 |
Cleo Higgins | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Cleopatra Madonna Higgins |
| Also known as | Cleopatra Higgins |
| Origin | Manchester, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Member of | Cleopatra |
| Website | cleohiggins |
Cleopatra Madonna Higgins, better known as Cleo Higgins, is a British R&B/soul/pop singer, dancer and songwriter based in Manchester, England. Higgins is the lead singer of the eponymously named sister girl group, Cleopatra.
In 2000, Higgins branched out from Cleopatra and recorded two duets with tenor Russell Watson. The first song, "Someone Like You" was featured on Watson's multi-platinum debut album The Voice , which climbed to No. 1 on the U.S. classical charts. Higgins and Watson performed the song both on tour and on the National Lottery and they collaborated a second time, recording another duet called "The Best That Love Can Be" for Watson's third album, Reprise .[ citation needed ]
In 2001, Higgins headlined the Young Voices in Concert tour, performing at the Manchester Arena in front of 15,000 people as she and almost 7,000 choir members set a new Guinness World Record for the largest choir assembled in the UK. [1] The performance was aired on the BBC's long-standing programme Songs of Praise. In 2002 Higgins participated in ITV1's Songs of Bond, a tribute to the songs of James Bond, where she covered "For Your Eyes Only".[ citation needed ]
In 2007 Higgins released her pilot solo single "Feelin' Like This".[ citation needed ]
In 2013, Higgins auditioned for The Voice UK and her Blind Audition was shown in April 2013. All of the coaches turned around and she chose Will.i.am's team. In the Battle round, Will.i.am kept Higgins over duo Nu-tarna. In the Knockout round Will.i.am then kept Higgins over both Lem and John. Higgins competed in the quarter-finals against both Leah and Leanne with Will.i.am giving Leah his fast pass while Higgins was voted through by the public.[ citation needed ]
During the course of the show, there were rumours that Will.i.am did not enjoy working with her, [2] which were immediately rebutted by her. [3] Higgins was eliminated at the semi-final stage when she performed against Leah McFall for the public vote. Will.i.am used the opportunity to dispel rumours of a rift, telling Higgins live on television, "You are an amazing artist. I would love to work with you". [4]
| Competition Stage | Broadcast Date | Song | Original Artist | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blind Audition | Saturday 13 April 2013 | "Love on Top" | Beyoncé | Joined Team Will |
| Battle Rounds | Saturday 11 May 2013 | "Finally" (against Nu-Tarna) | CeCe Peniston | Advanced |
| Knockout Rounds | Saturday 1 June 2013 | "Leave Me Alone" | Michael Jackson | Advanced |
| Live Quarter Finals | Friday 7 June 2013 | "Imagine" | John Lennon | Bottom two |
| Live Semi-finals | Saturday 15 June 2013 | "Don't Let Go (Love)" | En Vogue | Eliminated |
Higgins has toured with Joe Budden, Russell Watson, Jagged Edge, Blue, and Girls Aloud, and covered Kym Sims' "Too Blind To See It".[ citation needed ]
In February 2023 Higgins led "The Aretha Franklin Story", performed with other Night Owl Productions musicians and singers at the Regal Theatre, Adelaide, Australia, as part of the Adelaide Fringe. [5]
Higgins has also worked as a brand ambassador for CoverGirl.[ citation needed ]
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [6] | |||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | "Feelin' Like This" | — | Non-album singles | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | "Imagine" | — | |||||||||||||||
| 2013 | "Don't Let Go (Love)" | 92 | |||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes release that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||
Aretha Louise Franklin was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", Rolling Stone twice named her as the greatest singer of all time. With global sales of over 75 million records, Franklin is one of the world's best-selling music artists.
Roberta Cleopatra Flack is a retired American singer who topped the Billboard charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like Makin' Love", "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", the latter two duets with Donny Hathaway. Flack influenced the subgenre of contemporary R&B called quiet storm, and interpreted songs by songwriters such as Leonard Cohen and members of the Beatles.
Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth is an English singer and actress known for her scat singing. She is the widow of jazz composer and musician Sir John Dankworth and the mother of bassist Alec Dankworth and singer Jacqui Dankworth.
Cleopatra are an English girl group, consisting of sisters Cleo, Zainam and Yonah Higgins. Their debut single, "Cleopatra's Theme" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 3, and the Billboard Hot 100 at number 26.
Jennifer Yvette Holliday is an American actress and singer. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as Dreamgirls (1981–83), Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1980–1981) and later became a successful recording artist. She is best known for her debut single, the Dreamgirls number and rhythm-and-blues/pop hit, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", for which she won a Grammy in 1983. She also won a 1982 Tony Award for Dreamgirls.
