Cher Lloyd

  • United Kingdom
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  • Teen Pop
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  • 2010
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About Cher Lloyd

Official Site: http://www.cherlloydmusic.com/us | @cherlloyd
Singer, rapper, and songwriter Cher Lloyd is already a star in her native U.K. thanks to a string of buzzed-about performances on Britain’s version of The X Factor, a No. 1 debut single (“Swagger Jagger”), and a well-received album (Sticks & Stones) that shot to No. 4 on the UK chart. And with the May release of her first U.S. single “Want U Back” — a cheeky slice of alternative urban pop that the Huffington Post said “sounds like an instant summer radio hit” — it’s easy to see why. As the New York Times put it: “…she’s the future.”

An outspoken, determined individualist who has talent to back up the confident attitude, Cher has that intangible quality that draws people in, as well as the rare ability to straddle the ever-shifting line between commercial and credible. The notoriously tough-to-please Simon Cowell saw it for himself when Cher was a contestant on The X Factor and signed her to his Syco Music label, which released Sticks & Stones in the UK in November. Cher was signed by Epic Records head L.A. Reid when the music executive noticed her at a sound check for The X Factor USA, beckoned her over to meet him, and told her she was a star. “He didn’t even know who I was,” Cher says with amazement. The next day she found out that Reid had tapped her for Epic, which will release the U.S. version of Sticks & Stones with several brand-new tracks later this year.

Cher’s dynamic voice and considerable songwriting talent have also enticed a host of heavy-hitters to want to work with her, including songwriter and friend Savan Kotecha whom she credits with introducing her to other Sticks & Stones collaborators Max Martin (Britney Spears, Katy Perry), Red One (Lady Gaga, J-Lo), Shellback (Pink, Maroon 5), and Kevin Rudolph (Lil Wayne). “Savan and I sat down and figured out what suited me best,” Cher says. “Then we took everything I’ve ever wanted to do musically but wasn’t sure about and tried it anyway. That’s why the album sounds a bit like a jukebox. Each track is different; there’s just a massive amount of variety.” Cher was involved in every creative decision, co-writing a number of songs during sessions in the U.S., Britain, and Sweden. Despite working with huge hitmakers, she made sure her ideas were put across. “Simon and L.A. trusted me,” she says. “They never set any rules or said, ‘You’re going to do this’ or ‘You’re going to sing that.’ They gave me freedom, so I just did what I wanted to do.”

The result is a collection of contemporary, street-wise pop gems that are both frank and playful, including “Want U Back,” second UK single “With Ur Love” (featuring Mike Posner), the dubstep-fueled “Dub on the Track,” and the RedOne-produced “Playa Boi,” which reworks the lyrics of the Neneh Cherry classic “Buffalo Stance” and samples its unmistakable hook. Cher also proves she can handle emotional ballads with “Beautiful People,” on which she teams up with Chad Wolf of South Carolina alt-rock band Carolina Liar. “I don’t believe that I have to stay completely pop or just sing ballads,” she says. “If you’ve got a recognizable voice, you can sing any style and people will know it’s you. I believe the song shouldn’t take over the artist. The artist should take over the song.”

Cher’s self-assuredness about her talent was hard-won. Growing up in the small town of Malvern, in England’s Worcestershire region, Cher knew she could sing from a young age, but didn’t perform for anyone until she was ten. “I was very shy about it,” she says. “I was a very quiet person. I struggled with being able to actually speak around people.” But eventually the need to be heard won out. “I come from a huge family and I always felt overshadowed,” she says. “People didn’t necessarily want to listen to what I had to say. I was always the girl in the background. So being onstage performing was my way of saying, ‘It’s my turn to be heard now.’”

Driven to become a performer, Cher began checking out blogs, digital radio stations, and YouTube, where she discovered other aspiring artists posting videos of themselves singing hit songs. “I didn’t have the technology to post my own, or I would have, but I watched people get their success and I wanted the same thing,” she says. Inspired by Nicki Minaj, and Lil Wayne, Cher wanted to rap as well as sing and began practicing for hours at home in her bedroom. She decided to try out for The X Factor when auditions were held in nearby Birmingham. “There were so many people there,” she recalls. “I looked around and thought, ‘This isn’t for me. I don’t want to be queuing up to be told no.’ Because I hate being told no. But in the end I went for it because I don’t give up.”

