Leon Jackson
![]() |
Leon Jackson | |
---|---|
![]() Leon Jackson attending the London movie premiere of The Golden Compass in November 2007 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Leon Jackson |
Born | 30 December 1988 |
Origin | West Lothian, Scotland |
Genres | Pop, jazz, acoustic |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, piano |
Years active | 2007–present |
Labels | Sony BMG, Syco, Independent RCA Records |
Website | leonjacksonmusic.com |
Leon Jackson (born 30 December 1988) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, actor and television presenter. He rose to fame after winning the fourth series of British talent show The X Factor in 2007. Following his win, Jackson was the main star of his on-web series entitled Leon's Life, which ran from 2007 until 2008[1]. Jackson's debut album, Right Now (2008) finished the year as the 75th-album in the UK, and included the singles, "Don't Call This Love", "Creative" and "Stargazing".
Jackson's debut single, "When You Believe" was the 92nd best-selling single of the 2000s in the UK[2], as was the 3rd best-selling of 2007 in the UK[3]. Jackson was the best selling single from a British Male Artist in 2007[4] beating the likes of Mika, Take That and Mark Ronson in the best-selling male category, and being beaten by Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love" and Rihanna's "Umbrella" to the number one and number two positions, respectively[5]. Jackson continued to hold the record as the "Best Selling Male X Factor Winner" with a debut single from 2007[6].
Life and career
1988–07: Early life
Leon Jackson was born in Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland.[7] Before pursuing his singing career, he worked as a retail sales assistant with Gap.[8]
He was a fan of contemporary jazz, his hero being Michael Bublé, and he has stated that during his early years, karate and singing were the only things that made him happy.[9] He got his black belt at the age of 10.[10] Before he appeared on The X Factor, Jackson was planning to attend Edinburgh Napier University, studying architectural technology.
Leon had always been a good singer, but only found a passion for it and started singing in public in January 2007. He wanted to pursue a career in music so he entered X Factor and after doing well in the competition, deferred his place at Edinburgh Napier.[9]
2007–08: The X Factor
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/LeonJackson2007.jpg/220px-LeonJackson2007.jpg)
In 2007, Leon Jackson auditioned for the fourth series of The X Factor in Glasgow, being filmed at the city's Crowne Plaza Hotel. During the show, he was mentored by Dannii Minogue. After progressing through the rounds, he reached the final on 15 December 2007, in which he performed a duet with Kylie Minogue of "Better the Devil You Know", as well as three other songs. After the public vote, he was declared winner, receiving a £1 million recording contract with Simon Cowell's company Syco, a division of Sony BMG.[11]
Jackson was an outsider to win the competition, and his victory was described as "the biggest shock in the history of reality TV betting."[12] X Factor judge Louis Walsh later said that Jackson had won the vote by about 10%.[13] 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.[14][15][16] More than 12 Million people watched the final of Leon winning, and Jackson described taking the X Factor winner's title was "Not Real".[16]
In December 2007, Jackson was invited to perform with Canadian performer Michael Bublé at Wembley Arena, singing Bublé's "Home" because Bublé was so impressed by his singing ability. Jackson later said this had been the highlight of his life, because Bublé is his idol. Leon was the first and so far only X Factor contestant to perform at Wembley while still in the competition.[17] with Rhydian Roberts the runner-up and Dannii Minogue emerging as the winning mentor.[18] The show's fourth run saw a number of changes to the format, most notably the lowering of the minimum age for participants from 16 to 14, and the increase in the number of categories from three to four, resulting from the division of the under-25s into separate male and female categories.
