Leona Lewis

English singer Leona Louise Lewis was in Islington, London, to a Welsh mother and a father of Guyanese descent.

She attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School, whose other famous former pupils include The Spice Girls' Emma Bunton, Amy Winehouse and Rita Ora. Lewis moved onto the Italia Conti Academy, before completing her education at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology.

Lewis originally trained as an opera singer, then moved into jazz and blues, before eventually settling into pop music.