Leona Lewis Parts Ways With Simon Cowell To Join Universal’s Island Records
She was The X Factor's first global superstar but after seven years with Simon Cowell, Leona Lewis has finally decided to leave his record label!
Leona was signed to Syco Music after winning the third series of The X Factor in 2006 and she fast became one of world's biggest pop stars. Her infectious single 'Bleeding Love' and incredible debut album 'Spirit' both topped a crazy amount of charts and they launched her into international stardom.Things were really looking up for Leona right? Wrong. While her first record was hugely successful, Leona's follow-up albums 'Echo' and 'Glassheart' underperformed and we'd say that this was due to poor decisions made by Simon Cowell and his team. There was so much missed potential with Leona!
Safe single choices were picked and Syco failed to show Leona's diverse musical ability. Her dance tracks 'Outta My Head' and 'Glassheart' would have made perfect singles and they'd have shown the public that Leona can do more than just sing ballads. Instead, we got more slow songs which were nice but predictable.
Something had to change and signing a new contract with Universal's Island Records may be enough to help Leona win the public back around; we hope so anyway. Speaking about her new deal, Leona said:
"After seven incredible years at Sony I feel honoured to be given the opportunity to sign to perhaps the most iconic label of all, Island Records. To me Island has always been a label where artists can really flourish and are encouraged to express themselves. Island stands for quality music and signing with such a legendary label is really like a dream come true for me. I can't wait to start making music with my new team."
Darcus Beese, the current president of Island Records, said he's 'absolutely thrilled' to have Leona on board at the label and we can see why too; her talent is definitely still there so there's lots to work with. Other artists currently signed to Island Records include: Jessie J, Alex Clare, Nicki Minaj and Drake.
We're 'Happy' to hear that Leona and Simon Cowell haven't fallen out either. Singers don't always leave record labels on good terms but the X Factor judge tweeted the following yesterday; "@SimonCowell: Congratulations Leona. We had 7 great years together and now wish you all the best for the future. You put X Factor on the map. X"
He even put a kiss at the end, awww, isn't that nice? We're glad they parted ways peacefully. Simon may not have made all the right decisions when it came to Leona's career but he did help put her name out there.
Leona is set to go into the recording studio with Island Records soon and we can't wait to hear what her new music will sound like. Maybe they'll take her in a whole new musical direction? We'll have to wait and see!
