After a 6-year hiatus, the 36-year-old is reportedly ready to return to the spotlight with the aim of becoming the UK’s “Queen of Christmas”, a title famously held by Mariah Carey. If released this year Lewis’ new album could be a contender for this year’s Christmas number one.

A source has informed The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column concerning Lewis’ new album. The source discusses the singer’s new album’s release schedule. “It might feel early to be discussing Christmas in September, but it has been in the works for well over a year. Leona has recorded loads of new songs and there are some real belters in there. There’s real momentum behind her.”

The newspaper’s source continues to discuss how the Christmas musical icon Carey has cornered the market for Christmas music whilst discussing how Lewis can follow in the “Hero” singer’s footsteps. “Mariah banks millions every year from her single ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’, its accompanying album ‘Merry Christmas’ and loads of big-money brand deals like her one with Walkers a few years ago. It’s a really lucrative opportunity for Leona to follow suit.”

They then reported how Lewis’ alleged issues within the music industry have reportedly caused struggles within her career whilst reminding readers of how the singer began her career. “She hasn’t had the easiest ride in music, especially over the last decade because of issues with record labels. But now she is throwing herself head-first into this comeback which her team think will help remind the British public why she won millions of fans on ‘The X Factor’ all those years ago.”

Lewis is no stranger to success within the Christmas music market, the singer’s debut single “A Moment Like This” became the UK Christmas number one in 2006. At the time of release, the single broke the world record with downloads via digital platforms and accrued 50,000 sales in below 30 minutes. The single sold 571,000 copies during its debut release week and spent over a month within the UK singles chart. The single was the singer’s winning song within the X-Factor, during the televised competition Lewis was often compared to Carey due to her vocal talent and style.

Lewis’ next Christmas success came from her fourth studio album Christmas, with Love, the album was released on 29th November 2013. The 10-track album included three original tracks in which Lewis co-wrote, “One More Sleep”, “Mr Right” and “Your Hallelujah”. “One More Sleep” has now acquired a sales record of over 100mln and has entered into the Christmas zeitgeist becoming one of the most streamed Christmas tracks within the UK. The single initially reached number three within the UK charts but is a regular re-appearance within the charts over the holiday period.

The rest of the release features seven covers including such classics as “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home”, “O Holy Night” and “Silent Night”. All three covers were also recorded by Carey and released from her initial studio Christmas album Merry Christmas. The celebrated singer’s holiday album was released on 28th October 1994 and propelled Carey’s already blossoming career further. The album has become a classic and iconic album boasting immense commercial successes being certified platinum over eight times

The “Bleeding Love” singer will be hitting the road this year with various dates starting in November, Lewis will be supporting Gary Barlow on his Music Played by Humans tour. Full details are below.

Leona Lewis UK tour dates

27/11/2021 – The SSE Arena – Belfast
30/11 – P&J Live – Aberdeen
01/12 – The SSE Hydro – Glasgow
02/12 – Utilita Arena – Sheffield
05/12 – Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff
06/12 – Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff
07/12 – Motorpoint Arena – Nottingham
09/12 – AO Arena – Manchester
10/12 – Resorts World Arena – Birmingham
11/12 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
13/12 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool
16/12- The O2 – London
17/12 – The O2 – London
18/12 – Utilita Arena – Newcastle Upon Tyne

Elsewhere Sir Rod Stewart, who scored a hit in North America with his 1987 cover of Cooke’s hit Twistin’ The Night Away, paid tribute to the soul legend on Twitter, calling the artist “my one and only influence.” The Maggie May singer posted: “How many thousands of hours I spent trying to sound like you and never came close. Without Sam, there may not have been a Rod.”

Happy Birthday, my one and only influence.
How many thousands of hours I spent trying to sound like you and never came close.
Without Sam, there may not have been a Rod.
Just think if you were still alive we could have been mates.

– Sir Rod Stewart CBE
#ToastToSamCooke pic.twitter.com/QtPLOG5CwK

— Sir Rod Stewart (@rodstewart) January 22, 2021

Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1931, Cooke’s early forays into music were encouraged by his father, a minister. Like so many other musicians from a Baptist background in the American south (from BB King, Chuck Berry and Little Richard to Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner), he translated his roots in gospel music into the burgeoning new frontier of blues, rock, pop and soul.

Cooke would go on to become one of the pre-eminent songwriters of the late 1950s and early 1960s; penning a plethora of stellar hit singles including Chain Gang; Cupid; Bring It On Home To Me; Wonderful World; Having A Party; You Send Me, Twistin’ The Night Away; and perhaps his most poignant and compelling number – A Change Is Gonna Come. Inspired by his own experiences of racism in the segregated south, it would go on to become an anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, and in 2007 was selected for formal preservation in the US Library of Congress, with the American National Recording Registry deeming the song to be of “cultural, historic or aesthetic importance.”

