| Leona Lewis | |
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| Performer Profile | |
| Birth Date | 3 April 1985 |
| Hometown | Islington, London, England |
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| Appearance(s) | 7 Week 9: Semifinals 9 Week 9: Semifinals |
Leona Louise Lewis is a British singer, songwriter, actress, model and activist.
She has been a guest performer in Dancing with the Stars in seasons seven and nine. Couples have danced to her songs in other seasons as well.
Biography[]
She was born and raised in the London Borough of Islington in London, where she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. Lewis achieved national recognition when she won the third series of The X Factor in 2006, winning a £1 million recording contract with Simon Cowell's record label, Syco Music. Her winner's single, a cover of Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This", peaked at number one for four weeks on the UK Singles Chart and it broke a world record for reaching 50,000 digital downloads within thirty minutes. In February 2007, Lewis signed a five-album contract in the United States with Clive Davis's record label, J Records. She embarked on her first UK arena tour, The Labyrinth, in 2010. Lewis began to record material for her first Christmas album during her Glassheart Tour, which took place in mid 2013. Christmas, with Love was released later that year. Its lead single, "One More Sleep", peaked at number three in the UK. With this chart entry, Lewis became the first British female solo artist to reach the top five with eight singles, surpassing Olivia Newton-John's record of seven.
With a career starting in 2006, Lewis is the second best-selling act from The X Factor franchise in the UK, behind One Direction, having sold over thirty million records worldwide. Lewis has won two MOBO Awards, an MTV Europe Music Award, and two World Music Awards. She is also a six-time Brit Award and three-time Grammy Award nominee. Lewis is known for her expansive four-octave vocal range, power, technical control and, in particular, her frequent use of the falsetto register. Aside from her musical career, Lewis is a philanthropist and an animal welfare campaigner for World Animal Protection and is a supporter of other animal rights charities and organisations; she is also a vegetarian.
In 2014, Lewis made her film debut in the supporting role of Elena in the romantic comedy musical Walking on Sunshine. In 2016, Lewis made her Broadway debut as Grizabella in the revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats, playing the role from July to October. In 2017, Lewis signed a modelling contract with Wilhelmina Models. In 2018, Lewis and Calum Scott released the duet "You Are The Reason", with Lewis also collaborating with Pitbull on a song for the film Gotti. In late 2018 Lewis released the song "Headlights" with producer Hellberg. In 2019, Lewis appeared in the US TV series The Oath and was a musical guest in the NBC show Songland, releasing the single "Solo Quiero (Somebody to Love)".