Its taken 20 years, and the girl to pull it off is a little unknown student from London who won ’X Factor’ in the UK in 2006.

Leona Lewis can now add to her resume the statistic that she made history by becoming the first British woman to claim the Number One single in America for 20 years.

When she appeared on X Factor the judges instantly realized her potential and Sharon Osbourne likened her talents to those of Celine Dion and Christina Aguilera. All the judges commented on how the British music industry needed a singer like her, and that her performances were world class and every bit as good as Whitney Houston when she sang I Will Always Love You.

Simon Cowell who is not known for his praise of the competitors on the show raved, “You’re the real deal girl. Talk about a star is born!”

Now, just 6 weeks after releasing her single Bleeding Love, Leona has reached the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Following only a few other British singers to hold this position, Leona finds herself in a limited category with the likes of Sheena Easton, Petula Clark and Kim Wilde.

Leona described her rise to fame as being a ‘dream’ especially breaking into the American charts and there’s little doubt that the young lady from London will see her album, Spirit, which is due for release in America in April, making another dream come true.

ABB