Leon Jackson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Leon Jackson | |
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 Leon at the premiere of the Golden Compass in 2007. Photo: David Johnson
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Leon Jackson |
| Born | December 30, 1988 |
| Origin | Whitburn, Scotland |
| Genre(s) | Adult Contemporary, Pop, Jazz |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Label(s) | Sony BMG, Syco (2007-present) |
| Associated acts | Leona Lewis |
Leon Jackson (born 30 December 1988) is a Scottish singer and winner of the fourth series of the British television talent show The X Factor in 2007. His debut single, "When You Believe", was released in December 2007, and was the UK Christmas number 1 single that year. Following a ten-month hiatus, his debut album Right Now was released in October 2008.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Leon Jackson was born in Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland, and has lived there with his mother Wendy all his life.[1] Before pursuing his singing career, Jackson worked as a retail sales assistant with Gap for a number of years.[2] Jackson only started singing in 2007 when his friends entered him into a karaoke competition, which he won.[3][2] Jackson said that singing was the only thing that made him happy. He was a huge fan of contemporary jazz, his hero being Michael Bublé.[3] Before he made it through to the finals of The X Factor, Jackson had been planning to start an architectural technology course at Napier University.[3] Leon had not lived with his father Phillip since the age of two: Philip died in 2005 from a severe case of pneumonia.
[edit] 2007: The X Factor
In 2007, Leon Jackson auditioned for the fourth series of The X Factor in Glasgow. He made it through to the final stages and was announced the winner on 15 December 2007, winning a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music/Sony BMG.[4] He was mentored by Dannii Minogue.[4] In the final, he performed a duet with Kylie Minogue of "Better the Devil You Know".[4] Jackson was an outsider to win the competition, and his victory was described as "the biggest shock in the history of reality TV betting."[5] ITV have confirmed that Jackson won on the night of the final by around 10% of the popular vote.[6] A number of viewers complained to watchdog Ofcom that they were unable to get through to vote for Jackson's rival Rhydian Roberts, but an Ofcom investigation found that Roberts had not been unfairly disadvantaged.[7][8]
In December 2007, Leon Jackson performed with Michael Bublé at Wembley Arena, singing Bublé's "Home". Jackson said this was the highlight of his life as Bublé is his idol.[9]
[edit] 2008: Right Now
Simon Cowell stated that Jackson's debut album would not be rushed out, following the worldwide success of previous X Factor winner Leona Lewis's debut album Spirit, which was released 11 months after Lewis won series 3 of the show.
On 11 February 2008, Jackson began the X Factor Live tour in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland with other acts from the 2007 show. He continued the tour in other venues around the UK until 21 March where the tour finished at London's Wembley Arena, thus concluding The X Factor 2007.
In September 2008, whilst attending the London premiere of Guy Ritchie film RocknRolla, Jackson revealed he is hooked on the 2008 series of The X Factor, saying: "It's like a trip down memory lane and I sit there in my pyjamas watching it."[10]
The follow up single to When You Believe was "Don't Call This Love". The song is a brand new song written by Chris Braide and Carl Falk for Leon. [11] He performed his new single "Don't Call This Love" on 11 October 2008 on an X Factor Live Show. It charted at number 3 in the UK singles chart having being outsold by Peter Kay with The Winner's Song which entered the charts at number 2, and P!nk with "So What" at number 1.
Jackson revealed on his official website that the album would be called Right Now and was released on October 20, 2008. The album debuted at number 4 on the UK Album Chart, becoming the first X Factor winner not to have their debut album top the charts in its first week of release.
The second single from Leon's debut album is to be 'Creative', as announced on Children In Need 2008. He then went on to perform the song. The single has already charted at 50 in the charts.
[edit] Albums
| Year | Name | Sales and certifications | Charts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK |
IE |
AU |
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| 2008 | Right Now
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4 | 7 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | IE | |||
| 2007 | "When You Believe" | 1 | 1 | Right Now |
| 2008 | "Don't Call This Love" | 3 | 8 | |
| "Creative*" | — | — | ||
(*) To be released on December 15, 2008 in the UK.
[edit] References
- ^ "X-Factor Leon has singing in his genes", The Scotsman (2007-10-15). Retrieved on 15 December 2007.
- ^ a b "Karaoke Changed X Factor Leon's Life", Sunday Mail (2007-11-25). Retrieved on 15 December 2007.
- ^ a b c "Student life goes pop for X Factor favourite", The Scotsman (2007-10-19). Retrieved on 15 December 2007.
- ^ a b c "Leon Jackson wins X Factor final", Daily Telegraph (2007-12-15). Retrieved on 16 December 2007.
- ^ "Leon Jackson takes X Factor crown", BBC News (2007-12-16). Retrieved on 16 December 2007.
- ^ "Walsh defends The X Factor result", The Guardian (2007-12-18). Retrieved on 18 December 2007.
- ^ "Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin, Issue number 108, 8 May 2008".
- ^ "Digital Spy: Leon's 'X Factor' win was genuine".
- ^ "Dream for Leon as he sings with hero", Edinburgh Evening News (2007-12-06). Retrieved on 17 December 2007.
- ^ Leon Jackson's X Factor pyjama party - Tellyzone
- ^ Jackson, Leon (August 29, 2008). "Single and album news!!". Leon Jackson Official Site. Retrieved on 2008-09-13.
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Leon Jackson at MySpace
- Leon Jackson channel at YouTube
- Official Bebo
- Leon Jackson at STV
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| Preceded by Leona Lewis |
Winner of The X Factor 2007 |
Succeeded by TBA |
