Leona Lewis

Leona Louise Lewis was born April 3, 1985 in London, England. Her father is Aural Josiah who was a Guyanese Caribbean youth worker, and her mother is Maria Lewis who was a social worker of Anglo-Welsh descent. Growing up Leona attended Sylvia Young Theater School, Italia Conti Academy, and the BRIT School. Leona has stated she first wrote a song at the young age of only 12. After school Leona worked to get enough money for the recording studio, the most popular of her jobs was at Pizza Hut. In 2006 she tried out for the X Factor (U.K. American Idol), where she eventually won. From there her career has taken off.