- Born
- Died
- Birth nameLeah Vladowski
- Height5′ 7¾″ (1.72 m)
- Leah LaBelle, born Leah Vladowski on 8 September 1986 in Toronto, Canada, was the only child of Troshan and Anastasia Vladowski. Troshan and Anastasia, musicians and immigrants to the United States, defected from communist Bulgaria during a tour of Western Europe in 1979 at the height of success with such Bulgarian pop music groups as Sreburnite Grivni and Tonika. LaBelle graduated from Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington in 2005 and later attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
LaBelle has been performing, singing and dancing, publicly since 1990 but marks 1993 as the start of her pursuit of a music career. In 1997, LaBelle won the Washington State Pre-teen Miss America Pageant and was 1st runner-up in the National Pageant. In 1998 she joined the nationally acclaimed Total Experience Gospel Choir and can be heard in several recordings with the group and as part of the Langston Hughes musical, Black Nativity over the following five years. In 2000, LaBelle was part of the WAM Network children's reality show, Caught in the Middle and continued on the show for two seasons. In 2002, she won the Grand Prize at KUBE 93.3 Summer Jam Idol and was the opening act at Summer Jam 20. Headline acts included Usher, Nelly, Jermaine Dupri, Mario, Da Brat, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Nappy Roots, and others.
In 2004, LaBelle was a finalist on the FOX Network Series American Idol, placing 12th overall out of over 70,000 contestants. In 2005, Leah LaBelle pursued a management contract with Sixthboro Entertainment of NYC and recorded a demo with Vocal Arranger, Tavarius Polk and Grammy Award winning producer, Andreao "Fanatic" Heard.- IMDb Mini Biography By: stuttle
- SpouseRasual Butler(? - January 31, 2018) (her death)
- The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was her favorite album of all time.
- She has been traveling to LA, NYC, PHILLY, ATL, and Orlando recording. She has finished several tracks with different producers so her lawyer can shop them to record labels at the beginning of 2006.
- Beyonce was her favorite female pop singer; Justin Timberlake was her favorite male.
- Auditioned for "Night at the Apollo" when she was 15 years old.
- Her parents immigrated to the US from Bulgaria.
- I honestly don't consider myself famous. Honestly. I think that being on American Idol is not really real fame. To me it's kind of like a little bit of exposure and publicity. I think fame comes from actually doing something big with your career.
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