Leah LaBelle

Leah LaBelle (born Leah LaBelle Vladowski on 8 September 1986; died January 31, 2018) was a Canadian-born American R&B singer, signed to Epic Records/So So Def Recordings. LaBelle was the twelfth place finalist on the third season of American Idol, as the wild card selection of Paula Abdul. She was recording her debut studio album. She also gained popularity and a large following by posting cover videos on YouTube, for several years. LaBelle was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Bulgarian immigrants. Her father, Troshan Vladowski, was a member of the Bulgarian rock band The Silver Bracelets. She subsequently lived in Seattle, Washington, where she graduated from Garfield High School in 2005. LaBelle auditioned for the third season of American Idol in New York City; she was a member of the third group of semifinalists, but was not voted through to the final round. LaBelle was instead brought back for the wildcard round and put through as a finalist by contest judge Paula Abdul. On March 17, 2004, LaBelle became the first of the 12 finalists to be voted off the show. LaBelle could understand but not speak Bulgarian; her mother can't speak Bulgarian either, and sang from memory when performing in her native country. In November 2004, LaBelle appeared on an album in a duet with Lisa Leuschner, who was eliminated in the top 32 round on the same season of American Idol, and another duet between the two was released on another album in late 2005. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.