Alesha Anjanette Dixon is an English singer, rapper, songwriter, dancer, and television personality. Dixon rose to fame in 2001 as a member of the all-female R&B/garage/rap trio Mis-Teeq. The group disbanded in 2005 and Dixon pursued a music career as a solo artist, signing a recording contract to Polydor Records. She began recording her debut solo studio album, Fired Up, in 2005, releasing her debut single “Lipstick”, followed by “Knockdown”, after which her popularity as a singer had declined and was subsequently dropped from Polydor.
In 2007, Dixon won the fifth series of the BBC One dancing competition show Strictly Come Dancing. Her television exposure led to a successful comeback, which included her signing to Asylum Records. Dixon went on to release her second studio album, The Alesha Show, in 2008, which received Platinum Certification from BPI in the UK and spawned four singles including “The Boy Does Nothing” and “Breathe Slow”, the latter of which became her highest charting single and earned her a Brit Award nomination.
In 2009, Dixon became a judge on the seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing. The following year, she returned for the eight series of Strictly Come Dancing and released her third studio album, The Entertainer. In 2012, shortly after completing the ninth series and her third year as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, Dixon quit to become a judge on the ITV talent show competition Britain’s got Talent. In 2020, Dixon joined the judging panel of America’s got Talent: The Champions.
Age and Early Life.
Alesha Anjanette Dixon was born in Welwyn Garden City to a Jamaican father, Melvin, and English mother, Beverly Harris. Dixon has six half-siblings.
She was educated at Monk’s Walk School, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Dixon’s parents separated when she was four and her father moved away, resulting in her later describing her family life as “very dysfunctional” Between the ages of eight and ten, Dixon witnessed her mother suffer domestic violence from her partner; she only spoke publicly about the issue 21 years later, in 2010. Dixon created a documentary for the BBc, Don’t Hit My Mum, regarding the issue of domestic abuse from a child’s perspective, and remarked upon her own childhood: “When I think about that time, I don’t remember living in harmony, I don’t remember any fun times, I suppose because the negativity has clouded it. The negative times and the scary times have blocked anything that was good , I believe that every child has the right to grow up in an environment where they feel secure and fearless going into the world, and I didn’t really feel that”.
Dixon’s first job was at Ladbrokes, although she aspired to become a PE teacher after leaving college. After completing a diploma course in sports studies, she had planned to take up a place at Loughborough University, but at dance classes in London she was approached by a talent scout from a production company. While travelling back home on the train she was approached by another scout who was forming a group and asked if she was interested.
Career.
Dixon’s career began in 1999 when she met Sabrina Washington as they both joined a dance school in Fulham, south west London. Together, they decided to form a group when Dixon and Washington, the two co-founders, spotted Su-Elise Nash, a girl auditioning for another group. Dixon and Washington proposed that Nash join the group and together they formed a trio. They were soon signed to Telstar Records with the addition of a new member, Zena McNally, and became the popular UK garage/R&B girl group, Mis-Teeq.
In 2004, Dixon went to feature in the N.E.R.D music video “She Wants To Move”. In the video, she is shown dancing on a podium whilst the group circled her. In March 2005, their Greatest Hits compilation was released and it was announced that they were separating to pursue solo careers.
Dixon launched her solo career after Mis-Teeq’s break-up and signed a £500,000, three-album deal with Polydor Records. She spent a year writing and recording her solo debut album, Fired Up, working with a wide range of producers. During this period, Dixon performed mononymously, known simply as “Alesha”. In June 2005, she announced her first solo single to be “Superficial”. However, at the last minute, the song “Lipstick” was chosen as the first single. “Lipstick” was released on 14 August 2006, and charted at 14 on the UK Single Charts.
When Dixon first emerged into the public spotlight with Mis-Teeq, she was primarily the group’s MC, whilst one of her colleagues Sabrina Washington usually sang lead vocals on the records. Washington encouraged her to rap from the group’s inception, saying: “When she started she was a bit shy, but I always said that it adds something, an element of difference. It was the first time I’d ever heard a woman MC and I was like, ‘Alesha, you have got to do that,’ and she was like ‘No Bri, don’t make me look stupid'”. However, when she began her solo career her first UK album, The Alesha Show, saw Dixon undergo a genre-shift. The album featured no rapping and was primarily R&B and soul, unlike Mis-Teeq’s music, which focused mainly on garage and hip hop. Dixon commented that the record consisted of “a lot more guitar-written songs with pop produced around it”. Dixons third album The Entertainer consists mainly of dance/pop tracks.
Personal life
Dixon married Michael Harvey Jr in June 2005. In November 2006, the couple divorced following Harvey’s affair with singer Javine Hylton.
The Britain’s Got Talent judge has two children with Azuka Ononye. Alesha Dixon married husband Azuka Ononye in 2017. The couple welcomed their second daughter Anaya Safiya in August 2019.
Net Worth
According to CelebrityNetWorth.com she is worth an estimated $4 million (approximately £2,900,000).
