Leah Jacqueline Cooney, known professionally as Haywood (formerly Leah Haywood), is an Australian record producer, songwriter and singer. Born in New Zealand, she grew up in Perth, Western Australia, and recorded a top 40 album, ''Leah'', released in 2001 on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical mu ...

, which contained her Top 10 single, " We Think It's Love". Two more Top 40 hits followed with " Crazy" in 2000 and " Takin' Back What's Mine" in 2001. She also performed

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

for

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

on "

That's the Way It Is That's the Way It Is may refer to: *'' Elvis: That's the Way It Is'', a 1970 documentary film about Elvis Presley * ''That's the Way It Is'' (Elvis Presley album), a 1970 album by Elvis Presley * "That's the Way It Is" (Mel and Kim song), a 1988 so ...

", the 1999 hit single from Dion's album '' All the Way… A Decade of Song''. Haywood's song "Summer of Love" was the theme for Channel Ten Australia at the Start of 2002. She opened for

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his discography spanning Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeto ...

on the Australian leg of his International tour. Haywood was nominated as Best Female Artist at the

Australian Record Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing ...

(ARIA) Music Awards of

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

. "We Think It's Love" was nominated for Most Performed Australian Work at the 2001 Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA)

Awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

. In 2002, Haywood and husband, Daniel Pringle, relocated to Los Angeles to run Dreamlab, their production and songwriting company.

Biography

Haywood was born in New Zealand, but moved to Perth, Western Australia, at a young age, where she trained on piano and vocals before moving to Sydney by 1999. She signed with

(Australia) to release her debut single, " We Think It's Love", in February 2000, which peaked at number 7 on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. Two more Top 40 hits followed with " Crazy" in August and " Takin' Back What's Mine" in April 2001. Her debut album, ''

Leah Leah ''La'ya;'' from (; ) appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son ...

'', followed in July and peaked in the Top 40 on the ARIA Albums Chart. In 2002, Haywood moved to Los Angeles, California with her husband, Daniel James, and started Dreamlab, a production and songwriting company managed b
Advanced Alternative Media Inc.
A discography of songs written, co-written and/or produced by Leah Haywood/Dreamlab may be viewed on the AAM website. From their Los Angeles studio, Haywood and James, as Dreamlab, co-wrote and co-produced

Aly and AJ Aly & AJ are an American pop rock duo that consists of sisters Alyson (Aly) and Amanda Joy Michalka (AJ) and signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records in 2004. Their debut album, '' Into the Rush'', debuted at number 36 on the US ''B ...

's debut top 40 single "Rush" and produced eight tracks on the record; which has sold in excess of a million records worldwide. They have worked with actors Emmy Rossum and

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). ...

on their respective musical endeavours, and had further releases in 2008, including Epic Records rock band, Automatic Loveletter. Dreamlab co-wrote half the tracks and produced the entire record for

Ryan Cabrera Ryan Frank Cabrera ( ) (born July 18, 1982) is an American musician. He began his career as a lead singer for the Dallas band Rubix Groove before pursuing his solo career. Following the 2001 release of independent album '' Elm St.'', he released ...

. They have printed a limited number of copies of their electronica EP self-titled ''Dreamlab''. An LP version was completed by late 2008. Also in late 2008, Haywood provided background vocals for the ballad "Out from Under" sung by American pop singer

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

off her sixth studio album, ''

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyc ...

''. In 2009, Haywood co-wrote Perth singer Cassie Davis' third single, " Do It Again", and "Pieces", a track on

Allison Iraheta Allison Iraheta (; born April 27, 1992) is an American singer from Los Angeles, California, who was the fourth place finalist on the eighth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to ''Idol'', Iraheta won the Telemundo competition ''Quinceañera: Mam� ...

's debut album '' Just Like You'', she also wrote "Masquerade" for

Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...

's second album, ''

Guilty Pleasure A guilty pleasure is something, such as a film, a television program, or a piece of music, that one enjoys despite understanding that it is not generally held in high regard, or is seen as unusual or weird. For example, a person may secretly like ...

'' . She is also known to have co-written and produced at least two tracks from Australian singer Amy Pearson's upcoming second studio album ''Aftershock'', and these are the title track "Aftershock" and "Doctor Love". In 2011, Haywood co-wrote three songs on American singer-songwriter

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series '' Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for p ...

's third studio album " Unbroken"; "Hold Up", "Mistake" and title track "Unbroken". Also co-wrote " Hit the Lights" by American singer

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...

from '' When the Sun Goes Down''. Leah also co-wrote and co-produced the track " Marilyn Monroe" by American rapper

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents. ...

from '' Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'' which debuted at number 1 on the ''

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of arti ...

''. In 2020, Leah co-wrote " Lovesick Girls" by South Korean girl group

Blackpink Blackpink (, commonly stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album '' Squa ...

from their debut studio album, '' The Album'' In March 2021, Leah released her first single in 20 years as an artist under a new stage name ''Haywood'', titled "Cheers To Us" featuring Jackson Foote of American pop duo, Loote. A second single, "Backbeat", was released in June with "Bleeder", the third single, released in August. In April 2022, Leah and her husband were nominated at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

for their work on Justin Bieber's ''Justice'' album track, "Off My Face". Leah's second studio album (and first under the "Haywood" stage name), ''Pressure on My Heart'', was released in July 2022.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Production and songwriting credits

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987.

Grammy Awards

The

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

, or Grammys, are presented annually by the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

. The ceremony honors outstanding achievements in the music industry, with awards of the most popular interest presented during the live televised event.

References

External links

Dreamlab Official MyspaceLayer Cake Records Official WebsiteAAM Management Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haywood, Leah 1976 births Living people Musicians from Western Australia Australian people of New Zealand descent Australian women pop singers 21st-century Australian singers 21st-century Australian women singers