LEONA LEWIS JOINS ISLAND RECORDS UK AND DEF JAM RECORDINGS U.S.
NEW TRACK AND VIDEO, “FIRE UNDER MY FEET,” DEBUTS WORLDWIDE ON VEVO
SPECIAL SHOWCASE AT THE HOSPITAL CLUB IN LONDON PREVIEWS SONGS FROM FORTHCOMING ALBUM I AM TO RAVE REVIEWS
Multi-platinum, award-winning, world-class British singer Leona Lewis becomes the newest artist to join the Def Jam Recordings roster in the U.S. – via Island Records in the UK. Island released her new track and video, “Fire Under My Feet.” http://www.vevo.com/watch/leona-lewis/Fire-Under-My-Feet/GBUV71500226
“Fire Under My Feet,” co-written by Leona and Toby Gad is the first advance single from I AM, Leona’s eagerly anticipated fifth album, set for a fall release worldwide. The album was produced by hitmaker Toby Gad (credits: John Legend, One Direction, Fergie, Alicia Keys). Leona recently released an exclusive trailer for her Facebook and Twitter followers: http://po.st/FIRETeaserFB
At a special late-April showcase at the Hospital Club in London, Leona previewed five songs from I AM to ecstatic reviews. In addition to “Fire Under My Feet,” she sang “I Got You,” “Ladders,” “Thank You,” and the album title track, “I Am.” “At last, Leona Lewis is who she wants to be – and it is truly wonderful to behold,” raved the Daily Express. “’Ladders’ and ‘I Am’ are instant crowd-pleasers with thumping basslines and euphoric choruses, which see Lewis grabbing a tambourine and pounding out a hook on the piano.” Echoed MTV.com, “The singer has made her highly anticipated comeback and we can’t wait for more.”
“This is clearly going to be Leona’s statement album,” declared The Independent. “From what we’ve heard so far it’s full of passion, heartache and struggle, but it’s lined with hope and a general sense that this is the happiest she has ever been with what she is performing. Every man and his dog knows that Leona has an incredibly strong vocal, but now she finally has an equally strong voice to go with it.”
Leona Lewis exploded onto the scene in 2007, when she won the UK’s prestigious Ivor Novello Award, and her RIAA platinum debut album Spirit (10x-platinum in the UK) hit #1 on charts around the world, including the U.S., UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. The album, which sold over 8 million copies worldwide, was buoyed by a quintet of hit singles, including the RIAA quadruple-platinum “Bleeding Love” (#1 in over 35 countries, with 7 weeks at #1 on the UK chart), followed by “Better In Time,” “Footprints in the Sand,” “Forgive Me,” and “Run.” This set a new record for a British female artist with the highest number of singles reaching Top 5.
In the U.S., “Bleeding Love” was #1 for 4 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, the biggest-selling single of 2008, which earned Leona the Billboard Music Award for Top New Artist of the Year. She received three Grammy Award® nominations, and went on to record “I See You (theme from Avatar)” at producer-director James Cameron’s personal request.
Spirit made UK history as the top-selling debut album by a female artist; and Leona became the first UK solo artist to hit #1-bullet on the Hot 100 in the U.S. (with “Bleeding Love”) since 1982, and the first UK solo artist to hit #1 with a debut album. Her double-platinum Echo followed in 2009 (featuring “Happy”), then Glassheart in 2012 (with “Trouble” featuring Childish Gambino), and Christmas, With Love in 2013.
In addition to the Ivor Novello Award and the MTV VMA for Best UK Video (for “Bleeding Love”), Leona has won two MOBO Awards in the UK, and more than 20 music awards in countries around the world.
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