Lenny (singer)

Lenny
Lenny in 2017
Lenny in 2017
Background information
Birth nameLenka Filipová
Born (1993-09-25) 25 September 1993 (age 31)
Prague, Czech Republic
Genres
Pop
OccupationMusician
Years active2013–present
LabelsUniversal
Websitelennymusic.net

Lenka Filipová (born 25 September 1993), known professionally as Lenny, is a Czech singer, songwriter, composer, lyricist, and pianist.

Early life

Lenka Filipová was born on 25 September 1993[1] in Prague into an artistic family of folk singer and guitar player Lenka Filipová [cs] and architect Boris Drbal. Her grandfather was a theatre and TV actor Adolf Filip [cs].

She started playing the piano at the age of four and studied it at the art school from six to ten. At the same time she attended a language school where she learnt fluent English. She was also a member of a school drama club and sang in choirs. Later she started singing solo accompanied by piano. She composed melodies and later added lyrics. She wrote her first song at the age of eleven. At sixteen she started playing with a band and accompanied her mother on their tour in Europe, Australia, America and Canada where she substituted a piano player. At the same time she also participated in an American International Songwriting Competition where she got through to a semi-final with her song "You're My Everything".[2][3]

In spring of 2013 she graduated at English and Czech High School AMAZON.[4] From October 2013 she studied songwriting for three years at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in London. She successfully graduated in 2016 and received her bachelor's degree.[5]

Music career

In 2013, Lenny signed the contract with Universal Music[6] and on 24 June 2013 released her first EP, called All My Love, with four songs of which three were her own.[7] "All My Love" was written by Australian band Dallas Frasca.[8] Her second Fighter EP was released on 6 December instead of the originally planned debut album. The EP contains five songs of which there are two cover versions – "I'm Ready" by Bryan Adams and "Am I Wrong" by Keb' Mo'.[9] In 2013 Lenny received the Discovery of the Year Award at the Angel Awards,[10] and was also nominated for Discovery of the Year at the Český Slavík Mattoni.[11]

In September 2016 Lenny's debut studio album Hearts was released. She supported it on a club tour Hearts Tour 2016, which lasted for a month, from 30 September to 30 October.[12] Due to its success the tour's prolongation was announced in December. The Hearts Tour 2017 started on 3 March and finished on 25 March.[13] Lenny was nominated for an Apollo Award for her album.[14][15] In 2016 she was also nominated for a Žebřík Award in the Singer category[16] and for an Angel Award in four categories:[17] Album of the Year (Hearts), Song of the Year ("Hell.o"), Singer of the Year and Video of the Year ("Hell.o"), all of which she won.[18][19] Besides her main awards she also received an Angel Award in the Rock & Pop category.[20][21]

Her song "Hell.o" was also successful in Italy,[22][23] where she was a guest in the local talk show Che tempo che fa on 12 February 2017.[24] In June 2017 she performed the song as a guest of the 11th year of Wind Music Awards in Verona.[25]

In June 2017 Lenny signed a global contract with a German subsidiary of Universal Music,[26][27] on which she released for the local market a remix of "Hell.o" by an American duo Fancy Cars.[28][29] On 20 February 2018 Lenny supported British soul singer Emeli Sandé at her concert in Prague's O2 arena. Apart from the songs from her debut album she introduced a new song "Maneater" from her oncoming second album.[30][31]

In 2018 she became one of the Forbes magazine "30 under 30" personalities who "change the world around".[32]

On 28 November 2023, she was announced as one of the contestants of the Czech national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024,[33] competing with the song "Good Enough".[34] On 13 December, it was revealed that she had come fifth.[35]

Discography

Studio albums

  • Hearts (2016)
  • Weird & Wonderful (2020)
  • Heartbreak Culture (2022)

EPs

  • All My Love (2013)
  • Fighter (2013)
  • Klenoty (2023)

Singles

  • "All of This" (2014)
  • "Bones" (2015)
  • "Standing at the Corner of Your Heart" (2016)
  • "Hell.o" (2016)
  • "My Love" (2016)
  • "Enemy" (2018)
  • "Home" (2018)
  • "Lovers Do" (2019)
  • "Figure It Out" (2020)
  • "Wake Up" (2020)
  • "Samotní nejsme nic" (2021)
  • "Overdosed" (2021)
  • "Lithium" (2021)
  • "Live. Laugh. Cry" (2022)
  • "Plastic Flowers" (2022)
  • "Heartbreak Culture" (2022)
  • "Takeover" (2023)
  • "Friendly Spot" (2023)
  • "Good Enough" (2023)

