Lisa Lois (born 22 June 1987 as Lisa Hordijk) is a Dutch singer who rose to prominence after winning the second season of talent show ''
X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
''. In 2009, she changed her stage name to Lisa Lois and released her debut album ''
Smoke
Smoke is an aerosol (a suspension of airborne particulates and gases) emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwante ...
''.
Early life
Lois was born in
Wageningen
Wageningen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a historic city in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in life sciences. The municipality had a ...
, Netherlands. She studied at the Rock Academy in
Tilburg
Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...
and at the
Utrecht
Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
After winning the X-Factor, she released her debut single, a cover of her winning piece
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...
's "
Hallelujah
''Hallelujah'' (; , Modern ) is an interjection from the Hebrew language, used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Tanakh (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four times in the Christ ...
" as 'Lisa'. The single went straight to number one in the
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 () is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore radio, offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" ...
. "Hallelujah" went
double platinum
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...
within one month, selling over 100,000 copies as of today and becoming the best-selling single of 2009 in the Netherlands.
Her second single "No Good for Me" written by
Pixie Lott
Victoria Louise "Pixie" Lott (born 12 January 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her debut studio album, ''Turn It Up (Pixie Lott album), Turn It Up'' (2009), reached number six on the UK Albums Chart and sold over 1.5 millio ...
and
Phil Thornalley
Phillip Carden Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter, musician, and producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He produced the album ''Pornography'' by The Cure and was later their bass player. He began releas ...
was released on 13 November 2009. Two weeks later her debut album ''Smoke'' was released. Lisa's third single from the album is "Promises, Promises" written by Pixie Lott, Martin Sutton and
Chris Neill
Chris Neill (born 1968) is a British comedian, producer, and writer who features regularly on BBC Radio 4Official website