“I sing from the heart, I sing about true life, in every single track there is a story behind it and behind my life. I am opening up the doors of my life just for you to get me and find the spirit and motivation that anything is possible.”
Lizzie Emeh – Legacy
1977 - 2021
Lizzie Emeh, 44 was a pioneering artist and songwriter, who championed the rights of people with learning disabilities in the UK. In 2009 she made history with her debut album, Loud and Proud, becoming the first person with a learning disability to release an album of original songs in the UK. On 18th November 2022 her single Warriors, from the forthcoming album Listen to Lizzie, will be released posthumously.
Lizzie was born and brought up in West London of Irish and Nigerian heritage. Born with severe medical complications her parents were told she would never walk or talk. However at 4 years old she proved the doctors wrong and continued to defy the odds ever since.
Music was a key part of her childhood and she started singing at 10 years old. Her career really started to develop in 1999 when she joined Heart n Soul, a creative arts company in Deptford who believe in the power and talents of people with learning disabilities and autistic people. We helped her to develop her sound and nurtured her career.
From 1999 - 2007 Lizzie performed with the Heart n Soul Company in a number of musical-theatre shows across Europe, at Glastonbury festival and Heart n Soul Unplugged, in Asia, performing her own songs interspersed with tales about life. A personal highlight for Lizzie during this time was meeting Nelson Mandela.
In 2009, she broke new ground with the release of her debut album, Loud and Proud. The album charted key experiences in her life infused with a range of musical sounds she was inspired by growing up in London. She described the album as “Eclectic, wide-ranging and with lots of soul.” Lizzie doesn’t read music, so worked with the musicians in her own unique way to bring the songs to life. She would hear the beat in her head first, then the lyrics and then would work with musicians to come up with melodies and complete the songs.
The album was a rallying call for people with learning disabilities. She passionately believed that people with learning disabilities have a right to be seen and heard and wanted to show others what they can do.
She also wanted to educate the non-disabled community and to defeat ignorance. “I want this album to be an education to people. I want people to accept us for who we are and to respect us. I don’t want people to feel sorry for me, but understand me.” She also used negative things that people said about her and people with learning disabilities to generate more songs. “What they say gives me lyrics for my songs...please say silly stuff, because then the laugh’s on you, not me.”
Over her career, Lizzie won two national awards for her contribution to music. She also became a role model within the learning disability community and inspired a number of learning disabled artists to develop careers in the music industry.
In the last 10 years of her life, there were a number of highlights in Lizzie’s career. As well as numerous touring across the UK, she was invited to speak at a number of events and conferences to share her story. These included performances at 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament. Another key highlight was performing with Beverley Knight at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games in front of 80,000 people which she loved. She was also part of a ground-breaking research team at Wellcome Collection called Heart n Soul at the Hub, where they explored learning disability and human value, imagined an alternative, more inclusive future and looked at notions of caring and being cared for.
She also continued to make music, working with new musicians to take her music in different directions. In 2015 she started work on the follow up to her debut album. Entitled See Me, the album was split into a 3-part EP trilogy, looking at her life experiences of love, relationships, family and mental health. Most recently she continued to make music during lockdown charting her feelings and experiences about the pandemic which was a particularly hard time for her.
Lizzie leaves behind an incredible body of work and a remarkable legacy. She was an inspirational woman, who touched so many people’s lives through the power of her music. Her last album, Listen to Lizzie, will be released in January 2023.