The series hit the headlines even before recording began. Some of the controversy centred upon whether 14 and 15-year-olds should be eligible to enter, and also on the high-profile dismissals of judge Louis Walsh and presenter Kate Thornton,[19][20] to be replaced by choreographer and Grease Is the Word judge Brian Friedman and Big Brother's Little Brother host Dermot O'Leary respectively. Before hiring Freidman and Minogue, Cowell had apparently approached colleague and fellow American Idol judge Randy Jackson, and close friend and X Factor mentor Sinitta. Walsh, however, was quickly reinstated, with Friedman becoming the show's choreographer. Jackson's prize as winner was a £1 million recording contract.[21] His first single release was "When You Believe", arranged for the finalists by composer Stephen Schwartz and released to download on 16 December 2007, with the physical format following on 19 December. The single became that year's Christmas Number One in the UK Singles Chart. The series was Sharon Osbourne's final series as a judge and was replaced the following year by Girls Aloud star Cheryl Cole.
On 11 February 2008, Jackson began the "X Factor Live" tour in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland with Rhydian Roberts, Same Difference and the eight other finalists from the 2007 show. They continued the tour in other venues around the UK until 21 March when the tour finished at London's Wembley Arena, thus concluding The X Factor 2007.
2008–09: When You Believe and Right Now
Jackson's debut single, a cover of the Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey duet "When You Believe" went on sale as a download from midnight on Sunday, 16 December 2007 and as a CD on Wednesday, 19 December 2007. The debut single is set to be the fastest-selling single of 2007, with sales predicted to reach 300,000 by Sunday.[22] At Woolworths the single at its peak was selling 40 copies per minute.[23] Bookmakers reportedly stopped taking bets on who would get the 2007 Christmas number-one single, as "Leon [was] practically guaranteed top spot".[24] "When You Believe" indeed reached number one in the UK on 23 December 2007. Thus making Jackson the first Scottish artist to achieve a Christmas number one (though it could be argued that Midge Ure holds this distinction through his work on the Band Aid singles)
Jackson appeared as a celebrity guest on the first live episode of series five of The X Factor on 11 October 2008, to perform the first single, "Don't Call This Love", from his upcoming album Right Now. The song was released the next day, and peaked at #3 on the UK singles chart and #8 in Ireland.[25]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Jacksoninbirgminahm.jpg/220px-Jacksoninbirgminahm.jpg)
Right Now was released on 20 October 2008.[26] It debuted at #4 on the UK Top 40 Albums chart the week of 26 October 2008.[27] It remained in the Top 40 for three weeks total, before slipping out of the Top 40[28][29][30] but remaining in the Top 75 for an additional six weeks.[31] The album debuted on the Ireland Top 75 Albums chart at #7 for the week of 23 October 2008, staying on that chart for a total of five weeks.[31] The second single from the album, "Creative", was released as a download-only purchase in late 2008. It peaked at #94 on 29 November 2008 on the UK Singles chart.[32] The third and final single, "Stargazing", was released to radio stations in January 2009. It was also made available for purchase as a download-only single.[33] The help promote Right Now, Jackson performed on various UK TV Shows such GMTV, This Morning and The X Factor. Jackson's first single When You Believe which reached #1 in the UK[34] was performed by Jackson in December 2007 to help promote the single. He performed it on GMTV, The X Factor and This Morning.
