Laura White (singer)

Laura Jane Amanda White (born 31 August 1987) is an English Grammy-nominated recording artist and songwriter. Laura was later chosen to be in a soul band alongside Mark Ronson as a producer. In her career to date, Laura has penned songs for multiple artists, including Rita Ora’s Grammy-nominated ‘New York Raining’. Laura also co-wrote and featured with Galantis on their hit ‘Love On Me’. She has also worked with Beverley Knight, Naughty Boy, Hugel, Ms Banks, Bugzy Malone and MistaJam with most recent features including smashes from the likes of James Carter, Lucas & Steve, and Cash Cash and has recently written for Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, Andre 3000, Galantis, Inna, JP Cooper, Rag N Bone Man, Matoma, Steps, Timmy Trumpet, Stormzy, Tinie Tempah and Beverley Knight.

Her music has been streamed billions of times on Spotify, and she has written numerous music scores for Netflix's ' The Bold Type', BBC, and many HBO adverts, including one alongside Missy Elliott. Laura also co-wrote and featured on the soundtrack for the ‘Four Kids And It’ blockbuster movie starring Michael Caine. She also penned The Voice Australia winner single ‘Nobody’ for Taryn Stokes, charting at number 1.

In 2024, she released her debut album ‘Woman To Woman’, one of the best-selling pre-orders of the year, featuring some of the world's most successful songwriters (Toby Gad, Cathy Dennis, Eg White). Laura White also released a string of singles in the lead up to the album, including more collaborations with Galantis and spent much of the year touring the UK. Recent shows include London, Manchester dates and played for the BBC with the BBC Philharmonic.

Laura has also featured on TV shows This Morning, Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, Loose Women and Alan Titchmarsh. Laura has played arenas, theatre tours and many incredible gigs, including being asked to perform shows for hundreds of celebrities alongside duetting with Mariah Carey, Manchester United (and many more), Paul Scholes, Coronation Street, Denise Welch and Loose Women, many Prime Ministers and invited to the House of Commons.

Laura was also the only contestant of all time raised in parliament due to hundreds of thousands of people petitioning over her exit after leaving the X Factor. TV Awards named it 'the biggest TV exit of all time'. Recent podcasts featuring Laura include Global's Jenni Falconer's podcast 'RUNPOD' and many music podcasts on songwriting, including Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA) podcast and Louise Golbey's Ivor Novello podcast

Early life

White has been singing and playing the piano since she was a young girl. Despite never having had a professional singing lesson, White began singing in jazz bars at the age of 15 and played many festivals. White went to Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley, the same school as actors Anthony Quinlan, Leah Hackett and Oliver Lee. She studied her A-Levels in English Literature and Drama at Wigan and Leigh College, before going on to study creative writing at The University of Bolton.

Music career

2008–09: ''The X Factor''

White auditioned for the 2008 series of ''The X Factor'' and reached the final live stages in the "Girls" category, mentored by Cheryl Cole. After performing Fallin', by Alicia Keys, on the first live show, White sang You Are Not Alone as part of Michael Jackson week the following episode. She then performed God Bless the Child, originally recorded by Billie Holiday, as part of the third week's focus on big band music, and Somebody Else's Guy, written and performed by Jocelyn Brown, on the fourth live show as part of disco week. After performing Endless Love by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross in the fifth week, White was voted off the show on 8 November, after a sing-off against Ruth Lorenzo.

After her elimination, fans of White circulated a petition for broadcasting watchdog Ofcom to investigate phone voting procedures on the show, complaining of a lack of transparency in the voting system and of difficulties in getting through to vote for White–allegations which were denied by a show spokesman. The issue was even mentioned in the Houses of Parliament by her local MP Andy Burnham, who commented that White's exit had been "very harsh".

2009–2012: ''What My Mother Taught Me''

The ''Manchester Evening News'' reported on 11 November 2008 that White had been approached by an as-yet unnamed record company. White was chosen by Peterborough City Council to perform and turn on the annual Christmas lights at Cathedral Square, Peterborough. A crowd of 6,000 attended and cheered as the lights were turned on. White then went on to switch on the lights in the county capital Cambridge on the Sunday night. White was invited to the Brit Awards Launch Party as ''The X Factor'' contestant representing the "Hero" single. White was a judge in the 2009 Miss Manchester contest and sang at the Miss England contest.

In early August 2009, White posted samples of four tracks onto her website. Fans were allowed to vote for one of the four to become her debut single. The candidates were: " You Should Have Known", "Touch You", "Got It Bad" and "Love Hurts". "You Should Have Known" was chosen as her debut single. The song was written by Ivor Novello-winning songwriter Michelle Escoffrey and produced by Ian Green, the man behind Madonna's autumn 2009 album '' Celebration''. Speaking in October 2009 to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning ''Blues & Soul'', White stated: "I'm really pleased to kick my whole album project off with 'You Should Have Known."

She performed her track " You Should Have Known" on GMTV on 19 August 2009. The video for the single "You Should Have Known" was shot in early September and was uploaded to White's official YouTube account. The single was released on 2 November 2009. To promote the single, White embarked on a promo tour of the UK. "You Should Have Known" debuted and peaked at No. 32 on the UK Singles Chart. White was also part of the alternative Haiti relief charity single "I Put A Spell on You".

White released her debut extended play, '' What My Mother Taught Me'' in 2013.

2012–2023: Songwriting and ''No. 95''

White has written songs for artists including Inna, Leona Lewis, Eliza Doolittle, and Cher Lloyd. White had her first number one with artist Gin Lee in 2012 and also penned songs for many Danish artists and Dutch X Factor winner Lisa Lois. White wrote " New York Raining" for Charles Hamilton & Rita Ora, which was featured on the soundtrack of the US TV show, ''Empire'' and nominated for a Grammy in 2015.

In 2016, White confirmed signing a publishing deal to Peer Publishing UK. She released her second extended play, ''No. 95'' in February 2016. She also wrote and featured as a vocalist on the Galantis single, " Love on Me". In 2017, White wrote and featured on songs with Example, Bugzy Malone and confirmed her album was being written alongside featured production from Naughty Boy.

2023–present: ''Woman to Woman''

In 2023, White released the single "Lemons", the lead single from her upcoming debut studio album. In February 2024, White announced that her debut album would be available to pre–order from the 8th March 2024, sixteen years following her appearance on ''The X Factor'' in 2008. Her debut studio album, ''Woman to Woman'', is scheduled to be released in November 2024.

Discography

Studio Albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Songwriting credits

Tours

White toured on ''The X Factor'' live tour, with fellow series 5 finalists. White was also touring with Peter Andre with his Revelation Tour. She continues to perform in gigs/festivals. She has performed her own shows at the Lowry Theatre Manchester, Camden Assembly London and more dates for 2020.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Laura
1987 births
Living people
English people of Scottish descent
People from Atherton, Greater Manchester
The X Factor (British TV series) contestants
English soul singers
English women pop singers
21st-century English women singers
21st-century English singers