Ewen replaced
Keisha Buchanan of the Sugababes in September 2009 and has since attained two
UKtop-ten singles with the group and one album
Sweet 7; the band have been on hiatus since 2011 with a new album planned for release some point in 2013.
Early life
Ewen was born and brought up in
Plaistow, London, to a
Jamaican mother, Carol and a
Scottish-Sicilianfather, Trevor. Trevor is blind and partially deaf, while Carol is partially blind. Because of her parents’ disabilities, Ewen is a carer to both her parents and two younger siblings, Shereen and Kiel.
She attended
Brampton Manor Academy but then received a scholarship to the
Sylvia Young Theatre School. As a student at Sylvia, she appeared in
The Bill,
Casualty and
Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle.
Ewen also auditioned for and won the part of Nala in
The Lion King at the
West End at the age of twelve.
Ewen appeared in the children’s dance DVD, entitled
How To Dance. She also featured briefly in the video for pop rock band
Busted‘s “
What I Go to School For“.
Career
Between 2003 and 2004 she appeared in the Australian series
Out There.
In 2005, Ewen became a member of the girl group Trinity Stone which was signed to Sony BMG.
The group disbanded in 2007.
She later recorded with rapper
Kwamé, who was impressed with her work on
MySpace.
She released a digital single, “Got You” in 2008 under Kwame’s Make Noise label.
Ewen co-wrote the song “A Little Bit” for the girl group
Booty Luv and also “
Let Me Be Me” for
Jessica Mauboy. In early 2009, Ewen acted in the first episode of the series,
Myths.
In January 2009, Ewen was approached and participated in the UK national selection for the
Eurovision Song Contest 2009.
She was eventually selected to represent the UK with the song “It’s My Time” composed by
Andrew Lloyd Webber who accompanied her on piano onstage.
Ewen finished in fifth place at Eurovision, the highest placing for the UK since
2002.
Having already signed with Polydor Records before the Eurovision selection, Ewen began working on her debut album.
In September 2009, Ewen joined the
Sugababes as the replacement for Keisha Buchanan.
While her single, “
My Man” had been released, promotional activities for it were cancelled. The song reach a position of 35 on the UK Singles Chart.
In an interview with the
BBC, Ewen confirmed her commitment to the Sugababes as her main priority and that her solo album was put on hold. Ewen had not met the remaining members of the Sugababes until two days before the video shoot for their single “
About a Girl” in Los Angeles. She had been flown there without being notified that she would be replacing Buchanan.
“About a Girl” later debuted at number eight in the UK.
Sweet 7 was released in early 2010 after multiple delays from late 2009, and charted at 14 on the UK Albums Chart. The second single to feature Ewen’s vocals, “Wear My Kiss”, peaked at number 7 in the UK.
The Sugababes began recording an eighth studio album in April 2010.
In late 2010, Ewen became the face of
Miss Ultimo lingerie.
In 2011, the group and their management Crown Talent & Media Group left their record label of ten years,
Island Records, for a new three-album distribution deal with
Sony Music‘s
RCA Records, with Crown Talent & Media Group as the acting record-label.
Their promotional single under the new label, “
Freedom“, was released for free on 25 September 2011.
In November 2011, Ewen flew to Australia to appear on
I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here Now!. The group began a hiatus in 2012 to work on solo projects. On 22 June 2012, Berrabah revealed that the current Sugababes lineup is planning to release new music at “the end of next year”.
On 25 June 2012, Range confirmed that the current lineup is working on new music, but has no plans to release any material in 2012.
In July 2012, Ewen stated she’d began recording a solo album, as well as working on material for a new
Sugababes album.
Personal life
Ewen was in a relationship with actor
Ricky Norwood since 2009.
They ended their relationship in September 2011.