Leona Lewis has become the latest "X Factor" U.K. alum to part ways with Modest! Management, the London-based company that represents several former "X Factor" U.K. contestants. In a Daily Mirror article published on Feb. 13, 2013, an unnamed source told the tabloid what Lewis' career plans are: “She has been busy doing a 'Strictly'-style TV tour in Scandinavia and is starting a new album later this year.”
Lewis was the winner of "The X Factor" U.K. in 2006. These other "X Factor" U.K. alumni have also split with Modest! Management: Rebecca Ferguson (second place in 2010); Alexandra Burke (winner in 2008); Stacey Solomon (third place in 2009); and Cher Lloyd (fourth place in 2010). Ferguson and Burke parted ways with Modest! Management in 2012, while Solomon and Lloyd left Modest! Management in 2011.
In 2012, "The X Factor" U.K. dumped Modest! Management as the company that gets priority on signing contestants who make it to the live episodes of the show. "The X Factor" U.K. is now aligned with Quest Management as the company to get priority in representing contestants who do not have management while they are "X Factor" contestants. James Arthur (winner in 2012) and Kye Sones (eighth place in 2012) are among the "X Factor" U.K. alumni represented by Quest Management. Quest's non-"X Factor" clients include Paul McCartney and Arcade Fire.
Modest! Management still represents these "X Factor" U.K. alumni: Little Mix (winner in 2011); One Direction (third place in 2010); Olly Murs (second place in 2009); and JLS (second place in 2008).
Modest! Management released this statement about Lewis' departure from the company: “We were very proud to have Leona on the Modest! roster and of everything she has achieved. We wish her all the best.”
Lewis commented in a statement: “I greatly enjoyed my time working with Modest! They played an important role in my career and I’ll always be grateful. I’m looking forward to a new chapter in my career.”
Lewis is signed to Syco Music, the record company co-owned by "The X Factor" executive producer Simon Cowell and Sony Music.
Her third album, "Glassheart," was released in the U.K. in October 2012, but the album was a huge bomb, compared to sales for her previous albums: 2007's "Spirit" and 2009's "Echo. According to the British Phonographic Industry, "Spirit" sold 3.1 million copies in the U.K., "Echo" sold 680,000 in the U.K. and "Glassheart" sold 27,000 in the U.K.
"Trouble" was the only big U.K. hit on "Glassheart"; the song reached No. 7 in the U.K., but the album's subsequent singles flopped. (Lewis also had a 2011 EP called "Hurt: The EP" that was a modest hit in the U.K.)
There is currently no U.S. release date for "Glassheart." In 2011, the Lewis/Avicii song "Collide" was released in the U.S., but it bombed and didn't even make it onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart. However, "Collide" (which is not on the "Glassheart album") was a No. 4 hit in the U.K.
A Syco spokesperson told the Daily Mirror: "Leona Lewis is one of the UK's most successful artists, one of a few that have enjoyed huge global success in recent year selling more then 20 million records worldwide. Leona will begin the recording of her fourth album imminently to be released later this year. She remains a key priority artist for Syco and for Sony Music Worldwide."
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