In July 2008, Bublé again invited Jackson to join him on stage at the Glasgow SECC for a duet of "Lost".[35] In December 2008, Jackson performed at the 2008 Hogmanay Event in Edinburgh.[36] However in 2007 Jackson pulled out of the event due to tonsillitis where he would have been playing with Scottish singer Amy MacDonald.[37]
The album sold 130,000 copies and Jackson was dropped from the Sony BMG label.[38] Jackson proceeded to work with writers who have worked with Paolo Nutini and James Morrison. Jackson told The Sun newspaper that he was focusing on preparing for an upcoming concert tour of the UK, which would take place in May and June 2009.[39][40]
Scottish singer and songwriter Sandi Thom had lined up Jackson as a Supporting Guest Act in Glasgow as part of her Homecoming Scotland 2009 Tour.[41] As of April 2009 half of the concert dates had been cancelled by the management. The reason why the dates were cancelled is unknown, but Leon said he was "gutted" at the cancellations and that it was not his doing.[42] All but two of the joint tour days from England and Wales remained (with support act Same Difference playing a solo tour gig in Portsmouth),[43] while seven of the nine tour dates in Scotland remained.[44]
2010–present: Departure from Sony and second album
Jackson has recently confirmed that he is working on a brand new studio album which will be more acoustic in style, different from the jazz and soul genre of his debut album Right Now.[45] Even though Jackson has failed to find another record deal since he got dropped by his label Sony BMG in March 2009, he hopes to release the album independently.[46]
Leon travelled to Los Angeles in May 2010 to work with songwriters to come up with tracks for his new sound. He worked with credible artists, such as Ernie Halter, to create piano and guitar led songs, as well as writing some himself. Whilst in L.A, he also performed at 'The Gypsy Lounge' with American artists.[47]
In May 2010, Jackson was announced as the 2nd biggest reality TV flop, winning 76% of the 1,300 people polled, losing out only to Steve Brookstein.[48][49][50] He has vowed to never perform When You Believe again, calling his X-Factor fame a curse [51] and revealing he was no longer in contact with former mentor Dannii Minogue or Simon Cowell subsequent to being dropped by Syco Music.[52] Jackson said he felt "crushed" by Cowell after finding out that Cowell had dropped him through the newspaper.[53] On September 1, 2010, Jackson released a video for his song, "Different Lives".[54]
Jackson then announced a summer tour in 2010 where he would perform his new acoustic sound. The first date was at the Half Moon, Putney, London on 8 June. Leon performed guitar and piano-led songs, which went down well.[55] The second date was at the ABC Glasgow on 10 July, where he sold out the show and more tickets were put on sale due to popular demand.[56] The final date of the tour was on 31 July at the O2 Academy Birmingham, where Jackson again performed new songs written by himself and American songwriters.[57]
On February 16, 2011, Jackson attended the 2011 BRIT Awards as part of the Universal Records after-party.[58] Jackson has been writing new material and taught himself to play the guitar and piano, which he has brought into his new songs. Some of the new songs include 'Never Left The Ground', 'Ode to Isabel', 'The Other Side', 'See It Through Your Eyes' and 'Wounded by Love'.[46] Jackson will debut at least four new songs at several summer festivals in 2011.[59]
The 2011 Scottish New Music Awards are going to be held on Sunday September 4, 2011 at 7:00pm at the Classic Grand venue located at 18 Jamaica Street in Glasgow and will feature many new and unsigned acts as well as a guest list of celebrities from the global music industry. Some of the guests already confirmed include Nazareth, members of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, cast members from Still Game and many personalities from Radio and Television. Leon will be performing an acoustic set of new songs.[60]
As of July 12, 2011, Jackson is still working on his second studio album. The material is expected to be "tested soon".[61]
Other ventures
Charity work
Leon is an avid supporter of Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS) - a Scottish charity established to provide hospice services in Scotland for children and young people with life-limiting conditions. “As far as team Leon is concerned music is about life not the other way round. It’s a privilege to be able use your gifting to bring joy to people, travelling and paying the bills is a bonus".[62] Leon is proud to support The Children’s Hospice Association, Scotland (CHAS). “This is a very special charity and one that deserves to have its profile raised. The team are dedicated and a genuine inspiration. I look forward to offering my support.” The Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS) is proud to be supported by Leon Jackson.
Kerry Jackson, CHAS Relationship Manager said, “It is fantastic to have Leon on board with CHAS. Everyone at Rachel House is really excited about his forthcoming visit and looking forward to hearing about his future plans!” We would like to wish Leon all the best with his music and we hope to see him at our children’s hospices, Rachel House and Robin House, again in the future.[63]
Television presenting
In 2011, Jackson was the host of the 2011 Young Scot Awards which were held in August 2011 in Glasgow at the Glasgow International Hilton Hotel.
Acting and film work
Following Jackson's win on the 4th series of the X Factor in 2007, Jackson was the star of his own web series, Leon's Life, which was solely broadcast on the social networking site, Bebo[64]. The series ran from his win in December 2007 up until mid-2008. The series followed the press and television coverage, recording of his debut album, Right Now (released a year after), and the promotion of the album following his win on The X Factor.
