Leona Lewis

Blessed with a powerful voice that invited comparisons to Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis transcended her 2006 win of the U.K. music competition The X Factor to become an international superstar. Lewis went to the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. She left at 17 to pursue a career in music in the real world. The international smash 'Bleeding Love,' turned Lewis into a celebrity in 2007.

After collecting the throne in X-Factor 2006, Leona Lewis immediately started her career. She first hit big with a cover of Kelly Clarkson's 'A Moment Like This' before hitting big on her own with the album Spirit in 2007. Spirit generated further hits in 2007 and 2008: 'Better in Time,' 'Footprints in the Sand,' 'Forgive Me,' and 'Run' were all Top 10 hits in the U.K. Lewis returned with Glassheart in 2012. Her album, I Am, debuted at 12 in the U.K. but generated no major hits; its first single, 'Fire Under My Feet,' peaked at 51 in 2015. In the summer of 2016, Lewis starred as Grizabella in a Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, during which time she announced her split from Island and released the charity single '(We All Are) Looking for Home.'