Lizzie Emeh

Emeh was born in Notting Hill, London, in a difficult birth in about 1977. Her parents, Kathleen (born O'Neill) and Jonathan Emeh had Irish and Nigerian heritages. She had difficulty learning and she defied some predictions when she began to speak and walk when she was four.{{Cite news |last=Emeh |first=Lizzie |date=1 June 2016 |title=The more I hear stupid things said about disabilities, the more lyrics I come up with |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/jun/01/learning-disabilities-music-industry-lizzie-emeh-comment |access-date=9 October 2024 |newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} She had to contend with haemophilia, pneumonia and meningitis and at some point her spleen was removed. Emeh noted that there were others worse off than she was. When she was thirteen she left mainstream education to attend a specialist boarding school, Parkwood Hall in Swanley, Kent, for six years. She found it harder to learn new things,{{Cite web |title=English Singer Lizzie Emeh {{!}} Inspirational Musicians {{!}} Musicians with Disabilities |url=https://www.candomusos.com/profile-lizzie-emeh.php |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=www.candomusos.com}} but her grandmother sang and she inspired Emeh.Her grandmother told her that she would succeed at singing. In an interview, Emeh has stated that another one of her biggest inspirations was The Beatles.{{Cite web |date=9 October 2024 |title=Music with Lizzie Emeh |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/story/music-with-lizzie-emeh-heart-n-soul/5AVxz9WWDvh-Sw?hl=en |access-date=17 October 2024 |website=Google Arts and Culture}}

File:Alison Lapper Pregnant Paralympics opening ceremony.jpg where Emeh helped lead thousands sing "I am What I am"]]

In 1999, she discovered the Deptford-based Heart n Soul organisation and they discovered her singing talent. With that charity she sang at three Glastonbury Festivals and a festival in Asia. She found that she could write songs and she decided that she wanted to create her own music album. She was inspired by the American singer Stevie Wonder, who succeeded despite his disability. She could not read or write and her father worried that she would be exploited, but she was encouraged by Heart n Soul and an album named Loud and Proud was released in 2009.{{Cite news |last=Salman |first=Saba |date=29 September 2009 |title=Singer on track to break records |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/sep/30/lizzie-emeh-learning-disabilities-record |access-date=9 October 2024 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} It is believed to be the first solo album created by a British artist with learning difficulties.{{Cite news|date=12 April 2012 |title=Doctors said I would never talk or walk ... now I'm aiming for music |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/doctors-said-i-would-never-talk-or-walk-now-i-m-aiming-for-music-prize-6765105.html |access-date=9 October 2024 |newspaper=Evening Standard|language=en}}

During the 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Beverley Knight, deaf performer Caroline Parker{{cite news |title=With great ceremony: The London 2012 Paralympics |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/paralympics/great-ceremony-london-2012-paralympics-8096838.html |newspaper=The Independent |date=30 August 2012}} and Emeh appeared on the Moon stage to close the ceremony with a performance of "I Am What I Am". A pyrotechnic display took place as the entire cast flooded the stadium to form the three agitos of the Paralympic logo. The performers and the audience joined in the song using sign-language.

In 2020 writer Saba Salman put together a book with contributions from leading people with learning disabilities. "Made Possible: Stories of success by people with disabilities – in their own words" included contributions from the artist, Laura Broughton,{{Cite web |last=Richards |first=Chris |date=2020-08-08 |title=Book Review: Made Possible by Saba Salman |url=https://www.in-common.co.uk/2020/08/08/book-review-made-possible-by-saba-salman/ |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=In-Common - Southampton |language=en-GB}} the actor Sarah Gordy and Emeh.{{Cite web |title=Made Possible, stories of success by people with learning disabilities in their own words |url=https://www.myfamilyourneeds.co.uk/support-parent/made-possible-stories-of-success-by-people-with-learning-disabilities-in-their-own-words/ |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=My Family Our Needs |language=en-GB}}

Emeh died in 2021 at the age of 44.{{Cite news |last=Reynolds |first=Sandra |date=21 November 2021 |title=Lizzie Emeh obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/21/lizzie-emeh-obituary |access-date=9 October 2024 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} In 2024, she was a Google Doodle on 9 October, the anniversary of her first album being released.{{Cite web |title=Who is Lizzie Emeh? The pioneering artist in today's Google Doodle |url=https://www.indy100.com/viral/who-is-lizzie-emeh-google-doodle |access-date=9 October 2024 |website=Indy100.com |language=en}}

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Category:1977 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:British women singer-songwriters

Category:British disability rights activists

Category:English people of Irish descent

Category:English people of Nigerian descent

Category:People from Notting Hill

Category:Singers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Category:British musicians with disabilities