Comin' Atcha! is the debut album by English girl group Cleopatra, released on 30 June 1998 by WEA. The album reached number 20 on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified Silver in the UK by the BPI. From the album came the singles "Cleopatra's Theme", "Life Ain't Easy", "A Touch of Love" and a cover of The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" titled 'Don't Suffer in Silence'.
Beverley Knight is an English singer, songwriter, actress and radio personality. She released her first album, The B-Funk, in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, Knight has released eight studio albums. Widely regarded as one of Britain's greatest soul singers, Knight is best known for her hit singles "Greatest Day", "Get Up!", "Shoulda Woulda Coulda", "Come as You Are" and "Keep This Fire Burning".
"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is a torch song from the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, with lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger. In the context of the musical, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is sung by the character Effie White, a singer with the girl group The Dreams, to her manager, Curtis Taylor Jr., whose romantic and professional relationship with Effie is ending. The lyrics to "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", often considered the show's signature tune, describe Effie's love for Curtis, both strongly devoted and defiant. She refuses to let Curtis leave her behind, and boldly proclaims to him, "I'm staying and you ... you're gonna love me."
LaKisha Ann Jones is an American singer. She placed fourth on the sixth season of American Idol.
Radha Cuadrado, popularly known as RADHA, is a Filipino singer and songwriter best known as an original member of the Filipino-Canadian hip hop group Kulay. She was also part of the group 14-K. After leaving Kulay, Cuadrado pursued a solo career and performed in theater and lounge shows. She later starred in the TV series Diva on GMA 7. Most recently, she took part in the first season of The Voice of the Philippines.
Leah Flanagan is an Australian singer-songwriter and arts administrator from Darwin, Northern Territory. based in Sydney. She has released several albums and has toured Australia with her music and as a part of festival ensembles.
Rebecca Caroline Ferguson is a British soul singer and songwriter. In 2010, Ferguson finished in second place in the seventh series of The X Factor. She later released her debut album titled Heaven in December 2011. The album peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart. Ferguson celebrated three more top-ten albums: Freedom (2013), Lady Sings the Blues (2015) and Superwoman (2016) She also released Heaven Part 2 in (2023) A Completely independent release. She cites Aretha Franklin, Kings of Leon, Christina Aguilera and Amy Winehouse among her influences.
Áurea Isabel Ramos de Sousa, known professionally as Aurea, is a Portuguese soul singer originally from Santiago do Cacém, Alentejo, who grew up in Silves, Algarve. She debuted in 2008 with her single "Okay Alright", which was included on the soundtrack of the Portuguese television series Morangos com Açúcar. At the end of 2008, she performed the song live at the Morangos Live Festival, along with two other cover duets. This concert was released on DVD in 2009. Aurea released her debut album, Aurea, in September 2010. The album entered at number 21 at the Portuguese Albums Chart, but quickly reached number 1. It features the number "Busy for Me", which was released as the album's lead single.
Kirsten Joy Child is an English singer-songwriter who is best known for singing with the pop group Clean Bandit after coming to prominence after taking part in the 2012 inaugural series of the singing talent contest The Voice UK. Having been chosen by judge Jessie J in the programme's 'blind auditions' round, Kirsten joined other contestants on Jessie's team to compete for a place in the finals. During the 'battle rounds' Kirsten lost out to fellow contestant Toni Warne.
Leah LaBelle Vladowski was an American singer. She rose to prominence in 2004 as a contestant on the third season of American Idol, placing twelfth in the season finals. In 2007, LaBelle began recording covers of R&B and soul music for her YouTube channel. These videos led to work as a backing vocalist starting in 2008 and a record deal in 2011 with Epic in partnership with I Am Other and So So Def Recordings. LaBelle released a sampler, three singles, and a posthumous extended play (EP).
Amanda Leah Brown is an American singer and dancer from New York City. She was a contestant on the third season of NBC’s The Voice and finished in fifth place.
Candice Rickelle Glover is an American R&B singer and actress who won the twelfth season of American Idol. Glover is the first winner to have auditioned three times before being cast for the live shows. Her debut album Music Speaks was released on February 18, 2014.
Leah McFall is a British singer-songwriter from Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. She finished as the runner-up on the second series of the BBC One talent series The Voice.
Kata Hay is an American country music performer, best known for competing on the 2016 season of The Voice.
Mary Jane Jones, known professionally as Vickie Jones, was an American singer who became famous in 1969 for impersonating Aretha Franklin.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
