Lucy Spraggan (born 21 July 1991) is an English musician, currently signed to Cooking Vinyl Records.[1]

She auditioned for The X Factor in 2012, performing her own composition, "Last Night".[2] On 3 November 2012, it was announced she would be quitting her run on The X Factor due to illness, so she subsequently finished in ninth place, and second in her category. Following the show Spraggan was signed to Columbia Records. She was the first contestant in the show's history to score a Top 40 single and album before the live shows even aired with her independently released album Top Room At The Zoo. Her debut major label album, Join The Club, was released on 7 October 2013, reaching number 7 in the UK charts.[3]

Her third album, We Are, was released on 4 May 2015. It was preceded by lead single "Unsinkable", released 13 April 2015.

In July 2016 Spraggan released "Dear You", the first single from her fourth album I Hope You Don't Mind Me Writing. The video starred This Is England actor Thomas Turgoose.[4]

Contents 1 Music career 1.1 2011–12: Live and Unsigned, Open Mic UK and Top Room at the Zoo 1.2 2012: The X Factor 1.2.1 Performances on The X Factor 1.3 2012–13: Join the Club 1.4 2014–present: We Are, Home EP and I Hope You Don't Mind Me Writing 1.5 2017: Dear You Tour & Summer Festivals 1.6 2017: Acoustic Tour 1.7 2018: New Record Label, International Touring & New Material 1.8 2019: On Tour With Melissa Etheridge 2 Personal life 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.2 Extended plays 3.3 Singles 3.3.1 As lead artist 3.3.2 As featured artist 3.4 Other charted songs 4 Music videos 5 References 6 External links Music career 2011–12: Live and Unsigned, Open Mic UK and Top Room at the Zoo

In July 2011, Spraggan was announced as the runner up of the Urban, Pop & Acoustic Category of Live and Unsigned, placing third place overall in the competition.[5] Spraggan's prizes awarded by Live and Unsigned for her progress in the competition consisted of a festival slot at Osfest,[6] and a slot at Australia's 'Go Connect' Festival.[5] When the festival was later cancelled, Live and Unsigned provided Spraggan with a series of replacement prizes, including: a string of guest act spots at Live and Unsigned and Open Mic UK shows across the country,[7][8] a new website,[9] and a music video shoot for her single Last Night, which received over 455,000 views.[9][10]

On 20 October 2011 Spraggan independently released her album Top Room at the Zoo.[11] In an interview she said that the majority of her album's lyrics were inspired by a short-lived romance with an older woman of 27 that occurred when Spraggan visited America at the age of 18.[12]

Spraggan performed as a guest act at a large volume of Live and Unsigned and Open Mic UK shows across the country during this time,[7][8] on Open Mic UK, Spraggan said in an interview: "Open Mic UK is a great way to build your fan base to thousands of new fans whether you are a guest act or a competitor in the show."[7] As a result of performing at these shows, Spraggan was scouted by several festival organisers to perform at their festivals,[7] amongst which included London Summer Jam,[13] Osfest,[14] Strawberry Fields Festival[15] Whaley Bridge Water Weekend and Cockermouth Rock Festival.[16][17]

2012: The X Factor

On 13 July 2012, she released the single "Tea and Toast". Spraggan auditioned for the ninth series of The X Factor, which was shown on 25 August 2012, singing her own song "Last Night" from Top Room at the Zoo. She won herself a place at bootcamp after performing the song, which left the audience at the Manchester auditions chanting for more. Her second song, which was a rendition of "Halo" by Beyoncé, was shown on The Xtra Factor. Shortly after the audition was screened, the song climbed to Number 70 in the Official UK Singles Chart,[18] and reached Number 2 on iTunes. However, it was soon removed from iTunes by request of The X Factor producers.[19] On 29 August 2012, Greg James announced that "Last Night" was at number 5 on the Official Chart Update despite the song being removed from iTunes, her album Top Room at the Zoo was at number 7 on the Official Chart Update as well.[20][21] On 2 September 2012 "Last Night" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 11 and Top Room at the Zoo entered the UK Albums Chart at number 22.[22]

Spraggan sang "Moves like Jagger" by Maroon 5 at bootcamp but the performance was described as "awkward" and "messy". She returned to the stage with a mix-up of songs that she really liked and meant a lot to her. Tulisa Contostavlos then said that she wanted to hear one of her tracks so Spraggan decided to sing "Tea and Toast", stating that the song was about a real couple. After she performed the song she burst into tears when she received a standing ovation from the audience and the judging panel.[23][24]

She made it through to the live shows as one of the three female singers selected by mentor Contostavlos. In week 4, Spraggan was ill so she automatically got through to week 5. On 3 November, Spraggan decided to leave the competition because she felt that it wouldn't be fair to get another free pass to the next round, as she was still too ill to compete.[25]

Performances on The X Factor Episode Theme Song Result Audition Free choice "Last Night" (original song) Advanced Bootcamp 1 Group performance "Moves like Jagger" Advanced Bootcamp 2 Solo performance "Tea and Toast" (original song) Advanced Judges' houses No theme "I Will Always Love You" Advanced Week 1 Heroes night "Mountains" (original song) Safe (5th) Week 2 Love and heartbreak "Gold Digger" Safe (5th) Week 3 Club classics "Titanium" (version with original lyrics) Safe (7th)