Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the talent television show The X Factor in 2008. Following the show, she was signed to Syco Music and released the winner's single "Hallelujah", which became the European record holder for the most singles sold over a period of 24 hours, selling 105,000 in one day, and became the top-selling single of 2008 in the UK and the UK's Christmas 2008 number one.
In 2009, Burke released her debut studio album, Overcome, which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and spawned four number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart—"Hallelujah", "Bad Boys", "All Night Long" and "Start Without You". The singles released from the album earned her three BRIT Award nominations. The album also saw the release of the UK top 10 hits, "Broken Heels" and "The Silence". "Elephant" was released in February 2012 as the lead single from Burke's second studio album, Heartbreak on Hold (2012), peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart. The album's second single, "Let It Go", was released in May 2012 and peaked within the top 40. In 2018, she released her third studio album, The Truth Is, through Universal Music Group's Decca Records, which became her highest peaking album on the UK and Scottish albums charts since 2009, and earned her third consecutive top 10 album on the latter.
In June 2014, Burke replaced Beverley Knight in the lead role of Rachel Marron in the West End musical The Bodyguard, at the Adelphi Theatre, touring with the production in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. In 2016, Burke commenced a 12-month residency in Sister Act the Musical, leading the cast as Deloris Van Cartier. In 2017, she competed in the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing alongside dance partner Gorka Márquez, which they finished as runners-up.
Life and career Early life and career beginnings Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke was born in Islington, London on 25 August 1988, daughter of David Burke (born 1954) and British soul singer Melissa Bell (1964–2017).
Burke shares the middle names Cecelia Ewen with her mother and her sister, Sheneice. Burke said that she had to grow up very fast, at a very young age as her mother was always touring with her band and that she had to look after her young brother, which included taking him to and picking him up from school. Burke's parents separated in 1992, while she was still young, but the pair continued to co-parent their children.
2005–2008: The X Factor Burke auditioned for the second series of The X Factor in 2005 (which was eventually won by Shayne Ward). She made it through to the final seven in Louis Walsh's 16–24 category, effectively the top 21 of the competition, but Walsh did not choose her for his final four as he felt that she was too young. Yet Burke did not give up and went on to seek professional singing lessons over the following three years. Burke's second bid to win The X Factor came in 2008. Falling into the "Girls" category, she was mentored by Girls Aloud's Cheryl who selected her for the finals—a series of ten weekly live shows in which contestants are progressively eliminated by public vote. On the first live show, Burke performed Whitney Houston's classic "I Wanna Dance with Somebody". For the second live show she covered "I'll Be There" by The Jackson 5. In week three, big band week, Burke performed Christina Aguilera's "Candyman" and received her first standing ovation. For the disco-themed fourth live show, Burke performed Donna Summer's "On the Radio". During Mariah Carey week on 8 November, Burke and the other finalists met Carey for individual masterclasses, with Carey complimenting Burke on her voice. Burke performed "Without You" and received a standing ovation from the judges, who all gave her positive feedback. In weeks 6 and 7, Burke received positive comments from the judging panel for her performances of "You are so Beautiful" and Dan Hartman's "Relight My Fire" (the popularity of which in the UK is mostly a result of Take That's 1993 revival thereof). The quarter-final saw her replace Diana Vickers as the bookies' favourite after performing Britney Spears' "Toxic" and Beyoncé' "Listen", for which she received another standing ovation. In the semi-final, Burke performed Rihanna's hit song "Don't Stop the Music" and Toni Braxton hit "Un-Break My Heart".
Burke avoided the final showdown every week and was joined in the grand final by Northern Irish teenager Eoghan Quigg and 4-piece boyband JLS. The three finalists were required to sing three songs – a Christmas song, a duet with an established music artist, and the song from their favourite performance of the series. Her Christmas song was an adaptation of "Silent Night". She then sang "Listen" as a duet with Beyoncé (who later performed her UK number-one single "If I Were a Boy"), and after performing with the American singer she proclaimed: "I have achieved a dream". Her final song before the first-round voting result was "You Are So Beautiful". After the elimination of Quigg, Burke sang what was to become her debut single, a cover of a 1984 song by Leonard Cohen, "Hallelujah", for the first time. Finally, with over eight million votes cast in total, Burke was revealed as the winner of The X Factor 2008 with 58% of the final vote. She performed the single again alongside the other X Factor contestants, and at parts she was too moved to sing. The single went on to become the Christmas number one of 2008, holding the top spot for three weeks and selling one million copies. At this time there was also a campaign to take Jeff Buckley's cover of Hallelujah to the top of the Christmas chart to deny Burke the top spot.Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen fans unite on Facebook to keep reality show version of 'Hallelujah' off British chart National Post The campaign was fuelled by Jeff Buckley fans' dislike of The X Factors commercialism and the song's arrangement,The fight for a Hallelujah Christmas victory The Times, 18 December 2008Hallelujah hits number one and two slots in Christmas charts The Times, 22 December 2008 as well as a desire by this contingent to introduce younger music fans to Buckley's version.Mark Lawson: Warring Hallelujahs, The Guardian, 19 December 2008. Burke herself was not enamoured of the choice of song, and dismissed the original by remarking "It just didn't do anything for me". As winner, Burke received a recording contract with record label Syco, which is co-owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The contract had a stated value of £1 million, of which £150,000 was a cash advance and the remainder allocated to recording and marketing costs.Hallelujah: how Leonard Cohen became an X Factor winner without trying The Times, 13 December 2004.
