Leona Lewis Bleeding Love for US
UK Singer Backed by Clive Davis Prepares To Conquer American Charts
While America continues to vote on the next Idol, could the US be ready for Leona Lewis, the chart topping, record breaking X-Factor winner from the UK?
Already a household name in her native UK, Leona Lewis sets her eyes on America. While US Radio has passed on recent success stories from the UK like Mika, Lily Allen and, until recently, Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis has the backing of a musical giant.
Clive Davis, the man behind the success of Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys is backing the 22-year-old singer to the point that he had her play at his pre-Grammy Party. Past musical acts to play at this party and go on to have tremendous success include Maroon 5, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia and Carrie Underwood.
Leona Lewis the Next American Idol
Like Hudson, Fantasia and Underwood, Leona Lewis won on a televised hit show, X-Factor, under the scrutiny of Simon Cowell, who created and judged the British talent show.
Unlike them, Leona Lewis has not been singing in America’s living rooms for the last 4 months, getting votes from the general public. Leona Lewis must carve out an audience from scratch in the United States.
If her success in the UK is any indication of her potential to conquer America, she should have no problem winning the hearts of fans of Whitney, Mariah or Alicia. Her dynamic voice and incredible range powered her first single, a colour by numbers remake of Kelly Clarkson’s first chart hit “A Moment Like This”, to the top of the UK Chart for 4 weeks in late 2006.
Leona Lewis Breaks UK Records
Meanwhile, her second single, the incredible “Bleeding Love” sold 218,805 units in its first week alone. Co-written and produced by OneRepublic lead vocalist, Ryan "Alias" Tedder, “Bleeding Love” debuted at number 1 on the UK charts and remained there for 7 consecutive weeks, making it the biggest selling single of 2007, besting even that of Rihanna’s "Umbrella", according to the Official UK Chart Company.
For 2 consecutive years, Leona Lewis has had the best selling UK single of the year, with only 2 singles under her belt.
Lewis’ first full length album Spirit sold 375,872 units in the UK and topped the charts there for 7 weeks when it was released in November 2007. Spirit even outsold heavy chart contenders like the reunited Spice Girls Greatest Hits album, and has since sold over 2 million records worldwide.
Leona Lewis has been nominated for 4 Brit Awards on February 26, 2008, including Best British Single and Best British Breakthrough Act
Her debut album, Spirit, will be released in the U.S. in March. “Bleeding Love” is available for download now at iTunes and other online music stores.
