Maria Lawson (singer)
| Maria Lawson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 May 1979 |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | R&B, soul |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Sony BMG, Metamorphis Music, Universal |
| Associated acts | Leona Lewis, Shayne Ward |
| Website | Marialawson.co.uk |
Maria Lawson (born 24 May 1979) is an English singer who finished in eighth place in the second UK series of television talent show The X Factor in 2005.
Lawson was born and raised in London. She is the youngest in a family of five, with three brothers and one sister.
Lawson is of Jamaican, Chinese and Cuban descent, her mother being Jamaican and her father part-Cuban. Her grandfather is Chinese from the family descending from the name Chang.
Before finding fame on The X Factor, Lawson was discovered by Active Music Management, who obtained her first record deal with President Records and her first publishing deal. Her first single was "A Night to Remember", which was used by the Gala Bingo advertisement after the producers of the advert thought that her version was better than the original.
Lawson was signed to Peer Music Publishing from 2002 to 2005 and started her career as a published singer-songwriter. During that time, she worked with established producer David Brant, who produced three tracks for her – "Rush", "I Wanna Say Yes" and "Inferno". During her time as a singer-songwriter, she worked with recording artist Gabrielle and performed on Gabrielle's hit singles "Out of Reach" (as featured in the Bridget Jones' Diary soundtrack), "Don't Need the Sun to Shine (to Make Me Smile)" and the live version of "Rise". She has also provided backing vocals for many other artists, including Kelly Clarkson, Anita Baker and British soul singer Lemar.
In 1997 Maria, known as Kimara Lawson in Italy, achieved chart success with several singles in collaboration with Italian dance group Ti.Pi.Cal. (Daniele Tignino, Riccardo Piparo and Vincenzo Callea). With Ti.Pi.Cal, Maria recorded "Hidden Passion" (1997),"Live For Today (1997), "Follow Your Heart" (1998), "Music Is My Life" (1999) and What I Like (2006), and two singles as Kimara Lawson - Stand up (2000) & Heaven (2000).
...
Wikipedia