Leading Ladies (group)

Last updated

Leading Ladies
OriginLondon, England
Genres
Years active
  • 2017–2018
Labels
Past members Amber Riley
Beverley Knight
Cassidy Janson
Website leadingladiesmusic.com

The Leading Ladies was a British-American girl group/supergroup formed in London, England, in 2017. The group consists of three leading women from the London West End stage; American singer and actress Amber Riley, who starred in Dreamgirls , British soul singer Beverley Knight, who featured in The Bodyguard , Memphis and Cats and British theatre star Cassidy Janson, who took the leading role in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical .

Contents

Formation

The idea for forming Leading Ladies came after Beverley Knight was approached by her label East West to record a musicals themed album. She was not sold on the idea of recording a solo album of show songs and turned down the idea. [1] Knight subsequently formed Leading Ladies as she wanted to try something new after having a health scare, which resulted in her having a hysterectomy. [2] After watching both Riley promoting Dreamgirls on The Graham Norton Show and Janson performing in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical , Knight asked East West to approach both women with the offer of recording an album together. [3] Riley and Janson both agreed and the group was formed and signed to East West/Warner Music. [4]

Debut album: Songs from the Stage

The Leading Ladies' debut album Songs from the Stage was released on 17 November 2017. The album features fourteen songs from musicals including Hamilton , Cats , Rent , Dreamgirls , Funny Girl , The Bodyguard , Memphis and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical . [5] Songs from the Stage was produced by Grammy Award-winning British producer Brian Rawling, who has previously worked with Cher, Tina Turner and Lionel Richie. [6] The setting-up of the music and vocal arrangements were done together as a group, while most of the recording occurred separately within a two-week period due to their busy individual schedules. [1] During the album recording, Riley and Janson were still both contracted to perform in the West End, while Knight was recovering from surgery and due to go on her I Love Soulsville UK tour.[ citation needed ]

"One Night Only" (originally from the musical Dreamgirls ) was released as the group's debut single on 6 October 2017. [7] The song peaked on the A-list at BBC Radio 2. [8] "Songs from the Stage" debuted within the top 20 of the UK Albums Chart and the Scottish Albums Chart. [9] [10]

The group promoted the album by performing the track "Wind Beneath My Wings" on BBC Children in Need [11] and "I'm Every Woman" on Strictly Come Dancing . [12] The second single from the album was revealed on 27 November 2017 to be a double A-side single of "I'm Every Woman" from The Bodyguard and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from Meet Me in St. Louis . [13]

Since the release of Songs From the Stage, there have been no further projects from the group.

Members

Discography

The discography of the British-American girl group Leading Ladies consists of one studio album and two singles.

Studio albums

TitleDetailsPeak chart positions
UK
[14] 		SCO
[15]
Songs from the Stage 1919

Singles

SingleYearAlbum
"One Night Only"2017Songs from the Stage
"I'm Every Woman" /
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"

Promotional singles

SingleYearAlbum
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow"2017Songs from the Stage
"Somebody to Love"

Awards and nominations

YearAssociationCategoryNominated workResult
2018 Classic Brit Awards Album of the Year [18] Songs from the Stage Nominated

References

  1. 1 2 "Leading Ladies Beverley Knight, Amber Riley and Cassidy Janson give us tips on how to sing like a West End superstar". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  2. ↑ "Beverley Knight: Hysterectomy drained my superpowers". The Irish News. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "INTERVIEW: Beverley Knight & Cassidy Janson chat about being Leading Ladies". West End Wilma. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  4. ↑ "Interview – Cassidy Janson teams up with Leading Ladies Amber Riley and Beverley Knight for new album". Musical Theatre Review. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  5. ↑ "Interview: Beverley Knight and Cassidy Janson on Leading Ladies – Songs From The Stage". Theatre Weekly. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "Leading Ladies 'Songs From The Stage' with Amber Riley, Beverley Knight & Cassidy Janson". Theatre-News.com. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  7. ↑ "One Night Only (2017) – Leading Ladies – High Quality Music Downloads 7digital United Kingdom". 7 Digital . Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  8. ↑ "West End Supergroup Leading Ladies 'Songs from the Stage' is out now". Pressparty . Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  9. ↑ "Paloma Faith's The Architect becomes her first UK Number 1 album: "It's a testament to hard work!": Plus there are new Top 40 entries from Tokio Myers, Morrissey, ELO and Leading Ladies". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Official Albums Top 100 – 24 November 2017 – 30 November 2017". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "BBC Children in Need 2017 raises an incredible £50 million". Pressparty . Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  12. ↑ "Strictly Come Dancing quarter-final – as it happened". The Guardian . 3 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  13. ↑ "The Leading Ladies to Release Double A Side Single". Theatre Weekly. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  14. ↑ Peak chart positions in the UK:
  15. ↑ Peak chart positions in Scotland:
  16. ↑ O'Brien, Jon. "Songs from the Stage – Release Information". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  17. ↑ "Songs from the Stage: Leading Ladies: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 downloads". Amazon UK. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  18. ↑ "The nominations for the Classic BRIT Awards have been revealed". Classic FM. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
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