Cher Lloyd

Britain’s Cher Lloyd is an exuberant pop, rap, and R&B-influenced singer with a highly resonant voice and big, stage-friendly personality. Originally a contestant on the British version of The X Factor, Lloyd quickly rose to international stardom with the release of her 2011 debut album, Sticks + Stones. Born in Malvern, Worcestershire in 1993, Lloyd grew up singing and focused on the performing arts while in high school. In 2010, after several unsuccessful auditions, she won a spot on series seven of Simon Cowell’s U.K. talent program The X Factor with her performance of the Keri Hilson version of Soulja Boy’s original “Turn My Swag On.” While on the show, Lloyd tackled a stylistically varied batch of songs including Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida,” Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem),” and Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend,” as well as Black Eyed Peas’ “Where Is the Love?” and “I Gotta Feeling,” which she performed with will.i.am. Lloyd ultimately finished the season in fourth place. Upon exiting the show, she signed with Cowell’s Sony BMG-affiliated Syco label and began work on an album. In June 2011, she released the single “Swagger Jagger,” followed a few months later by the full-length album Sticks + Stones. The album sold well, charting in the Top Five in the U.K. and the Top Ten in the U.S., and produced several hits, including “With Ur Love” and “Want U Back.” On the heels of her debut’s success, Lloyd was back in the studio, this time under the Epic Records banner, and in 2013 released the single “I Wish,” which found her reworking rapper Skee-Lo’s 1995 hit of the same name. A year later she returned with her sophomore album, the Savan Kotecha and Shellback-produced Sorry I'm Late, which featured the singles “I Wish” and “Sirens.” The album peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Top 200 and number 21 in the U.K. By 2015, Lloyd had parted ways with Epic and relocated to Los Angeles, where she began to focus on her songwriting and taking more creative control over the recording process. A deal was struck with Universal, and in July 2016 she released the single “Activated.” After some time away from the limelight to prepare her third LP and give birth to her first child, she re-emerged in October 2018 with the song “None of My Business.” ~ Matt Collar