The beautiful, warm and enchanting aura surrounding pop recording artist Leona Lewis became immediately apparent at the onset of our conversation. The “Bleeding Love” superstar is just releasing her new single, “Thunder,” followed shortly by the fall release of her new album “I Am” on Island Records in the U.K. and Def Jam Recordings in the U.S. She is also launching a global “EMPOWER” Campaign in conjunction with her new single “Fire Under My Feet.” EMPOWER urges fans to use social media to submit personal stories of inspiration and challenges that they have overcome.
So you have a brand-new release coming out?
Well, the single’s out. It’s called “Thunder.” The album is actually out on September 11.
I have heard several songs from the album, and it’s amazing.
Thank you.
Along with this album you are launching a global EMPOWER campaign. Empower is a very strong word, and a very strong idea. How did this idea begin, and how do you plan to carry this out?
So a little while ago while I was recording this album, I wrote an open letter to my fans. I was receiving messages from my fans asking me what was going on and what was happening. At the time I was in a weird position. I was kind of a bit up and down emotionally, which I said in my letter. I had just left my label, which I had been with for seven years, because we had had some creative differences. So there was a lot of change happening in my life, and people were kind of wondering what was going on. So I was very open in the letter, and I got letters back to me from people thanking me for being so honest and honest with what you’re going through. I had people telling me what they were going through. I remember one letter that stuck out to me so much, about a young guy that was anorexic. I guess he thought it was quite taboo to be open about it; being a guy, anorexia was very hard for him. He was telling me about his obstacles, and coming out with that, and seeking help. And I also got a letter from a young girl who had a few of her family members killed. She had gone into a deep depression, and she talked to me about how she came out of that. Her family was actually murdered. So I had gotten these people reaching out to me, and I was just blown away by it, and literally I would get chills just reading these letters, and butterflies, and I wanted to do something about it. I wanted to help in some way, and I decided to start sharing these letters on social media. I shared them on my Facebook, and I went into different radio stations and brought the people live on air to talk about it, and just kind of passed on these messages of people with great great, great struggles, and had come out of it the other end. I wanted to pass on that empowerment to other people to help them. … My album, I called it “I Am,” because I feel that very empowered affirmation, and I’ve just been doing lots of different talks, giving speeches and sharing speeches. I love when people have been inspirational to me and empowered and have come through different obstacles. I can talk about that for hours, but that’s how it really started.
It’s an amazing, brilliant concept. I bet you want of help a lot of people.
It’s truly something that is so close to my heart. Like I said, I can talk and talk about it.
Do you plan to do a tour to support the campaign and the album?
Yes, I do. I am doing like a mini commercial tour right now, so yeah, there will be a tour coming.
That is great! Now can you talk about “I Am”? Do you have a favorite song off the album, one that you’re most proud of or that you like the best?
Yeah, there was a few. There was a song on there that’s called “Thunder,” which is out right now. I wrote that about going through things and coming out the other end, having learned a lot about yourself. Because I feel like in life you really figure out who you are when you’re going through the hardest times. Really, the strength of your character comes out. You learn a lot about yourself. And then I wrote one about one of my friends who lost her brother to addiction. Then I wrote one that I love; it’s about nature. I love nature. I have horses. It’s just about coming back to nature.
I know you are an animal activist.
Yes.
You are from Islington, correct?
Yeah, I was born in Islington.
I was there recently. It’s beautiful.
Do you like London?
I’m addicted to London.
Oh, nice. A lot of New Yorkers like London.
I know you’ve been through a lot of things in the record industry, with Simon and all of that, so do you think that the record industry has changed since your first monstrous hit “Bleeding Love”?
Oh yeah, it’s changed a lot. It’s changing every day. I think the main thing is how people can now view music, with streaming becoming available now. It has changed so much—that really is the new leading format. Before, when you released your album, you would have one single, and you might have another one in the album, but now there are so many different platforms. Like me, on this album there are quite a lot of singles on it that will be released, so you get to share more. I definitely think there is a higher demand for more. But with the demand you have to make sure that you were not compromising on quality. In a way I think streaming is good because it’s worldwide, and it can actually be heard by so many different people in so many different places.
So what inspires you?
So many things. The people that inspire me are close to me, like my auntie. She’s like the oracle: Everybody goes to her for advice. She’s just amazing. She’s always got the best anecdotes, the best stories. Nature, it inspires me; I love just going out and walking. Being around nature is important to me as well.
If we were to look into your heart right now, what would we find?
I think that you would find that it’s very open. I used to be very guarded. I think that was a way of me protecting myself. It definitely made me hold onto a lot of things that I should have let go a long time ago. So I think I can be much more open about my feelings, open to talking to people about it. I’ve always been the one that people come to, and I never thought that I could go to anyone else. So I’ve been much more open the past few years.
I know that you’re just beginning this project, but do you have another one in mind after this?
I’m always in the studio, and I’m constantly wanting to push myself, trying new music, and collaborate with people that people might not think I would collaborate with. So I’m pushing myself into different genres and things like that. Also, my own personal projects, like my animal activism, are very important to me. I’ve got a lot of things that I still want to do.
If you were a brand-new addition to a box of crayons, what color would you be?
Well, my favorite color is indigo, so probably like an indigo mixed with pink, mixed with black.
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Well, I fell in love with a puppy yesterday. I definitely do think it exists.
Tell me one thing about yourself that you would want your fans to know that they might not already know.
I can lick my own elbow. And apparently it’s physically impossible to do that. But I can!
You know, as soon as this interview is over I’m going to try it.
That’s the thing, like whenever I tell anyone, because everyone A, makes me do it, and then B, tries to do it.
That is so funny. What’s the funniest or most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to your life?
I was doing a performance, and I was wearing this, well, I don’t really wear short dresses, but I was wearing this really tight skirt. So as I walked onto the stage, we are supposed to walk like a lady and take small steps, [but] I was just charging up on stage, and my whole skirt just like ripped open. I was literally on stage with my knickers out. The whole thing was ripped in the front. For some reason I still performed, and I remember when I came off the stage my manager said, “Oh my God!” She wanted to know why I didn’t change into a different outfit, but I said all the adrenaline just made me go for it.
Good for you! Is there anything else you’d like to promote yourself or talk about?
Just the EMPOWER campaign and that the album is coming out. People can order it now, and “Thunder” is out.
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