How about that. Lillie McLoud, the stunning, 54 year old R&B singer hasn’t really been sitting around raising a passel of kids and grandkids as her video package would have us believe.
Lillie’s daughter outed her, more or less.
My Mother Nicole McCloud the biggest inspiration for my creating #TNM Nonprofit #MusicFAM has just performed on #XFactor and I am in tears!
— Nevergiveup (@DjRayneLives) September 12, 2013
A google search on Nicole McCloud turns up a wealth of information on the singer. She was a dance floor diva in the 80’s and 90’s charting a slew of hits, and performing alongside some of the greats. She was signed to Epic records. Via Wiki
Nicole J. McCloud (born in 1960 in Rochester, New York) is an international singer who has performed with Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, the group Kool & The Gang, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Timmy Thomas and other artists. She has lived in the United States most of her life where she has recorded four albums. She now lives in Košice, Slovakia.
Well, the bio info said she lived in Orlando. But did you notice the white man who accompanied her and her daughter to the audition? He wasn’t introduced, but…
In the mid 2000s, Nicole moved to Košice, a small village in Slovakia, to live together with her partner, the football trainer Günter Kronsteiner. Her first Slovakian performance took place at the prestigious Košice International Jazz Festival 2006, where she unexpectedly performed with jazz legend Peter Lipa.
In 2010, Nicole provided the title song for the Slovakian version of Britain’s Got Talent, ‘?esko Slovensko má talent’.
There’s even a Simon Cowell connection there!
She’s had hits, yo.
Nicole first appeared on the US Billboard charts in 1985 with “Always and Forever,” which ultimately peaked at No. 66. Her breakthrough single “Don’t You Want My Love” reached Top 10 in the US, the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden. Ten of Nicole’s singles landed the US Billboard charts. So far, her biggest hit has been the 1994 single “Runnin’ Away” which peaked at #3. In 2002, Nicole returned to the Top 10 with “Search’n” (#5). That same year she received a nomination for the International Dance Music Awards, along Craig David and Shakira.
“Don’t You Want My Love” reached number 10 on the DANCE chart in 1986. Still. That’s pretty good. It also charted in several European countries. (US R&B #66 Belgium #7 France #18 Germany #20 Netherlands #9 Sweden #8)
“Runnin’ Away” peaked at number 3 on the US Dance chart in 1994. There are a ton of remixes on You Tube
I thought she seemed a little too put together and skilled to be a newbie! Oh producers. Why do you lie to us when the truth always comes out? I would hazard a guess that the name change (maybe the singer’s real name, or a middle name) was to downplay her experience.
This is Stacy Francis all over again. Minus the extreme crazy.
Here’s Lillie/Nicole’s X Factor audition:
Lillie McCloud – Alabaster Box – XFactorUSA 3… by IdolxMuzic
