Leah McFall explained

Leah McFall
Birth Date:1989 7, df=y
Birth Place:Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland[1]
Occupation:Singer-songwriter
Years Active:2010–present
Label:Capitol[2]
Associated Acts:will.i.am

Leah McFall (born 1 July 1989) is a British singer-songwriter from Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland.[3] She finished as the runner-up on the second series of the BBC One talent series The Voice.

Early life

McFall began her singing career at her local church, Glenabbey, at the age of six.[4] She was a pupil at Antrim Grammar School.[4] During her childhood she listened to Motown, jazz, gospel, folk and pop music which was played around the family home, and influences both her vocal and song writing style.[5] After years of gigging around Northern Ireland, Leah moved to London to attend college. After six months there, she began playing at the Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.[6]

Career

2013: The Voice UK

In 2013, McFall auditioned for the second series of The Voice, where she chose to join Will's team.[7] In the battle round, she sang against CJ Edwards. The pair duetted on the Michael Jackson song "The Way You Make Me Feel", and McFall was chosen to proceed. In the Knockout round, will.i.am gave his Fast Pass to McFall and she performed Minnie Riperton's "Lovin' You".[8] In the first live show, McFall sang "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. The studio version of her performance charted at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart, selling 19,213 copies within a week.[9] [10] [11] A week later, it rose to number 8. McFall then performed the Fugees' version of "Killing Me Softly" in the semi-final on 15 June 2013.[12] The result was revealed that McFall had received the most public votes, and would therefore represent Team Will in the final.[13]

Performances

Performed Song Original Artist Result
Blind Audition"R.I.P"Rita OraJoined Team Will
Battle Rounds"The Way You Make Me Feel" (against CJ Edwards)Michael JacksonWinner
Knockout rounds"Lovin' You" Minnie RipertonFast pass
Quarter-final"I Will Survive"Gloria GaynorFast pass
Semi-final"Rapture" (as part of Team Will)BlondieSafe
"Killing Me Softly"Roberta Flack
"I Will Wait" (as part of The Voice UK Semi-finalists)Mumford & Sons
Final"I Will Always Love You"Dolly PartonSafe
"Bang Bang" (mentor duet with will.i.am)will.i.am
"Lovin' You" (as favourite performance)Minnie RipertonRunner-up

2013–present: Weird to Wonderful and independent releases

In July 2013, Will.i.am revealed that he would release a new version of his single "Bang Bang" featuring McFall.[14] On 14 July 2013, McFall made her debut performance at the Wireless Festival alongside her mentor will.i.am.[15] During the tour, McFall revealed she would release three music videos before her first official single and album are released. The first of these videos, "No Ordinary Love", was released on 1 February 2014.[16] On 6 June, McFall announced the title of her first official single, "Home" featuring will.i.am.[17] The single was released on 27 July 2014.[18] On 21 July 2014, McFall announced her debut album, titled Weird to Wonderful, was due to be released in October 2014,[19] but was cancelled, and she was dropped from her record label. McFall returned in September 2016 with "Wolf Den", released independently. This was followed by the release of single "Happy Human", and the release of her EP, INK. The release of the EP was preceded by the "INK Tour", which saw McFall perform at dates around the UK and Ireland. Since INK, McFall has released three singles; "Somber", "White X" and "Marriage".

Discography

Extended plays

TitleDetails
Frills and Fur
Ink

Singles

As lead artist

TitleYearPeak chart positionsAlbum
UK
[22]
SCO
[23]
"Home"
(featuring will.i.am)
201456 47
"Wolf Den"2016Ink
"Happy Human"2017
"Somber"2018rowspan="3"
"White X"
"Marriage"2019
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.

Promotional singles

TitleYearPeak chart positionsAlbum
UK
IRE
[24]
SCO
"I Will Survive" 20138 39 13Non-album singles
"Killing Me Softly"36 53
"I Will Always Love You"43 48
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.

Guest appearances

SingleYearAlbum
"Bang Bang"[25]
(will.i.am featuring Leah McFall)
2013Now That's What I Call Music! 86
"Spiritual Warfare"[26]
(Ghetts featuring Leah McFall & Jordy)
2018Ghetto Gospel: The New Testament

Music videos

TitleYearDirector(s)
"No Ordinary Love"2014noMSG
"Home"Elisha Smith-Leverock[27]
"Happy Human"2017

