Lauren Spencer-Smith (born September 28, 2003) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

. She appeared as a contestant on the 18th season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' in 2020, placing in the top 20 in the competition. Her 2019 album ''Unplugged, Vol. 1'' was a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nominee for Adult Contemporary Album of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2020 The Juno Awards of 2020, the 49th Juno Awards, was an awards presentation that was to be held at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on 15 March 2020. The awards and associated events were cancelled due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pan ...

, but lost to Shine a Light by

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

. In 2022, Spencer-Smith became more known internationally when her self-released song "

Fingers Crossed To cross one's fingers is a hand gesture commonly used to wish for luck. Occasionally it is interpreted as an attempt to Christian prayer, implore God for protection.''Orange Coast Magazine''. Emmis Communications. May 1990. pg. 177. "In early C ...

" reached the top 20 in numerous countries, including the US and making the top 10 of the charts in numerous countries including Australia, New Zealand and Spencer-Smith's native United Kingdom. This was on the back of a demo of the song which had gone viral on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

. Spencer-Smith's rise to popularity and success on social media has sometimes been compared to that of American singer-songwriter

Olivia Rodrigo Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She gained recognition in the late 2010s with her lead roles on the Disney television programs ''Bizaardvark'' and '' High School Musical: The Music ...

. She released her song "

Flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

" in 2022 and it has charted in several countries.

Early life

Spencer-Smith was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, UK. She moved to Canada at the age of three with her parents and brother.

''American Idol''

During the Top 20 round in which she was eliminated from the competition, Spencer-Smith performed from her father's home in

Port Alberni Port Alberni () is a city located on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The city lies within the Alberni Valley at the head of the Alberni Inlet, Vancouver Island's longest inlet. It is the location of the head offices o ...

with a view of

Sproat Lake Sproat Lake is a lake on central Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It was known as Kleecoot, meaning "wide open" by local indigenous people. Roughly cross-shaped with four arms, it is over 25 kilometres in length, and has 90.8 kilome ...

in her background.

Discography

Live albums

* ''Unplugged, Vol. 1'' (2019) * ''Unplugged, Vol. 2'' (2019)

Extended play

* ''Mixed Emotions'' (2020)

Singles

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer-Smith, Lauren 2003 births 21st-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian singers Canadian child singers Living people Musicians from Vancouver Island English emigrants to Canada Musicians from Portsmouth People from Nanaimo Canadian expatriates in England