Leon Jackson

Leon Jackson
Leon Jackson at the premiere of The Golden Compass in December 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Leon Jackson
Born	30 December 1988 (1988-12-30) (age 21)
Origin	Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland
Genres	Adult Contemporary, Pop, Jazz
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	2007 – present
Labels	Sony BMG (2007–2009) Independent Label (2009-Present)
Associated acts	Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Rhydian, Same Difference
Website	leonjacksonmusic.com

Leon Jackson (born 30 December 1988) is a Scottish singer and songwriter who won the fourth series of the British television talent show The X Factor in 2007. The song which had contributed to his win, "When You Believe", was released as a single in December 2007 and reached #1 on both the UK and Ireland singles charts.^[1]

Jackson's second single, "Don't Call This Love", from the album Right Now, was released on 12 October 2008, peaking at #3 in the United Kingdom and #8 in Ireland.^[2] The album was released on 21 October 2008, and reached #4 in the UK and #7 in Ireland.^[3][4]

Two further download-only singles were released from the album: "Creative" (November 2008), which charted at #94 on the UK Singles Download chart,^[5][6][7] and "Stargazing" (January 2009).^[8]

In March 2009, Jackson was dropped from the Sony BMG label. Jackson stated that he was going forward with a previously scheduled concert tour. Jackson is currently dating Emily Biggs from the girl band Hope.^[9]

Early life

Leon Jackson was born in Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland.^[10] Before pursuing his singing career, he worked as a retail sales assistant with Gap.^[11] He was a fan of contemporary jazz, his hero being Michael Bublé, and has stated that during his early years, karate and singing was the only thing that made him happy.^[12] He got his black belt at the age of 10.^[13] Before he appeared on The X Factor, Jackson was planning to attend Napier University, studying architectural technology.^[12]

The X Factor

In 2007, Leon Jackson auditioned for the fourth series of The X Factor in Glasgow. During the show, he was mentored by Dannii Minogue. After progressing through the rounds, he reached the final on 15 December 2007, in which he performed a duet with Kylie Minogue of "Better the Devil You Know", as well as three other songs. After the public vote, he was declared winner, receiving a £1 million recording contract with Simon Cowell's company Syco, a division of Sony BMG.^[14] Jackson was an outsider to win the competition, and his victory was described as "the biggest shock in the history of reality TV betting."^[15] X Factor judge Louis Walsh later said that Jackson had won the vote by about 10%.^[16] A number of viewers complained to watchdog Ofcom that they were unable to get through to vote for Jackson's rival Rhydian Roberts, but an Ofcom investigation found that Roberts had not been unfairly disadvantaged.^[17][18][19]. More than 12 Million people watched the final of Leon winning, and Jackson described taking the X Factor winner's title was "Not Real"^[20].

"X Factor Live" tour

On 11 February 2008, Jackson began the "X Factor Live" tour in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland with Rhydian Roberts, Same Difference and five other finalists from the 2007 show. They continued the tour in other venues around the UK until 21 March when the tour finished at London's Wembley Arena, thus concluding The X Factor 2007.

Appearances with Michael Bublé

In December 2007, Jackson performed with Canadian performer Michael Bublé at Wembley Arena, singing Bublé's "Home". Jackson later said this had been the highlight of his life, because Bublé is his idol.^[21] In July 2008, Michael Bublé again invited Jackson to join him on stage at the Glasgow SECC for a duet of "Lost".^[22]

In October 2009, Buble said "I Am still in contact with Leon Jackson" and stated it has been tough for him since winning the show in 2007.^[23].

Awards and Nominations

Young Scot award

In April 2008, Leon Jackson was awarded the "Young Scot" award, at Glasgow City Hall. He was given this award for being a positive role model to young people.^[24]

Music career

Right Now (2007 - 2008)

Jackson appeared as a celebrity guest on the first live episode of series five of The X Factor on 11 October 2008, to perform the first single, "Don't Call This Love", from his upcoming album Right Now. The song was released the next day, and peaked at #3 on the UK singles chart and #8 in Ireland.^[2] Right Now was released on 20 October 2008.^[3] It debuted at #4 on the UK Top 40 Albums chart the week of 26 October 2008.^[25] It remained in the Top 40 for three weeks total, before slipping out of the Top 40^[26][27][28] but remaining in the Top 75 for an additional six weeks.^[4] The album debuted on the Ireland Top 75 Albums chart at #7 for the week of 23 October 2008, staying on that chart for a total of five weeks.^[4]

The second single from the album, "Creative", was released as a download-only purchase in late 2008. It peaked at #94 on 29 November 2008 on the UK Singles Download chart.^[7] The third and final single, "Stargazing", was released to radio stations in January 2009. It was also made available for purchase as a download-only single.^[8]

In December 2008, Jackson performed at the 2008 Hogmany Event in Edinburgh.^[29]. However in 2007 Jackson pulled out of the Hogmany event where he would have been playing with Scottish singer Amy MacDonald. He pulled out of the event after suffering tonsilitis.^[30]

UK Tour (2009 - present)

As of March 19, 2009, Jackson has been dropped by the Sony BMG label.

Jackson told The Sun newspaper that he was focusing on preparing for an upcoming concert tour of the UK, which would take place in May and June 2009. Due to poor sales, he had to merge tours and co-headline this tour with fellow former X Factor contestants Same Difference.^[31][32]

Scottish singer and songwriter Sandi Thom had lined up Jackson as a Supporting Guest Act in Glasgow as part of her Homecoming Scotland 2009 Tour.^[33]

As of April 2009 half of the concert dates had been cancelled.^[34] All but two of the joint tour days from England and Wales remained (with Same Difference playing a solo tour gig in Portsmouth)^[35], while seven of the nine tour dates in Scotland remained.^[36]

Jackson also announced he would change his musical genre from Old-fashioned Jazz to more guitar-led music.^[37] He is working with other musicians including Scottish singer Paolo Nutini's co-writer Jim Duguid as well as writers ^[38] who have worked with James Morrison. He said "I am switching genres a bit and moving from old-fashioned jazz to the singer-songwriter I love." He added: "I love to sing in a style that's raw and bare. When I create a song on the guitar, it is honest and real.^[39] "I wasn't able to show these songs after winning X Factor because they were not well enough known."^[40]

On 28th December 2009 during the BBC Radio 1 chart of the decade, in which Jacksons debut single featured, DJ Nihal Arthanayake challenged Leon to get back in the studio and release some new material, after receiving a tweet via twitter suggesting that Jackson would definitely not be making the same chart in ten years time.

Tours

Headlining

• The X Factor 2008 Tour
• Right Now 2009 UK Tour (With Same Difference)

Supporting

• Sandi Thom 2009 Homecoming Scotland Tour (Support act in Glasgow)

Discography

Albums

Singles

See also

• List of artists who reached number one in Ireland
• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
• The X Factor
• Sandi Thom
• Homecoming Scotland 2009

References

External links

• Official Website
• Leon Jackson at MySpace
• Leon Jackson at the Internet Movie Database
• Leon Jackson channel at YouTube (requires Adobe Flash)
• Leon Jackson on Twitter

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