A number of British and Irish artists have reaped the benefits of Cooke’s back catalogue over the years. Isle of Wight-born singer and former milkman Craig Douglas scored a UK number one single with Cooke’s track Only Sixteen in 1959, before Manchester beat-poppers Herman’s Hermits scored a top ten on both sides of the Pond with their cover of Wonderful World. Elsewhere Cat Stevens enjoyed a transatlantic of his own with Cooke’s classic ode to post-romantic doldrums Another Saturday Night in 1974; while You Send Me has been covered by the likes of Van Morrison, Steven Houghton and Fairground Attraction, as well as aforementioned Sam Cooke superfan Rod Stewart.

Cooke’s death in mysterious circumstances in 1964 deprived the industry of a seismic but flawed talent at the age of just 33. However, his rich musical legacy has lived on. The vocalist’s granddaughter Nicole Cooke-Johnson – who helped introduce the #ToastToSamCooke on social media this weekend – told People magazine that she was overwhelmed by the tributes that had been paid to her grandfather ahead of his 90th birthday, saying: “The people who were responding to participating in his toast for his birthday this weekend — I was shocked. To see all of the artists, all of the people who were influenced by him… I wish I could tell you all the countless stories I had about how his music has impacted people or influenced them.”

#ToastToSamCooke STARTS NOW with a special message from Sam’s granddaughter and steward of his legacy, Nicole Cooke-Johnson! pic.twitter.com/HH8O2yM6ud — Sam Cooke (@OfficialSCooke) January 22, 2021

Cooke’s legacy was also celebrated in Regina King’s 2020 drama One Night In Miami, which depicted a fictionalised meeting between the soul icon, Muhammad Ali, American Football star Jim Brown and Malcolm X, who is portrayed on screen by London-born actor Kingsley Ben-Adir. It became the first film directed by a female African-American director to premiere at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, and received overwhelmingly-positive critical reviews, with The Guardian hailing an “electrifying directorial debut” from King.

It is a unique quirk of these times that fans find themselves waiting an entire year before they are able to see their favourite artists touring in support of an album release but it is a situation that many of us have sadly had to get used to this year. In fact, fans of artists like Dua Lipa and Glass Animals, whose albums came out earlier in the year have had to adjust to waiting even longer than a year for a tour to materialise. ‘Music Played By Humans,’ charted at number 1, his most successful chart performance since 2012’s ‘Sing,’ may be a sign of a return to this successful as well as the heights of 1997’s ‘Open Road.’

Speaking about the announcement on her instagram, Leona Lewis said that she was ‘beyond excited to be invited to join Gary Barlow next year on tour! She also said, referring to the ongoing restrictions which have been placed on live music this year, ‘I’ve missed performing so much and am counting down the days until I can be back on the stage singing with my fans who have continued to be amazing throughout this crazy year.’ Fans of Gary Barlow and Leona Lewis alike will surely be counting down the days till they can see their favourite singers performing live once again.

Tickets for the tour can be bought here, with early dates starting in Belfast and Ireland in the summer of 2021 and the rest of the UK dates beginning in November and continuing through to December. Fans got a taste of what they might be able to expect from the tour when Gary Barlow appeared last week on The Royal Variety Performance for the Royal Family. He performed a version of ‘Incredible,’ taken from the ‘Music Played By Humans,’ album with a live orchestra and the effect was stunning.

In a world of pop music which is increasingly saturated with singers performing to backing tracks, it is refreshing to see Gary Barlow taking a stand against this and making a deliberate effort to include real musicians in his tour. It is also exciting to see him performing with a full orchestra, rather than the now standardised Rock and Pop lineup which most artists which do use real musicians will be performing with, the orchestra approach is a throwback to the music of the early 20th century which featured much more traditional instrumentation.

Full UK dates for Gary Barlow’s 2021 ‘Music Made By Humans,’ tour are as follows:

21/06/2021 – The SSE Arena – Belfast
31/11 – P&J Live – Aberdeen
1/12 – The SSE Hydro – Glasgow
2/12 – FlyDSA Arena – Sheffield
5/12 – Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff
6/12 – Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff
7/12 – Motorpoint Arena – Nottingham
9/12 – AO Arena – Manchester
10/12 – Resorts World Arena – Birmingham
11/12 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
13/12 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool
16/12 – The O2 Arena – London
17/12 – The O2 Arena – London
18/12 – Utilita Arena – Newcastle

Cowell, best known for creating the X Factor in 2004 and Got Talent in 2006, sold his share of Syco Music and Syco Television to Sony Music Entertainment but stayed involved until now. In a statement, Simon spoke about the decision, saying; “The shows we created have found so many amazing artists over the years and so many of the various Sony labels all over the world have enabled so many of those artists to fulfil their dreams. We have all shared some incredible achievements, and importantly we have had lots of fun.”

