Genevere Johnson

Genevere LeToya LaTavia Ramona Smith (Née Johnson) (Born September 12, 1988) is an American born, UK based recording artist. Johnson was a contestant in the eleventh series of the British television series URAPS Idol, which she eventually won. Johnson is notable as one of two Uraps Idol winners to release a #1 single, her highest charting single "Through The Dark", reached number one in the UK. Her debut album "Forever" was released in 2010 and topped the album's chart twice during it's chartrun. Johnson's debut tour, The Forever Tour, took place in 2011.

Early life
Born in New York's Hell's Kitchen to parents Raymond Johnson and LaQueenia Aode, she later moved to Brooklyn after Raymond left the family in poverty. Genevere was raised primarily by her grandmother, Delicious Aode, who owned a small record store. Genevere has repeatedly stated her admiration for her grandmother and that she learned her passion for music and religion from her. As a teenager Genevere dropped out of school and found a job at KFC, aged 18 in 2006 she married her then boyfriend. The relationship quickly became abusive, and after her grandmother passed away Genevere discovered she was pregnant and left her husband and the USA for the UK to start afresh. In 2009, Genevere gave birth to a daughter, Ptolomeisha Johnson.

Uraps Idol 11
Main article: URAPS Idol 11 Johnson auditioned for the eleventh series of Uraps Idol in 2010, singing "Nobody Knows" by P!nk. She impressed the judges and was described as the strongest vocalist of the girls by Lindsay Belle. Throughout the series Genevere won a large following, however she was criticised by some for her 'sob story', and for a supposed lack of versatility. As the final approached the judges praised Genevere for stepping out of her comfort zone with more energetic and upbeat performances. She was announced the winner with 62% of the final vote against country singer Cassie Diamond, winning a £1 million recording contract.

2010-2011: Forever and Festive
Main Article: Forever Following her Idol victory, Idol bosses had copies of her debut single "Run" pressed. Written by Lindsay Belle, the track was released by the fledgling label Fusion Records after Genevere became one of the label's first signees. The single eventually charted at #2 behind Emily Henning as the best selling debut of the week. The single became the best selling of Genevere's career, selling 246,855 copies and being certified Gold by the BPI. After signing a deal with Fusion to release an album, work began on completing the record. Genevere recorded the album in London, working with some of the industry's top writers and producers including Alesha, Elice Claire, Moodring, Aftershock, L.E.X, Phoenix Rising and label boss Syd Wolfe alongside tracks from Idol judge and "Run" songwriter Lindsay Belle. In August Genevere emerged from recording sessions and announced a single love date to premiere tracks from the album. Genevere Johnson: Live at the O2 Arena would be used as the album's launch gala, with suppory from a number of her former Idol competitors. At the event, Genevere announced the second single would be the Elice Claire penned "It Was a Losing Game". The single went on to chart at #3, one place lower than the previous single despite considerably stronger first week sales. The track topped both the download and airplay charts. The Alesha-penned "Through The Dark" was announced as the album's third single, and Forever was finally given a release date. The majority of the promotion for both releases was spent headlining the Fusion: Live tour alongside MIDNIGHT and Moodring. Genevere also made a return to the Idol stage to perform the single during the live final of URAPS Idol: Second Chance. "Through The Dark" and "Forever" both charted at #1 upon release. After a short break from the public eye, Genevere returned in March 2011 to announce her next single, "With You, With Me", a more upbeat Moodring written track boasting hip-hop influences. This would be the first release in which Genevere would be solely credited by her first name and was seen as an attempt to rebrand the singer after her departure from Fusion Records. In an interview at the time Genevere stated she hadn't felt "cool enough" for the record label, though she later admitted she was "uncomfortable with changes behind the scenes". "With You, With Me" was released through Saturdays Records and became Genevere's 4th consecutive top 3 release when it charted at #3 on April 25th. With the release of the single "Forever" climbed to the #1 spot on the album chart. A second Moodring-penned song was announced for release in July, "Forever and a Day", from which the name of the album was derived was referred to by Genevere as her favourite song in numerous interviews. During the promotion for the single Genevere toured North America as a support act on Alesha's Heathen Tour. Due to a number of personal problems getting in the way of the single's promotion, "Forever and a Day" charted at #10 in the UK and had its US release cancelled. Following the release of "Forever and a Day", Genevere began work on her second album while headlining her The Forever Tour. Keep Begging, a track she penned for Becca Hayworth's second album Deal With The Devil was released as a single during this time and peaked at #7 on the official single charts. Genevere had previously co-written the single Top of the World, the debut single of girlband Ace Rejects which also charted at #7 and topped the download chart. In September, Genevere confirmed she was planning to release an album of holiday-themed tracks in November under the title Festive. Around this time she was also confirmed to be featuring on Crazy... On The Serious Tip, a single from L'mondrea's eponymous US debut album.

Personal Life
In 2006 Genevere married her childhood sweetheart aged just 18. They were both from Hell's Kitchen, however the relationship suffered as a result of his abusive behaviour and Genevere left him just three years after they married in 2009- later in the year Genevere gave birth to a daughter, Ptolomeisha Johnson. In 2010, during her time on Idol Genevere met record producer Raymond Smith- he had previously been linked to Tynisha and Moodring's Maria Rose. The couple announced their engagement in February of 2011, with a wedding booked for July. Despite a number of alleged infidelities aired by the press, Genevere and Raymond married in a private ceremony on 4th July 2011.

Discography
Main article: Genevere Johnson discography