2009–2010: Overcome, international breakthrough and All Night Long tour
On 13 February 2009 it was reported that Burke signed a £3.5 million, five-album US record deal with Epic Records.Alexandra Burke 'gets £3m US deal' Digital Spy, 13 February 2009. Burke's first album was originally scheduled for March 2009, however, Simon Cowell confirmed that her album was scheduled for release later in the year to allow Burke to polish her skills and find the right songs for the album, so that it would not be rushed. The album was released on 19 October 2009 in the UK, titled Overcome.Overcome Alexandra Burke Official Website Burke's first commercial single from her debut album is titled "Bad Boys", which features Flo Rida. The single premiered in the UK on The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 on 25 August 2009.Alexandra Burke's 'Bad Boys': 30 plays later Digital Spy, 25 August 2009. On 18 October 2009, Bad Boys topped the UK Singles Chart. After visiting Burke in the studio, Beyoncé spoke of possibly recording a duet with her and also asked Burke to join her for the second European leg of her I Am... World Tour. Bad Boys was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry on 7 January 2010.
On 19 July 2009, Burke confirmed that she had signed a six-figure contract with Italian fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana, to become the face of a new fashion line. She would also model their clothes and accessories in her music videos. Burke performed on the Royal Variety Show on 7 December 2009.
Burke confirmed on 17 November 2009 that "Broken Heels" would be the second commercial and third overall single from Overcome.Diary Blog – Tuesday 17 November 2009 Alexandra Burke Official Website She also confirmed via her official Twitter page that the video was shot in Los Angeles on 22 and 23 November 2009.Alexandra Burke on Twitter. Twitter. Retrieved 29 September 2011. On 18 January 2010, Burke began her European Promo Tour in Brussels, Belgium.European Promo Tour Alexandra Burke Official Website, 14 January 2010. On 12 March 2010, Burke confirmed on Twitter that "All Night Long" would be her new single, featuring Pitbull. She appeared on Dancing on Ice during the semi-final to perform All Night Long.Dancing on Ice ITV Guide On 29 April 2010, Burke entered FHM's poll for the world's top 100 sexiest women 2010 at number 75. This was her first appearance on the poll since she rose to fame in 2008.Full list of FHM's top 100 world's sexiest women 2010 Metro, 29 April 2010 Burke's next single was a completely new song, "Start Without You", which was released on 5 September 2010.Twitter / Alexandra Burke : Remember guys, my New sing. Twitter.com (4 August 2010). Retrieved 29 September 2011. The video for "Start Without You" debuted on 19 August through VEVO on later premiered on The BOX. The song was performed at T4 on the Beach on 4 July 2010, and later released internationally.
Additionally, Burke was announced as the first ever brand ambassador for Sure Women, starring in a television advertisement for the company. Burke achieved her fifth consecutive top ten hit, and her third number one single, when "Start Without You" stormed to the top of the charts, beating Katy Perry to the top spot. The re-packaged edition of Overcome is to be released of 29 November 2010.Alexandra Burke is too busy to watch The X Factor . Entertainment.stv.tv (24 October 2010). Retrieved 29 September 2011. Music Week reports that the deluxe makeover includes three brand new tracks; "Perfect", "Before the Rain" and "What Happens on the Dancefloor" featuring Cobra Starship; as well as three number one and two Top 10 singles (including "Start Without You"). A DVD accompanying the release features seven videos, including an exclusive promo for the track "The Silence". The magazine also confirmed that Burke would promote the record with a performance on The X Factor. A new track on the album was said to be a duet with "an amazing group", the group was later announced as Cobra Starship. On 25 October, Burke announced via her Twitter that a new version of "The Silence" will be the album's fifth commercial single being released in early December.Alexandra Burke confirms LP re-release – Music News. Digital Spy (14 September 2010). Retrieved 29 September 2011. The official music video for "The Silence" was released on 27 October 2010, via MSN Videos UK.Exclusive: Alexandra Burke – The Silence on MSN Video . Video.uk.msn.com. Retrieved 29 September 2011. It was confirmed that there would be no further singles from the album after "The Silence".Alexandra Burke – Music Interview. Digital Spy (8 December 2010). Retrieved 29 September 2011.
2010–2012: New record deal and Heartbreak on Hold