of "What The World Needs Now", with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross. Lewis announced she would tour with Gary Barlow on his All the Hits Live 2021 tour, in November and December 2021 in arenas across the UK and Ireland. It was her first time touring since the 2016 I Am Tour.
In August 2021, Lewis featured alongside singer James Morrison on the debut album of songwriter Diane Warren, on a song titled "Grow Old with Me". On 28 October 2021, Lewis announced she would be a judge on the Paramount+ series Queen of the Universe, which premiered in December. In November 2021, Lewis released the song "Kiss Me It's Christmas", featuring Ne-Yo. The song features on the re-issue of the 2013 album Christmas, with Love, titled Christmas, with Love Always, released on 19 November 2021. In December 2021, Lewis was named Spotify Equal UK and Ireland Artist of the Month. In the same month, Lewis was a special guest on BBC One's I Can See Your Voice Christmas special. Lewis also performed at the Royal Carols: Together at Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey. The concert, hosted by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, celebrated the heroes and volunteers of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March 2022, Lewis received a nomination at the 2022 Music Week Awards, for her Christmas, with Love Always marketing campaign in 2021. In October 2023, Lewis voiced the character of "London Lilly" in Snoop Dogg's children's series Doggyland. In November 2023, Lewis starred in the animated Christmas film Glisten and the Merry Mission, voicing the character "Glisten".
In November and December 2023, Lewis played various arenas and theatres across the UK on the Christmas with Love Tour. In 2024, the UK Official Charts named Lewis' 2013 Christmas single "One More Sleep" the most-played modern Christmas song in the UK. In March 2025, Billboard named Lewis one of the "Top 100 Women Artists of the 21st Century" in the US.
On July 28, 2025, Lewis announced her upcoming Las Vegas residency at The Venetian Resort, called A Starry Night, running from November 2025 to January 2026.
Discography[]
- Spirit (2007)
- Echo (2009)
- Glassheart (2012)
- Christmas, with Love (2013)
- I Am (2015)
Judging Role[]
Hackney, London, England
Lewis appeared as a guest judge on Series 9 of The X Factor UK. In 2019, she returned as a judge on The X Factor: The Band alongside Simon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger.
| UK Series 3 Finalists | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashley McKenzie • Ben Mills • Dionne Mitchell • Eton Road • 4Sure • Kerry McGregor • Leona Lewis • Nikitta Angus • Ray Quinn • Robert Allen • The MacDonald Brothers • The Unconventionals | |||
| The X Factor UK Winners | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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