[Artists News]Cher Lloyd on making new music, Swagger Jagger and Liam Payne's unmatched talent

[Maheso]

The world first met Cher Lloyd in 2010 when, aged 16 - she walked onto the X Factor stage and blew the audience away with her version of Keri Hilson's Turn My Swag On.

It ended up being a fourth-place finish in the TV talent show for Cher, who signed with Simon Cowell's record label, releasing number one single Swagger Jagger and two studio albums.

Since that early success she's been in and out of the spotlight, and stunned fans at the start of this year when she announced an upcoming single - her first since 2020.

Speaking to BBC Newsbeat 15 years later, Cher says music's still "everything" to her and she's "spilling the tea" on her new track Head Down.

"I was on such a huge reality TV show and the experience that I had was just a rollercoaster of emotions," she says.

"I just felt like I needed to get a lot of stuff off my chest.

"Head Down for me was a way to do that without blurting it all out and getting in trouble."

Looking back, Cher says her time on the X Factor was a "shock to the system".

"I had this illusion that the show was just going to be about singing and performing and I didn't realise that 80 or 90% of it was reality TV."

Cher got a tough time from the tabloid press during her time on the show - with stories about "diva" behaviour turning some of the audience against the teenager.

She says it makes her "really sad" feeling that she gained a reputation as the series villain.

"That was never my intention," she says.

"I feel like it kind of overshadowed the reason why I was there and that was because I love to sing".

When asked how she coped with the negative attention, Cher says she didn't.

"That's why you saw me spiral and make bad decisions," she says.

One person who helped her through, though, was Liam Payne. The One Direction star died last year in a fall from a hotel balcony.

"He was always the level-headed one," says Cher.

"He looked after everyone and he had this nurturing energy. And the passion that he had for performing was just unmatched.

"I don't think I've spoken about it like this before, but the talent he had was just unbelievable".

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn93g04yrpwo