Leona Lewis is a singer, actress, activist, and model who rose to fame as the winner of the third series of The X Factor. As a result, she won the recording contract with Syco Music, worth £1 million in 2006. 

Since then, she has released five studio albums, one live video album, and twenty-five singles. She is behind the critically acclaimed movie Avatar's theme song 'I See You.'

In addition, Lewis's songs have also been featured in other projects like For Colored Girls and Sex and the City 2. She has sold millions of records to date and, according to Celebrity Net Worth, her net worth is around $10 Million. 

For everything Lewis has earned and worked for, she owes it all to her parents. Her parents struggled a lot to make the singer into a strong and independent woman.

Leona Lewis' Parents Shaped Her Future

While Lewis' nationality is British, she is of mixed ethnicity. She was born in Islington in 1985 to an Afro-Guyanese father and mother with Irish, Welsh, and Italian ancestry. 

Her father was a DJ and worked with youth offenders, and her mother was a social worker and a ballet teacher. Lewis grew up alongside her brothers, Bradley and Kyle, and all three had a fantastic upbringing. 

Lewis told The Guardian that she was "very protected" by her parents, and she felt safe. She has had a passion for music and singing since she was young. Therefore, her parents enrolled her in various schools where she could refine her talent. 

The singer attended Sylvia Young Theatre School, Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, the Ravenscourt Theatre School, and the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. 

Unfortunately, it was easier said than done. Her parents could not afford to send her to these schools, but they wanted their daughter to fulfill her dream. 

As a result, they made cutbacks where they could to support Lewis in her endeavors. She shared with Seventeen that her parents always asked her to do what she loved. 

They told her never to limit herself but to go for whatever she loved doing. So, since Lewis loved singing, that is what she did.

And this has not changed to date. Even after Lewis started gaining success in her career, her parents were always there beside her. 

In an interview with Elle in 2015, Lewis talked about making her fifth studio album, I Am. There, she spoke of her parents and how supportive they were. 

The singer confessed that there were times where she questioned if she could work on the album on her own. 

During those moments, her parents were her support. They gave her "the drive and the motivation" to work on her album. Lewis called herself lucky to have "solid people" around her to help her out in difficult times.  

Regardless of everything the singer has achieved, her parents do not let fame get into her head. She told The Irish Times that she would never forget where she came from. 

Talking about her parents' struggles, she appreciated they worked hard to give Lewis and her brothers the opportunities. So, it was "normal and natural" for her to be polite to people. 

She claimed it would be "stupid" of her to forget her roots.