Louisa Johnson

Early life

Johnson was born in 1998 in Essex to David Johnson and Lisa Hawkyard. Her father is a construction worker and her mother a driving instructor. She was raised in Thurrock.

2015–16: The X Factor

In 2015, Johnson auditioned for the twelfth series of The X Factor, singing The Jackson 5's "Who's Lovin' You". She picked this record because "it is a really really hard song to sing, but I wanted to make a good impression". She received a standing ovation from all four judges and the audience afterwards and progressed through to "bootcamp". At the first challenge at "bootcamp", she sang "Proud Mary" with 4th Impact (formerly known as 4th Power), Sherilyn Hamilton-Shaw, Neneth Lyons, Jasmine Leigh Morris and Andre Batchelor, and was sent through to the next challenge. She sang "Lay Me Down" in the second challenge and made it through to the six-chair challenge.

Johnson competed in the "girls" category at "bootcamp" and was mentored, at the decision of the public, by Rita Ora. She successfully made it past the six-chair challenge to "judges' houses", singing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" by Jennifer Hudson; when Johnson arrived, all six chairs had been filled, and Ora described the atmosphere as "like a zoo". At judges' houses, she sang "Respect" by Aretha Franklin in front of Ora and Meghan Trainor in Los Angeles; this performance gained media attention, as its televising saw Johnson wearing two separate pairs of shoes, with some viewers inferring some sort of faking. Two weeks after that performance was recorded, she was chosen by Ora for the live shows, along with Lauren Murray and Kiera Weathers; that category's Monica Michael later returned as a wildcard entry.

Following the eliminations of Weathers, Michael and Murray in the second, third and sixth weeks, respectively, Johnson made it to the final along with Reggie 'n' Bollie and Ché Chesterman, in so doing becoming the final female in the competition. On 12 December, she duetted with her mentor, Ora. The following night, she sang her winner's single, a cover of "Forever Young" by Bob Dylan. On 13 December 2015, she won The X Factor, becoming the first winner in the Girls category since Alexandra Burke in 2008, and also the youngest winner ever, overtaking Joe McElderry, who was 18 years old when he won in 2009.

After winning The X Factor, Johnson released "Forever Young". The day after her victory, she plugged the single on The X Factor judge Nick Grimshaw's radio show, Good Morning Britain, Lorraine and This Morning, consecutively. Her version of the song entered the UK Singles Chart on 18 December 2015, at number nine, and became the lowest ever position on entry for a debut single from an X Factor winner. This can be attributed, in part, to the movement of the chart day from Sunday, when she was announced as the winner, to Friday, resulting in her single only receiving four days' sales. The single dropped to number twelve the following week becoming the lowest ranking X Factor winner's song ever on the Christmas Day chart. Overall the single is the lowest charting X Factor winner's single to date as all other winner's singles managed to top the chart.

On 18 December 2015, Johnson performed "Forever Young" on the 2015 Text Santa broadcast.

There were indications that, unlike most other The X Factor winners, her debut studio album would be released as quickly as possible, maybe as early as February 2016, and would include the single "Forever Young". However, she told Digital Spy "If I don't like it, no way is it going out. People are going to know me through that album – so it needs to be perfect." On 30 March 2016, Johnson revealed a song called "Ruin It with a Kiss", which will feature on her debut album.

In May 2016, she released a song with Clean Bandit called "Tears". The song has achieved high chart success charting at number three on the Scottish Singles Chart, number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, number 21 on the Irish Singles Chart, and in other European countries. The following month after the song was released Johnson appeared as an act at the Summertime Ball where she performed the song "Tears" and a new version of the song "Over and Over Again" alongside Nathan Sykes.

2016–present: Debut Studio Album

Johnson released her solo debut single and the lead single from her debut album, "So Good", on 28 October 2016. The single peaked at 13 on the UK Singles Chart. She has subsequently released the second single, "Best Behaviour" from the album on 10 March 2017, which she performed on Sunday Brunch two days later.

Personal life

Johnson is a supporter of Premier League football team West Ham United.

Tours