Louisa Johnson

Louisa Johnson (born 11 January 1998) is an English singer. In 2015, she won the twelfth series of The X Factor. She subsequently released her winner's single "Forever Young", which peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart. In 2016, she was featured on Clean Bandit's UK top five single "Tears".

Early life Louisa Johnson was born on 11 January 1998 in Thurrock, Essex to David Johnson and Lisa Hawkyard. Her father is a construction worker from Essex and her mother is a driving instructor from Chafford Hundred. She was raised in Thurrock. Johnson attended St. Thomas of Canterbury primary school in Grays, Essex and The Harris Academy secondary school in Chafford Hundred.

Career

2015: The X Factor

In 2015, Johnson auditioned for the twelfth series of the UK series of The X Factor, singing American soul music family group 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. Two weeks after that performance was recorded,

Following the eliminations of Weathers in the second week, Michael in the third week and Murray in the semi-final, Johnson advanced to the final along with Reggie 'n' Bollie and Ché Chesterman singing a cover version of "I Believe I Can Fly" by R Kelly; additionally 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 of the UK version, overtaking Joe McElderry, who was 18 years old when he won in 2009.

Auditions "Who's Lovin' You" This Is Me Safe Live show 2 "Billie Jean" Reinvention Safe Live show 3 "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)" Movie week Safe Live show 4 "Let It Go" Love & Heartbreak Safe

"Love Yourself" Jukebox

"Jealous" Judges' choice

"The Power of Love"

"It's a Man's Man's Man's World"

"I Believe I Can Fly" New song

"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (with Rita Ora) Celebrity duet

"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" 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 or at least reach the top five. On 18 December 2015, Johnson performed "Forever Young" on the 2015 Text Santa broadcast.

2016–present: Collaborations and label change There were indications that her debut studio album would be released as quickly as possible, maybe as early as February 2016, and would include her debut single "Forever Young". However, the singer later declared: "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." She co-headlined the concert the following year, and appeared as a guest performer in 2018.

Johnson released her second solo single, "So Good", in November 2016. The single peaked at number 13 in the UK, and received a gold certification from BPI. Her third single, "Best Behaviour" was released in March 2017. It charted at number 48 in the UK, and was certified silver by BPI. which reached number 32 on the official UK singles chart and received a silver certification from BPI. The single "Between You & Me", recorded in collaboration with One Bit, was released on 10 August 2018. Later that month, she was featured on Mars Moniz's single "999". In 2019, she collaborated with Sigma on the single "Here We Go Again" which charted in the UK at number 98.

In January 2020, Johnson announced a collaboration with fitness clothing brand USA Pro. Following the announcement, she released "Like I Love Me" to promote the collaboration. For the artwork of the single, Johnson posed completely nude, being photographed sitting down in front of a plain backdrop, with one leg raised towards her and the other one spread out.

In September 2022, she released a collaboration with Jonas Blue titled "Always Be There".

Personal life In 2017, Johnson spoke about her friendship with former X Factor mentor Rita Ora, stating that she was "still in touch with Rita".

In 2018, Johnson faced backlash for multiple homophobic tweets she had made as a schoolgirl in 2013, which included the repeated use of the homophobic slur "faggot". She apologised for the tweets, saying, "I was young and foolish, and hanging around with the wrong crowd & didn’t know any better."

Discography

Singles

As lead artist Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album UK IRE SCO "Forever Young" 2015 9 5 2rowspan=3 "So Good" 2016 13 37 8 BPI: Gold "Best Behaviour" 2017 48 71 22 BPI: Silver GER IRE NZHeat. SCO USDance "Tears"(Clean Bandit featuring Louisa Johnson) 2016 5 24 95 21 26 10 3 45 17 BPI: 2× Platinum IRMA: Gold RMNZ: Gold What Is Love? "Weak (Stay Strong Mix)"(AJR featuring Louisa Johnson) 2017 58 — — — — — 23 — — "Bridge over Troubled Water"(as part of Artists for Grenfell) 1 26 — 25 — 4 1 — — BPI: Silver "With a Little Help from My Friends"(as part of NHS Voices) 2018 89 — — — — — 26 — — "999"(Mars Moniz featuring Wusu and Louisa) — — — — — — — — — "Here We Go Again"(Sigma featuring Louisa) 2019 98 — — — — — — — — Hope "Ain't Thinkin Bout You" (Kream and Eden Prince featuring Louisa) — — — — — — — — — "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.

Guest appearances + List of guest appearances, showing year released and album name Title Year Other Artist Album "Leave the Light On" 2025 Craig David Commitment

Concert tours Co-headliner The X Factor Live Tour (2016)

Supporting Olly Murs's Summer Tour (2017 – Leg 2) Little Mix's The Glory Days Tour (2017) Westlife's The Wild Dreams Tour (2022)