Victoria Louise "Pixie" Lott is an English singer-songwriter, and actress. Her debut
single, "Mama Do", was released in June 2009 and went straight to number one in the UK
Singles Chart. Her second single, "Boys and Girls", also topped the UK chart in September
2009. Lott's debut album, Turn It Up, was released
in September 2009. It reached number six on the UK Albums Chart, spawned five consecutive
top twenty singles, and sold over 1.5 million copies.
Lott's second album, Young Foolish Happy, was released on 14 November 2011. The lead
single, "All About Tonight", debuted atop the UK Singles Chart, becoming her third UK
number-one hit. The album also produced the top ten singles "What Do You Take Me For?"
and "Kiss the Stars". Her self-titled third studio album was released
on 1 August 2014. Its lead single "Nasty" released on 7 March 2014 peaked at number
nine on the UK Singles Chart, making it her sixth Top 10 single in the United Kingdom.
Early life Lott was born in Bromley and initially lived
in Petts Wood and then Bickley, all suburban areas of London. Her mother gave her the nickname
Pixie because she was "such a tiny, cute baby who looked like a fairy". She started singing
in her church school and when she was five she attended the Italia Conti Associates Saturday
school in Chislehurst. She went on to attend the main school – Italia Conti Academy
of Theatre Arts – at 11, where she was awarded a scholarship.
At the age of 13, Lott moved with her family to Brentwood. During her time as a student
she appeared in the West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium,
and in BBC One's Celebrate the Sound of Music in 2005, aged 14, as Louisa von Trapp. At
the age of 14, she was part of the chorus, recording vocals on Roger Waters's opera Ça
Ira. Despite missing school time because she was recording her album, Lott says she received
straight 'A' grades in her GCSEs. Music career
2008–10: Turn It Up
In 2006, at the age of 15, she sang for L. A. Reid after he heard a few of her demos.
He then signed her to the Island Def Jam Music Group. After a change of managers, a bidding
war ensued and Lott parted ways with the Island Def Jam Music Group, to sign with Mercury
Records in the UK and to Interscope Records in the U.S. She signed a publishing deal,
as a songwriter, with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in December 2007, while writing and recording
tracks for Turn It Up. Lott wrote a song for Alexandra Burke's debut album, Overcome, titled
"You Broke My Heart" and a song for Girls Can't Catch titled "Happy Alone". She also
wrote two tracks on Lisa Lois's debut album Smoke, titled "No Good For Me" and "Promises,
Promises". Lott played her first festival concert in the Big Top at the Isle of Wight
Festival 2009, during her first full British tour, where she supported The Saturdays on
The Work Tour. Lott's debut single, "Mama Do", was released
on 8 June 2009. It spent one week at number one, eleven weeks within the top forty and
eighteen weeks within the top seventy five. The single also had considerable success outside
the UK, reaching the top forty in eleven other countries, including top ten peaks of number
eight in Denmark and number ten in France. The single was certified silver by the British
Phonographic Industry on 28 August 2009 after selling over 200,000 copies in the United
Kingdom. On 15 August 2009, Lott was featured alongside Hoobastank, The All-American Rejects,
Kasabian, Boys Like Girls, Estranged and Raygun as one of the live acts at Asia's very first
MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia concert. Lott's second lead single "Boys and Girls"
was released on 6 September 2009 and topped the UK Singles Chart on 13 September 2009.
On 14 September 2009, Lott's debut album, Turn It Up was released. This followed an
intensive promotional tour where Lott visited the Asia-Pacific region to promote the album
and 'Mama Do'. The album debuted at number six on the UK Album Chart, and sold over 600,000
copies in the United Kingdom. In August 2010, it was certified Double-Platinum by the British
Phonographic Industry. Lott's third single from the album, "Cry Me Out" was released
on 23 November 2009. It was during this time that Lott was chosen as the face of Nokia's
"Illuvial Pink Collection" mobile phone range and Casio's range of Baby G watches.
The fourth single, "Gravity", was released in the UK on 8 March 2010. Lott won two MTV
EMA Awards at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2009 ceremony, Best UK & Ireland Act and Best
Push Artist. Lott was nominated for British Breakthrough Act, British Female Solo Artist
and British Single at the 2010 BRIT Awards. Lott also served as the opening act of Rihanna's
Last Girl on Earth Tour in the UK 7–26 May 2010. In April 2010, Lipsy launched a fashion
range co-designed by Lott. The first Pixie Collection comprised two ranges: Pixie Festival
and Pixie Party. Pixie Lott's second collection for Lipsy was launched in September 2010 and
consisted of a new range, Pixie Rocks, and an updated Pixie Party collection. In July
2010, Lott appeared as a guest judge for the auditions for the seventh series of The X
Factor in Cardiff, covering for Dannii Minogue, who was on maternity leave. Lott also performed
on the main stage at the V Festival in August 2010. The fifth single from Lott's album,
the title song "Turn It Up", was released on 7 June 2010. Lott recorded a song for the
film Street Dance 3D, "Live For The Moment". Lott released "Boys and Girls" as her debut
US single on 24 August 2010. The release coincided with the TV premiere of her film debut, Fred:
The Movie. In January 2010, Lott was named one of 2010's "Faces to Watch" by US magazine,
Billboard. Lott was cast as Judy, Fred Figglehorn's crush, in the film Fred: The Movie, starring
alongside Lucas Cruikshank. The comedy was released on America's Nickelodeon channel
on 18 September 2010. Turn It Up was to be released in the US in 2011, but this never
materialised. It was, however, rereleased in the UK. "The Way The World Works", from
Lott's debut record was used in the U.S.-produced medical drama Private Practice.
