Leona Lewis hit gold when she landed a popular Christmas tune in 2013, with One More Sleep being in the UK’s top 40 each year since The X Factor winner released it in 2018
Bagging a huge Christmas hit is often thought to be the pinnacle of a music career.
While some yearn for a string of number ones, others hope to record the ideal festive tune that can be aired every Christmas to bring home the royalties. With the likes of Michael Buble and Mariah Carey continuing to earn airtime every year thanks to their seasonal greats, there is another song which is reportedly the UK’s most played modern Christmas song. Step forward Leona Lewis.
The X Factor winner released One More Sleep in 2013. Since then, according to data from the Official Charts, the tune has accumulated the equivalent of 14 weeks of continuous airplay on radio and television. Opening up on the importance of the song to the organisation, Leona said: “It’s really special knowing that One More Sleep brings a little joy to people’s Christmases. The song and the whole album mean so much to me. It’s really beautiful that people connect to it and as an artist that’s all I could hope for.”
Despite not topping the charts, One More Sleep recorded a high of number three in the UK lists. However, since then, it has made its way back into the top 40 every year since 2018, leading to the star receiving royalties every year. But exactly how much does Leona earn on a yearly basis? According to stats, One More Sleep was played 115,463,031 times on Spotify this year. That would means she would have earned £323,296.49, according to CasinoBee.
Leona, who was an aspiring singer and Pizza Hut waitress before catapulting to success on ITV reality contest X Factor, was announced in last year’s New Years Honours list for 2024. Since winning the show in 2006, she has sold over 35 million records across the globe and been nominated for six BRIT Awards, as well as winning three Grammys and two MOBO awards.
She began stepping away from showbiz after she began suffering from an array of ailments that led to her being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease in 2017. Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune condition that affects the thyroid gland and causes chronic fatigue, nausea and pain, which left Leona struggling with day to day life.
She previously told Glamour: “I was feeling very sick and had chronic fatigue and these really bad pains in my neck and throat. I didn’t know what was going on. It was a pretty hard time. When I was first diagnosed, I was absolutely devastated; I felt very scared and alone.
“I could hear my body telling me that I needed to slow down. I also started to feel tired during performances. I began taking medication but also turned to Ayurveda (my mum is a master herbalist) to help heal my body naturally. I just got to a point where I wanted to start over physically and emotionally. I started eating better and I stopped straightening my hair.”
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