Awards and nominations
In April 2008, Leon Jackson was awarded the "Young Scot" award at Glasgow City Hall for being a positive role model to young people.[65] In 2011, Jackson was a host at the 2011 Young Scot Awards held in Glasgow.
In May 2011, He was nominated at the Johhnie Walker Blue Label "Great" Awards.[66]
Concert Tours
Headlining
- The X Factor 2008 Tour (2008)
- Right Now (2009)
- Live & Acoustic 2010 Summer Tour (2010)
- Watchet music festival (2011)
Supporting
- Sandi Thom 2009 Homecoming Scotland Tour (Support act in Glasgow)
Discography
Studio albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [67] |
IRE [68] |
SCO [69] |
EU [70] | ||||||||||
Right Now |
|
4 | 7 | 1 | — | ||||||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released |
Singles
Year | Single | Chart positions[73][74][75] | Certifications | Album | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | IRL | EU | ||||
2007 | "When You Believe" | 1 | 1 | 4 | Right Now | |
2008 | "Don't Call This Love" | 3 | 8 | 10 | ||
"Creative" | 94 | — | — | |||
2009 | "Stargazing" | — | — | — |
Music videos
Year | Song | Director |
---|---|---|
2007 | "When You Believe" | Unknown |
2008 | "Don't Call This Love" | |
"Creative" | Unknown |
Filmography
- Leon's Life (2007-2008): Himself[77]
See also
- List of artists who reached number one in Ireland
- List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
References
- ^ http://www.bebo.com/leonslife
- ^ http://www.everyhit.com/chart6.html
- ^ http://www.everyhit.com/chart6.html
- ^ http://www.everyhit.com/chart6.html
- ^ http://www.everyhit.com/chart6.html
- ^ http://www.everyhit.com/chart6.html
- ^ "X-Factor Leon has singing in his genes". Edinburgh: The Scotsman. 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Karaoke Changed X Factor Leon's Life". Sunday Mail. 2007-11-25. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ a b "Student life goes pop for X Factor favourite". The Scotsman. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ X Factor: Leon Jackson @ Unreality TV
- ^ Franklin, Katie (2007-12-15). "Leon Jackson wins X Factor final". London: Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Leon Jackson takes X Factor crown". BBC News. 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
- ^ Dowell, Ben (2007-12-18). "Walsh defends The X Factor result". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin, Issue number 108, 8 May 2008" (PDF).
- ^ "Digital Spy: Leon's 'X Factor' win was genuine".
- ^ a b "Leon Jackson takes X Factor crown". BBC News. 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ "Dream for Leon as he sings with hero". Edinburgh Evening News. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ "Leon Jackson takes X Factor crown". BBC News. 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
- ^ "Simon Cowell Reveals Why He Sacked Kate And Louis". Unreality TV. 11 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Kate Thornton faces 'X Factor' axe?". Digital Spy. 25 October 2006. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ "Leon Jackson takes X Factor crown". BBC News. 16 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ "Leon Jackson Heading For Christmas No1 Spot". Daily Record. 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Leon set for Christmas number one". BBC News. 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Leon "guaranteed" Xmas No 1, say bookies". Digital Spy. 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ "Leon Jackson - Don't Call This Love". acharts.
- ^ "Leon's album's out now!". Leon Jackson's Official Website.
- ^ "Top 40 Albums Archive: Week 50 : 26/10/2008 - 01/11/2008". The Official UK Charts Company.
- ^ "Top 40 Albums Archive: Week 51 : 02/11/2008 - 08/11/2008". The Official UK Charts Company.
- ^ "Top 40 Albums Archive: Week 52 : 09/11/2008 - 15/11/2008". The Official UK Charts Company.
- ^ "Top 40 Albums Archive: Week 01 : 16/11/2008 - 22/11/2008". The Official UK Charts Company.
- ^ a b "Leon Jackson - Right Now". acharts.