References

  1. ^ Lenny – BIO [online]. lennymusic.net. Available online.
  2. ^ Lenka "Lenny" Filipová (22 let) [online]. iDNES.cz, 2 July 2013.Available online.
  3. ^ VEDRAL, Honza. Dcera Lenky Filipové debutuje jako Lenny silnými autorskými písničkami. iDNES.cz [online]. 22 June 2013. Available online.
  4. ^ PANENKA, Jaroslav. Rozhovor: Byla jsem ošklivé kačátko, říká mladičká zpěvačka Lenny. Metro [online]. 21 July 2014. Available online.
  5. ^ HNÁTEK, Václav. Máma se rozbrečela. Deska se jí líbí, nejvíc sprostá píseň, říká Lenny. iDNES.cz [online]. 19 August 2016. Available online.
  6. ^ PAVLIŠ, Dominik. Lenny [online]. iREPORT.cz, 8 January 2014. Available online.
  7. ^ Písničkářka Lenny, dcera Lenky Filipové, vydává své první EP. Deník.cz [online]. 25 June 2013. Available online.
  8. ^ DVOŘÁK, Stanislav. Lenny má nový klip All My Love. Novinky.cz [online]. 12 September 2013. Available online.
  9. ^ ČERNÁ, Martina. RECENZE: Lenny podruhé. Dospělejší a ostřejší. iREPORT.cz [online]. 29 December 2013. Available online.
  10. ^ ČTK. Hudební ceny Anděl získali Bratři Orffové. Objevem roku je zpěvačka Lenny. Hospodářské noviny [online]. 14 May 2014.Available online.
  11. ^ Český slavík 2013: Jaký byl Jan Kraus? Bavil i šokoval. Podívejte se na výsledky ankety. EuroZprávy.cz [online]. 23 November 2013. Available online.
  12. ^ Vyprodaný koncert, nadšení fanoušci! Takhle odstartovala Lenny své první turné!. TV Nova [online]. 12 October 2016. Available online.
  13. ^ Lenny vydává dokument o turné a zveřejňuje jarní termíny. Novinky.cz [online]. 12 December 2016. Available online.
  14. ^ Apollo 2016 – nominace [online]. Ceny Apollo. Available online.
  15. ^ ČTK. Cenu Apollo získal producent Ondřej Holý vystupující jako dné. iDNES.cz [online]. 2 March 2017. Available online.
  16. ^ Hudební ceny Žebřík 2016: nominace [online]. iREPORT.cz. Available online.
  17. ^ Vyhlásili nominace na Ceny Anděl. Nejvíce jich má Lenny. Novinky.cz [online]. 15 March 2017. Available online.
  18. ^ DVOŘÁK, Stanislav. Anděly ovládla zpěvačka Lenny. Novinky.cz [online]. 22 May 2017. Available online.
  19. ^ ČTK. Hvězdou hudebních cen Anděl se stala Lenny. Akademici ocenili i životní dílo Špinarové. Český rozhlas [online]. 22 May 2017. Available online.
  20. ^ Žánrové Ceny Anděl pro Lenny, Pio Squad, Ucházím i Dné. Novinky.cz [online]. 17 May 2017. Available online.
  21. ^ ČTK. Hudební ceny Anděl ovládla zpěvačka Lenny. Proměnila všechny čtyři nominace. Lidovky.cz [online]. 22 May 2017. Available online.
  22. ^ HNÁTEK, Václav. Můj hit znají v Itálii lépe než mě samotnou, tvrdí Lenny. iDNES.cz [online]. 15 January 2018. Available online.
  23. ^ EZR, Ondřej. Zpěvačka Lenny si svým chraplákem získala Italy. Naživo ji ale uslyší i Češi. Lidovky.cz [online]. 9 February 2017. Available online.
  24. ^ MARTÍNEK, Josef. VIDEO: Lenny v italské talk show zazpívala hit Hell.o. Podívejte se na to. iREPORT.cz [online]. 13 February 2017. Available online.
  25. ^ Lenny, backstage ai Wind Music Awards: la videointervista. Rockol [online]. 6 June 2017. Available online.
  26. ^ HNÁTEK, Václav. VIDEO: Lenny míří do Německa s klipem postaveným na poetice hororů. iDNES.cz [online]. 12 June 2017. Available online.
  27. ^ ŠPULÁK, Jaroslav. Zpěvačka Lenny u nás letos samostatně vystoupí třikrát. Novinky.cz [online]. 27 July 2017. Available online.
  28. ^ Wer nach dem Soundtrack des Sommers 2017 sucht, der wird an Lenny mit "Hell.o (Fancy Cars Remix)" nicht vorbeikommen. Universal Music Group [online]. 6 September 2017. Available online.
  29. ^ ŠPULÁK, Jaroslav. Zpěvačka Lenny: Moc kontrolovat se nenechám. Novinky.cz [online]. 10 November 2017. Available online.
  30. ^ Lenny bude zpívat před Emeli Sandé. Novinky.cz [online]. 28 December 2017. Available online.
  31. ^ TRÁVNÍČEK, Jan. Velký hlas Emeli Sandé očaroval Prahu. Musicserver.cz [online]. 21 February 2018. Available online.
  32. ^ 30 pod 30 [online]. Forbes, 2018. Available online.
  33. ^ "Czechia finalists revealed ahead of ESCZ 2024". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  34. ^ Carabaña Menéndez, Hugo (4 December 2023). "Desveladas las 7 canciones participantes en el ESCZ 2024, la final nacional checa: Escúchalas todas" [The 7 songs competing in ESCZ 2024, the Czech national final, have been revealed: Listen to them all]. ESCplus España (in European Spanish). Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  35. ^ "Aiko will represent Czechia at Eurovision 2024". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.

External reference