Alexandra Burke

Alexandra Burke was born in Islington in 1988. Her mother, Melissa Bell, was an R&B singer who was a member of the group Soul II Soul, who scored chart hits with songs like "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)", “Get a Life” and “Keep on Movin’”.

Whilst Burke’s early success came on The X Factor, she actually appeared on the talent show Star for a Night when she was twelve years old, in which she was the runner-up to eventual winner Joss Stone. Burke left school after completing her GCSEs to pursue a career in music, and auditioned for the second series The X Factor in 2005. She was whittled down to the last seven in the 16 – 24 category, but judge Louis Walsh decided against picking her for his final four on the basis that she was too young.

This spurred Burke on to have professional singing lessons for a number of years before being picked by Cheryl Cole in the 2008 series. Burke made the final, and beat the competition of Eoghan Quigg and JLS in the final which featured a duet with Beyonce and a rendition of what would be her first single, Leonard Cohen’s "Hallelujah".

Burke has since released two albums, with a third due out in 2018, and toured the world with hits such as “Bad Boys”, “Elephant” and “Start Without You”.

In June 2014, Burke made her West End theatre debut in The Bodyguard, taking over from Beverley Knight who was starring in the production at the Adelphi Theatre. After the production closed two months later, Burke toured the UK with the musical. She also played the role of Deloris in a UK touring production of Sister Act in 2016. In 2018, Burke played Roxie Hart in the West End revival of Chicago at the Phoenix Theatre. In 2021, Burke played the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoatat the London Palladium, sharing the role with Linzi Hateley.

In 2024, Alexandra Burke will reprise the role of Deloris in Sister Act at the Dominion Theatre.