- ^ "Chart Stats - Leon Jackson - Creative". chartstats.
- ^ "Stargazing on the Airwaves". Leon Jackson's website.
- ^ http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=33614
- ^ "Michael Buble and Leon Jackson Sing Lost in Glasgow". Hollywood Grind. 2008-12-05.
- ^ Leon Jackson To Perform At Edinburgh Hogmanay @ Unreality TV
- ^ X Factor: Leon Jackson Pulls Out Of Hogmanay Celebrations @ Unreality TV
- ^ "X Factor winner Jackson dropped". BBC News. 2009-03-20.
- ^ Pete Samson (2009-03-19). "Label gives flop Leon the chop". London: The Sun.
- ^ Same Difference cancel their tour, Digital Spy, 23 January 23
- ^ http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/music/music-news/2009/02/11/exclusive-sandi-thom-lines-up-leon-jackson-as-surprise-guest-at-scots-gig-86908-21113783/
- ^ [1] [dead link]
- ^ Same Difference cancel tour dates - but they'll still play Portsmouth - Portsmouth Today
- ^ Music - News - Leon Jackson cancels live shows - Digital Spy
- ^ Music - News - Leon Jackson 'develops new sound' - Digital Spy
- ^ a b Leon Jackson » Official Website » Home
- ^ Leon Jackson » Official Website » News » Leon Hits America
- ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/s103/the-x-factor/news/a219185/brookstein-voted-biggest-reality-flop.html
- ^ http://xfactor.tellymix.co.uk/2010/news/11998-steve-brookstein-named-biggest-reality-flop-of-all-time.html
- ^ http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/825993-brookstein-is-voted-top-pop-flop
- ^ http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/music-news/2010/04/10/scots-singer-leon-jackson-says-x-factor-fame-was-curse-on-career-86908-22175502/
- ^ http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/midlands-news/2010/07/18/x-factor-star-leon-jackson-i-was-snubbed-by-danni-66331-26874461/
- ^ http://www.metro.co.uk/tv/840828-forgotten-x-factor-star-leon-jackson-hurt-by-cowell-s-rejection
- ^ http://www.leonjacksonmusic.com/index.php/news/detail/different_lives_video/
- ^ Leon Jackson » Official Website » News » Half Moon - London Gig
- ^ Leon Jackson » Official Website » News » Glasgow ABC Gig
- ^ Leon Jackson » Official Website » News » O2 Academy 3 Birmingham Gig
- ^ http://www.leonjacksonmusic.com/index.php/news/detail/2011_brit_awards/
- ^ http://www.leonjacksonmusic.com/index.php/news/detail/party_in_the_park_announcement/
- ^ http://www.leonjacksonmusic.com/index.php/live/detail/new_scottish_music_awards/
- ^ http://www.leonjacksonmusic.com/index.php/news/detail/rehearsal_with_the_boys/
- ^ http://www.leonjacksonmusic.com/index.php/bio/
- ^ http://www.leonjacksonmusic.com/index.php/news/detail/childrens_hospice_association_scotland/
- ^ http://popdirt.com/leon-jackson-checks-in-after-x-factor-performance/69377/
- ^ "Leon Jackson has X Factor for Award Win". Edinburgh Evening News. 2008-04-01.
- ^ http://twitter.com/Leon_Jackson/status/65710440688254976
- ^ "UK Charts > Shayne Ward". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
- ^ "Irish Charts > Shayne Ward". irish-charts.com Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
- ^ "Swedish Charts > Shayne Ward". swedishcharts.com Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
- ^ "Shayne Ward > Album & Song Chart History > European Albums". Billboard Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
{{cite web}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ a b http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx
- ^ http://www.metro.co.uk/tv/840828-forgotten-x-factor-star-leon-jackson-hurt-by-cowell-s-rejection
- ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles". Reuters. 2007-12-29.
- ^ Leon Jackson - Music Charts
- ^ Leon Jackson Music News & Info | Billboard.com
- ^ http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/
- ^ http://www.bebo.com/leonslife
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)