Concert tours

Supporting act

Headlining act

Notes and References

  1. News: Newtownabbey Girl To Sing on Bbc 1 Show The Voice. 8 June 2013. belfastdaily.co.uk. 11 April 2013.
  2. Web site: Leah McFall | Capitol Records . 2014-06-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140718133328/http://capitolrecords.co.uk/artist/leah-mcfall/ . 18 July 2014 . dmy-all .
  3. News: Mohan. Isabel. The Voice: Our look at the finalists. 23 June 2013. telegraph.co.uk. 23 June 2013.
  4. News: Pair eager to prove they have The Voice. 12 April 2013. irishnews.com. 8 June 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140826114600/http://www.irishnews.com/news/pair-eager-to-prove-they-have-the-voice-1246724. 26 August 2014. dead.
  5. News: Leah McFall from BBC's The Voice joins us this Wednesday!. 8 June 2013. beauforthousechelsea.co.uk. 16 April 2013.
  6. News: A year ago I was playing gigs to just a barman – now I'm through to The Voice live. 8 June 2013. sundayworld.com/. 31 May 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130609030715/http://www.sundayworld.com/entertainment/showbiz/leah-gets-a-fast-pass-to-the-voice-final. 9 June 2013. dead.
  7. News: Rigby. Sam. 'The Voice' UK: Five best blind auditions week three. 8 June 2013. Digital Spy. 13 April 2013.
  8. News: Hogan. Michael. The Voice UK: knockout rounds – part one, BBC One, review. 8 June 2013. telegraph.co.uk. 1 June 2013.
  9. News: Darvill. Josh. Leah sold 19,213 copies of the track between Friday evening and the close of the chart week on Saturday night, placing her 16th in the charts.. 11 June 2013. Telly Mix. 11 June 2013. 2 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131002155551/http://tellymix.co.uk/reality-tv/the-voice/150741-the-voice-uk-leah-mcfall-sells-20000-copies-of-i-will-survive-in-one-day.html. dead.
  10. News: Darvill. Josh. The Voice 2013 favourite Leah McFall makes Top 10 with 'I Will Survive' cover. 8 June 2013. tellymix.co.uk. 8 June 2013. 2 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131002161040/http://tellymix.co.uk/reality-tv/the-voice/150413-the-voice-2013-favourite-leah-mcfall-makes-top-10-with-i-will-survive-cover.html. dead.
  11. News: The Voice star Leah McFall enters the charts as Blurred Lines continues to dominate. 9 June 2013. metro.co.uk. 9 June 2013.
  12. News: Seale. Jack. The Voice UK 2013: semi-final – review. 15 June 2013. radiotimes.com. 15 June 2013.
  13. News: Rigby. Sam. 'The Voice' UK: Matt, Andrea, Leah, Mike make 2013 final. 15 June 2013. Digital Spy. 15 June 2013.
  14. News: Will.i.am teases release of Leah McFall version of Bang Bang. 1 July 2013. capitalfm.com. 1 July 2013.
  15. News: Ferguson. Amanda. A bigger stage for Voice star Leah McFall. 16 July 2013. belfasttelegraph.co.uk. 16 July 2013.
  16. Web site: Leah McFall - No Ordinary Love. https://web.archive.org/web/20140201222335/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmNt6dFiBLM&gl=US&hl=en. 1 February 2014. YouTube.
  17. Web site: تويتر / Leahmcfallmusic: Waited so long to share this! . twitter.com . 17 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140714204635/https://twitter.com/leahmcfallmusic/status/474989457939398657 . 14 July 2014 . dead.
  18. Web site: Leah McFall is coming 'Home' with her huge debut single | News | Clickmusic | Online Music News, Downloads, Videos & More . 10 June 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160923051556/http://www.clickmusic.com/news/article/leah-mcfall-is-coming-home-with-her-huge-debut-single . 23 September 2016 . dead .
  19. Flavourmag. Flavourmag. 491171284890312704. 21 July 2014. Leah Mcfall speaks EXCLUSIVELY to Flavourmag about her brand new debut single 'Home', her debut Album and her ....
  20. leahmcfallmusic. Leah McFall. 6391310139265024. 21 November 2010. New ep 'Frills and Fur' OUT NOW!!! Download at www.leahmcfall.bandcamp.com.
  21. Web site: Watch: Leah McFall releases new music video for single Happy Human. 2 March 2017.
  22. Web site: Leah McFall > UK Charts. officialcharts.com/ Official Charts Company.
  23. Peak positions for singles in Scotland:
  24. Peak positions in Ireland:
    • For "I Will Survive": Web site: Chart Archive > Week 24, 2013. (IRMA). 13 June 2013. 14 June 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20181116113127/http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p%2Fmusicvideo%2Fmusic%2Farchive%2Findex_test.jsp&ct=240001&arch=t&lyr=2013&year=2013&week=24. 16 November 2018. dead.
  25. Web site: Will.i.am releases new version of Bang Bang with The Voice's Leah McFall. Telly Mix. 19 November 2013. 9 December 2013. 3 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131203043510/http://tellymix.co.uk/reality-tv/the-voice/166960-will-i-am-releases-new-version-of-bang-bang-with-the-voices-leah-mcfall.html. dead.
  26. Web site: Ghetto Gospel: The New Testament by Ghetts. iTunes (UK). 5 September 2018.
  27. Web site: Brown. Jimmy. Leah McFall ft Will.I.Am 'Home' by Elisha Smith-Leverock. promonews.tv. 10 July 2014.