He added: “I won’t say this was an easy decision to make, however sometimes you have to personally support something you are so passionate about. I’ve always believed it’s important to take on new goals in order to drive new ideas and creativity so I’m very excited to be taking an independent and creatively-led Syco Entertainment into the future.”

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#Repost from @OneDirection – Throwback to the guys with Simon Cowell following their epic @TheXFactor Final performance of ‘History’!

A post shared by @ simoncowell on Apr 14, 2016 at 7:33am PDT

Syco Records has previously represented huge acts like Little Mix, One Direction and Leona Lewis, who have all left since, some even saying how they felt they were being held back by the label. Following their split in 2015, Louis Tomlinson was the only One Direction member who signed back up to the label.

An insider has spoken to The Sun about the news saying; “This deal is huge. Simon has had to pay a massive amount to regain control of Syco Entertainment. That has meant he is no longer involved in Syco Music but it’s not in great shape right now. Leaving it now makes sense for him because he can instead focus on his Got Talent shows, as those are his money-makers now.”

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A post shared by @simoncowell on Apr 16, 2016 at 8:57am PDT

The talented artist appeared on ITV’s This Morning on a live video call from LA to share the cover. She spoke to one of the UK’s favourite television duos, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, on why she decided to share her version of the song. She said, ‘I wanted to record a tribute because I’ve been seeing all the amazing work the healthcare workers are doing. Seeing their dedication and seeing how much they’re putting on the line for us really just moved me to record a cover version of this song.’

After a short chat between the three, the programme showed the full video recorded by Lewis as she sings the extremely moving and emotional Angels. The track is accompanied with a video of herself singing from her home studio and is at first surrounded by clips of the band who have helped Lewis perform the cover. As the video goes on, images of healthcare workers wearing masks are shown as a montage in order to share just a handful of the faces who have worked endlessly to help save the lives of thousands across the UK.

Since airing the cover, fans have taken to social media to share their thoughts. Many have been asking if the cover is available to purchase as it just sounds so beautiful, while others are completely overwhelmed and feel emotional listening to it.

#ThisMorning @ITV
Watching Leona Lewis sing Robbie Williams Angel’s and it made me cry, so, so beautiful

— LouBeLou (@lynnych) July 1, 2020

Lewis’ angelic voice has not been a stranger to our television screens as she first appeared on the X Factor in 2006. She won the show with her powerful cover of Kelly Clarkson’s A Moment Like This, which became the Christmas number one for that year. She has since released a number of heartfelt and sensational singles, including Bleeding Love, Run, You Are The Reason and even another catchy Christmas song, One More Sleep.

Click the video below to watch the full mesmerising cover of Angels and tribute to all healthcare workers performed by Leona Lewis.

“Hi, everyone. I just wanted to share something because with all the heaviness that’s going on right now, especially in America, I’ve heard a lot of people in the UK saying, ‘Oh year, it’s really bad in America. It’s not like that in the UK’,“ the singer started off the clip with an acknowledgment of the current controversy surrounding racism in the UK..

She recounted to the day she and her father went shopping a high street in Chelsea, London, and entered this particular shop on the street. Noticing that they were the only black people in the shop, the “Bleeding Love” hitmaker suddenly saw the lady store owner with a disapproving glance towards them. Approaching Lewis and her father, the owner said, “You need to put that stuff down. You’re not allowed to touch it.”

After that, the situation escalated into an argument in which the owner threatened to call the police on the two. Finally, they decided to leave the store, with the singer feeling “so enraged“.

The shocking bit from the story is when the star left furious and devastated by the situation, her dad came to confront the owner once again with Lewis’s music CD. “He went back into the store, and he came out like five minutes later, and there was a knock on the window.”

The lady came to apologise for not recognising who Lewis was: “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know who you were.” The singer responded to the owner and said, “You’re racist. You’re a racist,” and unsurprisingly, the owner denied and claimed that she “got scared” and was afraid they might steal something.

In the last part of the video, the 35-year-old pleaded people to “say something” and stand with victims of racism. “You need to stand with us, and you need to acknowledge that it’s happening because when you don’t, you’re diminishing the pain and our humanity,” said the star.

ดูโพสต์นี้บน Instagram

This deeply impacted me. I hope you will listen until the end x

โพสต์ที่แชร์โดย Leona Lewis (@leonalewis) เมื่อ มิ.ย. 6, 2020 เวลา 12:45pm PDT

Leona Lewis rose to fame after winning the third series of The X Factor in 2006, and went to build her stardom with global hit “Bleeding Love” from her debut ‘Spirit‘. Her last album was 2015’s ‘I Am‘, and she has not released any new music ever since. In 2019, however, the star revealed that she was back in the studio to make new music again.

The “One More Sleep” singer was born to a Welsh mother and a father of Guyanese descent, which she called “a beautiful representation of what that unity” meant for her.