For the new repackaged version of Turn It Up Lott recorded duets with Jason Derulo and
Joe Jonas, though the latter failed to make the final tracklisting for the album. This
edition included her single, "Broken Arrow". 2011–12: Young Foolish Happy
In July 2011 it was revealed that Lott had signed a deal with Select Model Management.
The company is also responsible for signing Cher Lloyd, Agyness Deyn and David Gandy.
Lott's second album, Young Foolish Happy was released on 14 November 2011, it includes
collaborations with Stevie Wonder and John Legend. Young Foolish Happy debuted at number
eighteen on the UK Albums Chart, selling 18,503 copies in its opening week. The following
week, it dropped twenty-four places to number forty-two. On 10 February 2012, it was certified
gold by the British Phonographic Industry, denoting shipments in excess of 100,000 within
the UK. The album also entered the Irish Albums Chart at number thirty-three.
"All About Tonight" was released on 2 September 2011 as the album's lead single. Lott premiered
the song on BBC Radio 1's The Chris Moyles Show on 11 July 2011. It debuted at number
one on the UK Singles Chart with first-week sales of 88,893 copies, giving Lott her third
UK number one. It also reached number nine on the Irish Singles Chart, her second top
ten hit in that country. The second single "What Do You Take Me For?", featuring rapper
Pusha T, was released on 4 November 2011, while the music video premiered on 6 October.
It debuted at number ten on the UK Singles Chart, selling 34,335 copies. In July 2012
Lott performed "Kiss the Stars" and "Use Somebody" at the Men's Gymnastics Finals in the 2012
Summer Olympics. Lott also performed at V Festival, the "Access All Eirias" festival
in North Wales, She also performed 'Kiss The Stars' on 'Dancing on Ice' in 2012 and the
MTV "Titanic Sounds" festival in Belfast. 2012–present: Pixie Lott
In June 2012, Lott stated she had started recording her third album citing Motown as
inspiration for the album: "I'm going to be heading to New York to work with the guys
who did the original Motown records in the '60s to make a new album soon." In June 2013,
Lott tweeted that she was recording the first single from her third album with Jack Splash
in Miami. In September, Splash confirmed that the single had been mixed. On 17 July 2013,
Lott tweeted that she was on her way to a photo shoot for her new single and her third
studio album. On 1 November 2013, Lott trended on Twitter
after announcing that her new music was "coming soon", and posting a cover of Avicii's "Wake
Me Up" on YouTube. Michael Einziger, one of the writers of "Wake Me Up", later took to
Twitter to praise Lott's interpretation. On 8 November, Lott's cover of "Royals" by New
Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde was uploaded. "Royals" was chosen because Lorde had previously
covered Lott's number one single, "Mama Do". After watching the cover, Lorde likened Lott's
voice to "baby angels and peanut butter chocolate". On 2 December 2013, Lott announced during
a Google Hangout with Dan Wootton of The Sun that the lead single from her third album,
"Nasty", would premiere in January. She also revealed the artwork for the album, titled
Pixie Lott. Lott was recently spotted filming the accompanying music video for "Nasty",
which was originally recorded by Christina Aguilera as a duet with Cee Lo Green for the
2010 film Burlesque but was never released. In March 2014, Lott took part in recording
England's 2014 World Cup song. She collaborated with the likes of fellow pop stars Melanie
C, Eliza Doolittle, Emma Bunton, Conor Maynard, Kimberley Walsh and Katy B, on "Greatest Day",
a track originally performed by British band, Take That. The track was produced by Gary
Barlow and recorded at Sarm Studios in London. The track also featured past footballers such
as Gary Lineker, Michael Owen, Geoff Hurst, David Seaman, Peter Shilton, Glenn Hoddle
and Dion Dublin on backing vocals. "Nasty" released on 7 March 2014 debuted on
the UK Singles Chart at number nine, selling 30,812 copies in its first week. It became
Lott's sixth Top 10 single and tenth consecutive Top 20 single. Her self-titled third studio
album was released on 1 August 2014 and was preceded by its second single, "Lay Me Down"
released on 27 July 2014. Promotional single, "Heart Cry" has been also released. Pixie
Lott peaked at number 15 on the UK Albums Chart.
Musical influences Lott cites Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston
as major influences on her style of singing. For her second album, Lott told Digital Spy
that the sound was "a little more soulful. That's the kind of thing that I'm into. That
influence is stronger on this album." Personal life
Lott is in a relationship with fashion model Oliver Cheshire.
In FHM's 100 Sexiest Women list she was voted No. 45 in 2010, No. 31 in 2011, No. 12
in 2012 and No. 7 in 2013. Filmography
Awards
Discography
Turn It Up Young Foolish Happy
Pixie Lott Tours
As the headline act 2010 – The Crazycats Tour
As supporting act 2009 – The Saturdays – The Work Tour
2010 – Rihanna – Last Girl on Earth Tour
References
External links Official website
Pixie Lott at AllMusic Pixie Lott at the Internet Movie Database
Pixie Lott's channel on YouTube