About Leading Ladies
Hometown
London, England
Formed
2017
Genre
Pop
Vocal trio Leading Ladies were formed in 2017 by three literal leading ladies of London's West End stage. Beverley Knight had a two-decade career as one of Britain's best-known soul singers under her belt before she reinvented herself as a musical theater actress in 2013, playing Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard -- the role made famous by Whitney Houston. Turns in Memphis and Cats followed, the former earning her an Oliver Award nomination. Amber Riley made her name as Mercedes Jones on the hit TV show Glee, winning an Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance. While the show was still on the air, she appeared in the off-Broadway Cotton Club Parade and in Hair at the Hollywood Bowl, and, after it ended, made her West End debut as Effie White in Dreamgirls, winning Olivier and WhatsOnStage Theatregoers' Choice Awards. Cassidy Janson, while less well-known to mainstream audiences, was a successful stage actress, having appeared in Candide, Company, Avenue Q, Wicked, and Beautiful, in which she played singer Carole King. The group came about after Knight's label, EastWest, proposed the idea of her recording a musical theater album. Having seen the others' shows and admired their talent, Knight approached them with the idea of forming a group. Riley and Janson fell in love with the idea, and Leading Ladies were born. Finally whittling down a huge list of favorite songs to the length of an album, they went into the studio with Brian Rawling (Cher, Tina Turner, Lionel Richie) to record their debut, Songs from the Stage. Released in November 2017, it saw the trio belt out a selection of audience favorites, including songs that each of them had performed on-stage. ~ John D. Buchanan
Similar to: Leading Ladies
Discover more music and artists similar to Leading Ladies, like Sheridan Smith, Liisi Lafontaine, Alfie Boe
