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Cher Lloyd (born 28 July 1993) is an English recording artist. Lloyd rose to fame when she finished fourth in the seventh series of The X Factor. Shortly afterwards, Lloyd was signed by Simon Cowell to Sony Music subsidiary Syco Music.

Cher Lloyd's debut single "Swagger Jagger" was released in June 2011. The single entered at number one on the UK Singles Chart and number two on the Irish Singles Chart. Her second single "With Ur Love" was released on 31 October, featuring Mike Posner, and peaked at number four in the UK, and number five in Ireland, preceding her debut album Sticks + Stones, which peaked at number four in the UK Albums Chart and number seven on the Irish Albums Chart. She debuted her third single "Want U Back" on 22 May 2012 in the US.

Early life
Cher Lloyd used to live in Malvern with her parents Darren and Dina, and three younger siblings brother Josh, and sisters Sophie and Rosie. As Cher was growing up, she was on the road constantly with her parents living life as a gypsy. Home for her was a secondhand caravan. Being a gypsy is a very hard and dangerous life; they have very little money and travellers are often not accepted. Lloyd wore clothes handed down to her from a traveller aunt. This and her Romany background caused her to be taunted as a 'pikey' in school. But despite this, Cher was a very spirited girl. When talking about how Cher got started singing, her uncle Jessy said, "She was so little but had such a powerful voice. Hearing her sing used to bring a tear to my eye. Her ambition all these years has been to be a pop star." He says that he used to hear her singing karaoke in her bedroom from 5 to 11pm. In prsuit of her dreams, Lloyd attended Dyson Perrins CE Sports College, where she studied performing arts. She also attended theatre arts school Stagecoach.

2010–11: The X Factor
Lloyd had previously auditioned for The X Factor twice before (when the minimum age was lower) singing ballads, but did not make it through. Lloyd has previously performed at holiday camps and said she gets a mixed reaction to her music, but was a big hit with x-factor judge at the time Cheryl Cole. She remarked on their similarity and Cheryl went on to support her throughout the show. She auditioned singing the Keri Hilson version of "Turn My Swag On". At bootcamp she sang a rap version of "Viva La Vida" adding lyrics she claimed to have written herself, but this was disputed and reports claimed she took them from a song by rapper Swizz Beatz. At the judges' houses she performed "Cooler Than Me" but suffered from tonsillitis and was unable to complete her song. She was given a second chance, but broke down sobbing and could not complete the song. Despite this, she was still picked as one of the final three girls by mentor Cheryl Cole.

Lloyd sang a rendition of "Just Be Good to Me" in the first of the live shows. In the second live show she sang "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)". In the third live show, she sang a mashup of "No Diggity" and "Shout", and in the fourth live show she sang "Stay". This was the first time Lloyd did not rap in her performance, and Cowell even called it "the performance of the season". In week five, Lloyd sang "Empire State of Mind", but judges stated that after last week they were disappointed, and Cowell said it was copycat. However, the judges agreed that she redeemed herself with her rendition of "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" mixed with "Mockingbird", by Elton John and Eminem respectively, in week 6. In the seventh week, Lloyd was in the bottom two for the first time after her rendition of "Imagine", but Cowell, Cole and Walsh all saved her in the final showdown, resulting in Paije Richardson being eliminated. In the following week Lloyd performed "Girlfriend", followed by "Walk This Way". Both performances were credited by the judges and she was saved by the public vote the following night, securing her position in the semi final. In the semi-final, Lloyd performed "Nothin' on You" and "Love the Way You Lie" and was in the bottom two with Mary Byrne. She was saved by the judges again and put through to the final, even though voting statistics after the show revealed that Lloyd had the fewest votes. In the final she performed a mash-up of "The Clapping Song" and "Get Ur Freak On", followed by a duet with will.i.am, which was a mashup of "Where Is the Love?" and "I Gotta Feeling". Lloyd was then eliminated in fourth place, having received the fewest public votes. After the final it was announced that Lloyd had been signed by Syco Music. Lloyd and nine other contestants from the series participated in the X Factor Live Tour from February 2011 to April 2011. The tour saw Lloyd performing for 500,000 people throughout the UK.

2011–12: Sticks + Stones
Songwriter Autumn Rowe and producer RedOne worked on her debut album, scheduled for release in November 2011. Her debut single, "Swagger Jagger", received its first airplay on 20 June 2011 after it had been leaked onto the internet on 15 June 2011 however, this version was later confirmed as only the demo of the track on Lloyd's Twitter account. The single was released on 31 July 2011 and peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 7 August 2011.

