The X-Factor with Simon Cowell has indeed been a blessing since the inception of the show, as it has given a platform to a lot of raw but gifted artists who have become world-class stars such the all-boys group, One Direction. Also to be mentioned in that line is Leona Lewis, the British born songbird, model, and actress.
Lewis won the show in 2006 and shot into the spotlight with her first album Spirit in 2007 which was 10 times platinum certified in the UK and also the 4th bestseller (album) of the 2000s. Here are some interesting facts about this wonderful diva, her ethnicity, parents, and of course why we have not seen her active in the music industry as well as what happened to her; read on.
Leona Lewis Bio, Age
Born as Leona Louise Lewis in Hackney, London, on April 3, 1985, and raised in Islington, Borough, Leona Lewis grew up alongside her younger brother, Kyle. She holds the British nationality and a mixed ethnicity which includes African Guyana, Irish, Italian, and Welsh. She also has an older half-brother named Bradley.
Early in life, Leona Lewis showed a great passion for singing which prompted her parents to send her to Sylvia Young Theatre School where she studied before she proceeded to Italia Conti Academy of Theater Arts. Not satisfied, she joined the Ravenscourt Theatre School before she ended her educational pursuit at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology.
The talented and young Leona Lewis scripted her own first song when she was just 12 years old. Her training in music was mainly Opera based before she moved on to trying out blues, jazz, and other genres of music.
At the age of 17, she quit school to chase her dream as a musician and singer in the entertainment industry. She dropped her first demo album titled Twilight but the album failed to get her the desired record label signing she so much needed. She joggled all manner of odd jobs to pay for her studio session for the album that was never released publicly.
Luckily, the stars smiled at her when the 3rd season of the X Factor music reality show was announced in 2006. She signed up for it and performed excellently well and won the show with 60% of the votes cast. She also got the prize money of £1 million and a recording contract with Syco Music (owned by Simon Cowell). Her winning song was her remake of Kelly Clarkson’s A Moment Like Like This. The cover song made history with over 50,000 downloads in about 30 minutes and it also spotted the number 1 place on the UK Singles Chart for 4 weeks.
This feat earned her national honor in 2006 and also a 5-album contract with US-based J Records. From then on, she launched a beautiful and lucrative musical career with back to back commercially successful songs that have topped various music charts across the globe. Hit songs from her debut album Spirit (2007) , such as Bleeding Love, Better In Time and Homeless continued to top several music charts.
The 5 feet 6 inches tall pop singer released her second album Echo in 2009. Her other chart-topping studio albums include Glassheart (2012), Christmas With Love (2013) and I Am (2015). Leona Lewis has collaborated with various top acts in the course of her singing career such as Ryan Tedder, Naughty Boy, Calum Scott, Max Martin, Avicii , Justin Timberlake, etc.
She got the opportunity of singing at the closing ceremony of the 2008 summer Olympics with Led Zeppelin. Moreover, she signed a book contract in 2009, titled Dreams , sadly she was assaulted during the book signing ceremony by a man who was eliminated at the X-factor and she was left with bruises from the incidence.
In 2014, she made her first movie appearance in Walking on Sunshine , a romantic comedy piece, where she took the role, Elena. She thereafter featured in the Broadway theatre production of Cat in 2016 as Grizabella.
She has been a strong voice in the advocacy of animal welfare and protection. Moreso, she has shown support over time to the Little Kids Rock Foundation, a music education based NGO in t he USA.
Her contribution in the entertainment industry has not gone unnoticed as she was nominated 60 times for awards, 33 of which she went home with such as the MOBO, MTV Video, and World Music Awards, to mention a few.
Her current net worth is estimated to be within $30 million, all of which she amassed from her record sales as well as her tours, a perfume line, and her autobiographic book, among other ventures.
Parents
This talented diva was born to an African-Guyanese father, Aural Josiah Lewis while her mother, Maria Lewis hails from Wales but has an Ireland and Italy ancestry. Both of her parents were together for 20 years before they tied the knot and they have been super supportive of their daughter’s musical career.
Who Is Her Husband?
With regards to Leona Lewis love life, she is not yet married but she is sure engaged to her longtime partner, Dennis Jauch. She was previously in a 10 years romantic relationship with Lou Al Chamaa, who was her childhood love and one-time employee of Sony Music. They both co-founded a fashion line which eventually packed up in 2012. They dated from 2000 to 2010 before they went their separate ways.
She later met Dennis Jauch during one of her tours about 8 years ago who became one of her backup dancers. Dennis Jauch is a choreographer and the pair have been dating since 2010. He proposed to the Homeless crooner in November 2018, however, the couple is yet to walk down the aisle at the time of this writing.
What Happened To Her?
Rumor had it that the pop diva had lost her voice and could no longer sustain her falsetto after she underwent her nose reconstructive surgery in 2011 but that is far from the truth. The fact is that from 2007 to 2013, Leona Lewis overworked her voice during the three major tours and concerts while she performed 17 high pitched songs (that have made her likened to Celine Dion, Whitney Houston , and Mariah Carey ), back to back for 64 nights without rest, a deed that took its toll on her voice. However, this never ended her career nor had anything to do with her disappearance from the scene.
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In 2017, Leona Lewis was diagnosed with Hashimoto disease (an autoimmune disorder that causes the production of abnormal antibodies which adversely affect the thyroids). She was very ill that she lost some body mass and was even bedridden, thus, she has taken time off to fully recover from her ill health.