Maria Lawson (singer)
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| Maria Lawson | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Maria Lawson | |
| Born | 1975 | |
| Origin | London, England | |
| Genre(s) | R&B Soul |
|
| Years active | 2005–present | |
Maria Lawson, (born 1975) is an English singer who rose to fame through The X Factor.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Maria Lawson was born and raised in London. She is the youngest in a family of five, with three brothers and one sister. She has been singing since the age of 13 and was always determined to make a name for herself in the music industry.
Before finding fame on the prime-time TV show, The X Factor, Lawson was in a band called Skye. This band was managed by Lawson's husband, Lawrence Garry. Kyra Simone provided backing vocals, Mark Coutier and Mark Hubden played guitar, Evgeni Vachov was on bass and the drums were courtesy of Ramy Abood. Two of the Skye tracks include "Woman's Intuition" and "Body & Soul".
Lawson was also represented well by the independent publisher, Peer Music. During this time she worked with established producer, David Brant, who produced three solid tracks for her - "Rush", "I Wanna Say Yes" and "Inferno".
[edit] The X Factor
In 2004, Lawson auditioned for the first series of The X Factor in 2004, but she was rejected by judge Simon Cowell. However, Lawson did not give up and in 2005 she auditioned for the second series of the show.
This time around, she wowed the judges at her audition with her rendition of "Stop". She was put through to the next stages of the show known as Boot Camp. Sharon Osbourne was revealed as her mentor. With a number of outstanding performances at Boot Camp and at the Osbourne household in Los Angeles, Lawson was given a chance to sing in the live stages of the show as part of Osbourne's final four.
Lawson was hotly tipped to take the title at the beginning of the live stages and performances of "Emotion" (Bee Gees; Destiny's Child), "The Way You Make Me Feel" (Michael Jackson), "Piece of My Heart" (Janis Joplin) and "You're Beautiful" (James Blunt) all made her one of the outstanding favourites to win.
[edit] Elimination
On the fifth round of the live shows, Lawson gave a performance of "Brown Sugar," a song originally a hit for The Rolling Stones. The song was regarded as widely unsuitable,[1] both lyrically and in terms of its appeal to a largely teenage target audience, and she was landed in the bottom two with Irish four-piece The Conway Sisters after the public vote. After facing a sing-off, the judges decided who they wanted to keep and who they wanted to send home. The casting decision was left with Irish judge Louis Walsh, a close personal friend of The Conway Sisters who are from Sligo, the same small Irish town as Walsh's band Westlife. He had the deciding vote, after Cowell and Osbourne voted to save their own acts. Saying that he had to "vote with his heart," Louis decided to eliminate Maria from the competition. Maria's mentor, Sharon, claimed that Maria was a victim of the 'Irish Mafia' and that Louis Walsh's decision was unjust.
This caused a media uproar [2] and Louis threatened to quit the show after days of negative press [3].
[edit] Record deal
On March 6, 2006 Maria announced that she had signed to the Phonogenic branch of the Sony BMG record label. Her debut single, "Sleepwalking", was released on 14 August and has already been well received by media sources. BBC Radio 2 "A-listed" the track (putting it on heavy rotation).
On 20 August 2006, Sleepwalking entered the UK chart at number 20.
Her self-titled debut album was released on August 28. The album features many different musical styles, and Maria has stated herself that she has worked with many different writers and producers during her recording time in L.A.
For the second single, Maria has chosen to write and record a brand new track, which is due for release some time in 2007.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | IRE | ||
| 2006 | Maria Lawson | 41 | - |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Album | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | IE | AU | |||
| 2006 | "Sleepwalking" | Maria Lawson | 20 | 44 | 67 |
| 2007 | "Woman's Intuition" | ||||
A new single should is to be released in early 2007. [4]