That determination sealed her fate. After finishing third runner up, Cher joined the “The X Factor Live” Tour, performing for half a million people throughout the UK in 2011 and earning a legion of devoted fans who call themselves “brats.” This past spring, she hit the road for the headlining UK Sticks & Stones Tour, which has clearly been one of her favorite endeavors so far. “When I get onstage, that’s it,” she says. “It’s the one moment I can have with the audience where I’m not thinking about anything else. That’s what I love. It’s the reason I do this and why I’ve made this my job, so I can sing live.”

Now Cher is looking forward to making her mark in America with “Want U Back” and the upcoming release of Sticks & Stones. “The U.S. is a big deal,” she says. “It’s a bigger field for me to play in and I like that. I love a challenge. I will never reach that level where I can completely say, ‘Oh, I’ve done it. I’m a star.’ It’s never going to happen. There will always be something bigger and better that I want to achieve.”
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Music

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  • I Wish
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    Video
    I Wish
  • I Wish (Lyric Video)
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    I Wish (Lyric Video)
  • I Wish (audio)
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    Video
    I Wish (audio)
  • With Ur Love (Live At The Radio Disney Music Awards 2013)
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    With Ur Love (Live At The Radio Disney Music Awards 2013)
  • With Ur Love
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    Video
    With Ur Love
  • With Ur Love (Audio)
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    With Ur Love (Audio)
  • Rum And Raybans
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    Video
    Rum And Raybans
  • Rum And Raybans (Audio)
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    Rum And Raybans (Audio)
  • Oath
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    Video
    Oath
  • Dancing On My Own (Live at the Canal Room)
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    Video
    Dancing On My Own (Live at the Canal Room)

Interviews & Exclusives

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  • Cher Lloyd: Fifth Harmony Has 'Pure Diva Style'
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    Cher Lloyd: Fifth Harmony Has 'Pure Diva Style'
  • Cher Lloyd Shares Her Greatest Wishes
    cher-lloyd
    video
    Cher Lloyd Shares Her Greatest Wishes
  • Cher Lloyd And Demi Lovato 'Stand For The Same Thing'
    cher-lloyd
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    Cher Lloyd And Demi Lovato 'Stand For The Same Thing'
  • Cher Lloyd Would Pick Demi Lovato As Her 'X Factor' Mentor
    cher-lloyd
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    Cher Lloyd Would Pick Demi Lovato As Her 'X Factor' Mentor
  • PUSH: Cher Lloyd
    cher-lloyd
    playlist
    PUSH: Cher Lloyd
  • Cher Lloyd Calls It 'Tough' Sharing Names With The 'Ultimate Cher'
    cher-lloyd
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    Cher Lloyd Calls It 'Tough' Sharing Names With The 'Ultimate Cher'
  • Cher Lloyd: A Day In Her Life
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    Cher Lloyd: A Day In Her Life
  • Cher Lloyd On Being In America
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    Cher Lloyd On Being In America
  • How To Lose A Guy In Five Ways: Cher Lloyd
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    How To Lose A Guy In Five Ways: Cher Lloyd

Photos

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  • Cher Lloyd
    Epic Records
  • Cher Lloyd and Craig Monk
    Cher Lloyd
    Cher Lloyd and Craig Monk
    SplashNews
  • + <b>Cher Lloyd 2013 Calendar</b><br>Brats! Practice your Cher Lloyd grunt every single day of 2013!<br><b><a href=&quot;http://tinyurl.com/8mmu3ny&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;>Cher Lloyd's Online Store</a></b><br>($12.99)
    Cher Lloyd
    + Cher Lloyd 2013 Calendar
    Brats! Practice your Cher Lloyd grunt every single day of 2013!
    Cher Lloyd's Online Store
    ($12.99)
    Backstreet Intl Merchandise Ltd.
  • Cher Lloyd
    Courtesy of Epic Records
  • Cher Lloyd
    Getty Images
  • Cher Lloyd
    Getty Images
  • Cher Lloyd
    Getty Images
  • Cher Lloyd
    Getty Images
  • Cher Lloyd

