@RebeccaFMusic
Rebecca Ferguson is soon to become the world’s next
household name. The soulful singer who became a hit on the UK’s X Factor has recently released a debut
album called Heaven which has gone
platinum overseas in Ireland
and the UK.
The crooner’s voice contains the chords of Adele with Sade’s
softness, Celine’s juxtaposed serenity and forcefulness with Aretha’s
old-school feel. And while there’s more than enough factoids about Rebecca
Ferguson to go around, GBSTL has chosen five that you absolutely, positively,
need to know.
1) She had a background
plan: Before applying for the fateful X-Factor audition, she
studied to be a legal secretary. She also previously hustled her way through
her teenage years in retail at a clothing store to pay for her singing lessons.
2) Speaking of jobs, Rebecca has
another full time position: Motherhood is a practice Rebecca knows of all
too well. She had her first child, Lillie Mae, at 17 and Karl at 19. “People
would say to me, ‘Well your life’s ruined now!’ For a while I started to
believe it, but you don’t have to get rid of your dreams just because you have
kids. They’ve just pushed me to succeed, to want to do better for them. And for
me,” Rebecca says about life after kids.
3) "Timid" was practically her middle
name, but not anymore: Though outspoken as a little one, her confidence was shaky post-children. She entered the X Factor stage of Season 10 and sang
Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come," looking at the floor. The judges saw potential
anyhow, and throughout the season, she worked herself to a runner-up spot
overall. Being on the show “completely changed me as a person. I’m strong now,”
Rebecca responds on her past self.
4) She has some diva
counterparts on her side: Adele supported Rebecca throughout the
competition, voting for her, count it, over 80 times! And while Rebecca’s an
avid fan, (“She means every word she sings, which I love,” Rebecca gushes) her
tastes also run somewhere between Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, Florence and The Machine, Tupac, and Nicki Minaj.
5) Her successful album
is true to her heart. Rebecca wrote songs on the album Heaven based on her past
relationships. “I spilled my heart out,” she says of the tracks. The
album has gone platinum in Ireland
and the UK,
and entered the US R&B Hip-Hop Albums Billboard charts at no 3.
*Bonus Factoid:
She’s a secret plumber! As she previously wrote on her blog, “One thing that would surprise people about me is I can fix plumbing. I
just fixed my own boiler last week. I've actually saved landlords a lot of money
by doing work myself.” So she’s a gorgeous girl with pipes, that can fix pipes!