On 28 July 2011, Lloyd previewed five tracks from her upcoming album during a Ustream session, including tracks featuring Busta Rhymes, Mike Posner, Ghetts, Mic Righteous and Dot Rotten. Lloyd confirmed on Twitter that "With Ur Love" featuring Mike Posner was to be released has her second single. The single was released on 30 October 2011. The single received its first radio airplay on 21 September 2011. The music video premiered on 1 October 2011, on morning show T4. The single sold 74,030 copies in its first week becoming the highest-selling number four single since Rihanna's "Only Girl (In the World)", which sold 74,248 copies in October 2010. Lloyd confirmed the album's title "Sticks + Stones" on her Twitter. The album was released on 7 November 2011. The album peaked at number four and has sold 198,199 copies in the United Kingdom as of January 2012.

On 21 November 2011, Lloyd announced her debut headlining UK tour, the Sticks + Stones Tour, set for March and April 2012. In December 2011, two more dates were added due to popular demand for tickets. "Sticks + Stones" will be released in 2012 through Epic Records in the United States On 13 December, a music video for "Dub on the Track" featuring underground artists Mic Righteous, Dot Rotten and Ghetts, who also all appear in the accompanying video, premiered on SBTV. The song will not serve as the third single.

In December 2011, Cher Lloyd signed a record deal with L.A. Reid to Epic Records in the United States, "Want U Back" was confirmed as the third single from the album. The single version features vocals from American rapper Astro and was released 19 February 2012. Following the release of the music video on 6 January 2012, the single peaked at number twenty-six on the UK Singles Chart, due to digital downloads from the album. .

On 24 February 2012, it was announced that Cher Lloyd has signed a modelling contract with Select. Select's special bookings revently stated: "Her strong individuality represents everything that we love about the youth today and their music. Like everyone, she is a melting pot of different emotions, from super confidence oozing fun to a vulnerability"

Lloyd has previously appeared on the cover of RWD Magazine and modelled for fashion bible Wonderland.

2012: Second studio album and international breakthrough
On 10 April 2012, Cher Lloyd announced she has started work on her second album. Lloyd also announced plans to re-release her single "Want U Back" in the US without Astro and has also recorded a remix with Snoop Dogg. L.A. Reid also plans to introduce Lloyd to American media in New York, hoping Lloyd will make a breakthrough in America. Her single "Want U Back" was released in the U.S. on May 22, 2012, without Astro or Snoop Dogg. The song peaked at number 4 on the US iTunes chart and 5 on the Billboard Digital Songs, being the 5th most downloaded song of the week selling 128.000 copies. On 25 July 2012 Lloyd made her US television debut when she performed the song live on America's Got Talent results show. , As of November 2012, the single has sold 2,000,000 copies in the US and has been certified platinum. In the UK it has sold over 100,000 copies.

In October 2012, Lloyd will support American band Hot Chelle Rae on their Australian leg of the "Whatever World Tour".

Personal life
In February 2012, Lloyd spoke out to BBC Radio on her consistent cyber-bullying and how she fears for her safety after becoming a victim of online bullying. "I'm public property and there's nothing I can do — I have got to deal with it." She continued: "The message that I have got for people is: I have always tried to act the hard person and that was just a front for me. It is about time now that I let people realise that I am a real person and if I can do it, with all these people that want a piece of me, then other victims can speak out as well. There have been many times when I have cried myself to sleep. I am very scared because I like to think people think I'm strong, because if they don't, then they might not think I can do it." Lloyd also spoke to Newsbeat on how she thinks the government should take more action in preventing cyber-bullying.

In March 2012, Lloyd confirmed her engagement to boyfriend Craig(21), who is also her hair-dresser, hoped to get married as soon as possible. Cher says she's certainly not your 'average celebrity', but if it hadn't been for the X Factor she would have been married by now. The large amount of controversy caused by this engagement is due to the fact that she is only 18 years old. In responce to this Lloyd only has one thing to say, "I'm from a gypsy background! I'm meant to be married by now."

In addition to the large amount of publicity she is getting about her engagement, there is also news about her unknown family past. Lloyd herself has just recently discover this crime-ridden family past that her mother has kept hidden from her all these years. One relative is said to have been "jailed for 6 years after her almost killed a man in a savage attack." Another "admitted beating up a woman in the same incident." In addition to these two, another "hit a man over the head with a metal bar after a booze and drugs binge." And finally, a relative who was much closer to the family "claimed he was Harry Potter when he was caught drunk-driving" because of how heavily intoxicated he was. Her mother says that she was merely trying to protect her daughter by not telling her. Cher sounded surprisingly calm when she said, "My family isn't perfect but neither am I and while I don't condone their outrageous behavior, I'm finding it very difficult to love them any less."

Discography

 * Sticks + Stones (2011)

Headlining

 * 2012: Sticks + Stones Tour

Supporting

 * 2011: The X Factor Live 2011 (with other finalists)
 * 2012: Whatever World Tour (Hot Chelle Rae)