News

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  • Cher Lloyd
    Kait Weston's 'Til Death Do Us Part' Video From 'Romeo & Juliet' Only Hints At The Star-Crossed Heartbreak To Come (Spoiler Alert!)
    MTV Buzzworthy
    September 30, 2013
    Watch Kait Weston's "Til Death Do Us Part" video from the new "Romeo & Juliet" movie starring Hailee Steinfeld. A good star-crossed, ill-fated lov...
    Read More
  • Cher Lloyd
    Cher Lloyd Ready to Swing 'Sticks' at U.S. | Billboard
    www.billboard.com
    Prior to her 2010 audition for U.K. series "The X Factor," Cher Lloyd seemed like an average, if highly ambitious, British teenager who loved to sing....
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  • Cher Lloyd
    Grammys Deadline Spurs Early Vinyl Releases From Cher Lloyd, Muse | Billboard
    www.billboard.com
    Awards deadline. Among the October albums released this week: "Release Me" from eight-time winner Barbra Streisand, "Glad Rag Doll" from two-time cham...
    Read More
  • Cher Lloyd
    Diana Krall, Three Days Grace & Cher Lloyd Top 10 Bound on Billboard 200 | Billboard
    www.billboard.com
    2006's "From This Moment On" (No. 7), 2004's "The Girl In the Other Room" (No. 4) and 2001's "The Look of Love" (No. 9). The new "Glad Rag Doll" album...
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  • Cher Lloyd
    Cher Lloyd Previews “I Wish” (Featuring T.I.): Listen
    idolator.com
    Cher Lloyd Sees RedShe surprises Taylor Swift's fans with a duet. Read More »5th On Cher LloydFifth Harmony cover "Want U Back" by Cher Lloyd. Read Mo...
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  • Cher Lloyd
    Cher Lloyd Pairs Up With T.I. On “I Wish”: Listen To The Full Version
    idolator.com
    Cher Lloyd Sees RedShe surprises Taylor Swift's fans with a duet. Read More »Cher Lloyd Opens UpShe talks about her new album produced by Shellback. R...
    Read More
  • Cher Lloyd
    Cher Lloyd Spills On Why She Was 'A Nightmare To Work With'
    MTV News
    It's been more than three years since Cher Lloyd burst onto the scene on the U.K. version of "The X Factor," and since her fourth-place finish, she's ...
    Read More
  • Cher Lloyd
    Cher Lloyd Reveals Why Fifth Harmony Girls Have Gone 'Wild'
    MTV News
    It's a match made in "X Factor" heaven! No, we are not talking about One Direction's Zayn Malik and Little Mix's Perrie Edwards, but Cher Lloyd and Fi...
    Read More
  • Cher Lloyd
    Cher Lloyd Drops A Solo Version Of “I Wish”: Listen To The Bouncy Pop Song
    idolator.com
    Ever wondered what Cher Lloyd's new single would sound like without T.I.? Well, ponder no longer. The 20-year-old Brit has dropped a solo version of "...
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  • Cher Lloyd
    Cher Lloyd & T.I.’s “I Wish” Music Video Looks Like A Smartphone Commercial: Watch A Teaser
    idolator.com
    Genie In A Bottle Service Cher Lloyd's latest blast of pop fun, "I Wish," is getting the video treatment, and guest rapper T.I. is on hand for the fes...
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  • Cher Lloyd
    Cher Lloyd & T.I. Party In “I Wish” Video: Watch
    idolator.com
    When You Wish Upon A Star Cher Lloyd has up and released the video for her new single "I Wish," the first from her upcoming sophomore LP (executive pr...
    Read More

Tour Dates

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  • Nov 3 Sunday
    Lake Buena Vista, FL, US House of Blues
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  • Mar 20 Thursday
    St Louis, MO, US Chaifetz Arena
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  • Mar 22 Saturday
    Columbus, OH, US Nationwide Arena
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  • Mar 26 Wednesday
    Toronto, ON, Canada Air Canada Centre
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  • Mar 29 Saturday
    Nashville, TN, US Bridgestone Arena
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  • Mar 30 Sunday
    Indianapolis, IN, US Fieldhouse
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Discography

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  • Sticks & Stones (2011)
    Cher Lloyd
    Sticks & Stones (2011)
    Syco Music
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