Leona Lewis has been dropped by her record label Island after just over two years, following the disappointing commercial performance of her last album I Am.
The 31 year old English singer, who won the third series of ‘The X Factor’ in 2006 and has long been one of the most successful stars produced by that show, departed Simon Cowell’s Syco label in June 2014 and signed to rival Island. However, when the resulting record was released in September, it flopped.
Leona Lewis has been dropped by Island Records, just two years after switching to them from Syco
The lead single ‘Fire Under My Feet’ reached a lowly no.51 in the UK charts, with I Am hitting only no.12 in the album charts and shifting only 8,500 copies in its first week. Nine months later, Lewis is left temporarily without a record deal.
An insider told The Sun on Tuesday (June 14th): “It simply didn’t work out with Island. She made a great record and the label really championed her but something just didn’t click.”
More: Leona Lewis to replace Nicole Scherzinger in Broadway production of ‘Cats’
However, it isn’t necessarily the end for Leona on a major label, as she’s still capable of landing high-exposure Broadway roles, after it was announced last month that she would be replacing Nicole Scherzinger in a current production of ‘Cats’.
Island’s overall owner Universal Music is apparently still holding out hopes of retaining Leona as part of their wider roster of artists, according to the same source, with executives due to hold talks with the singer in the near future. “Universal is still very keen to keep her as part of the family so they will be holding a meeting next week to discuss her future.”
Furthermore, when Lewis came under fire after I Am underperformed last year, her old boss Simon Cowell intimated publicly that the “door will always be left open for her” at Syco.
“Any time she ever thought, ‘I want to come back to Syco’ I’d welcome her back with open arms. When you’ve got talent as good as this and a voice as good as that, with the right song you can always have a hit.”
More: Bad blood with Simon Cowell and Syco label rumoured over Leona Lewis comeback album [archive]
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