I had one of the most iconic hits of the noughties but I had to retrain as a teacher after track’s success
SWEET Female Attitude gave us one of the most iconic tracks of the early noughties when they released Flowers in 2000.
It went double platinum in the UK after selling more than a million copies and in recent years has been reworked by the likes of Sugababes and rapper ArrDee.
But despite the instant success and longevity of Flowers, Sweet Female Attitude lead singer Leanne Brown has confessed she didn’t reap the financial benefits.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, she said: “I’ve made a better living than the average job because of the touring but because I didn’t take care of the business side properly it meant that I wasn’t credited in certain areas when I should have been.
“But I’m not bitter about that. It was a learning curve and it’s been a valuable one. I’m still touring and enjoying being an artist.
“I learned never to let that happen again and I haven’t. But I wasn’t able to retire or buy a mansion right away, I’ve had to build those things up like anyone else with a ‘normal’ job.”
It’s been almost 25 years since the release of Sweet Female Attitude’s signature track and it’s still hugely popular today, having racked up more than 81 million streams on Spotify.
But Leanne admits that they struggled to live up to its success. Added to the fact they didn’t see anywhere near the amount of money you’d expect from such a hit, she decided to pursue a completely different career.
Leanne continued: “I went and did a teacher training degree and became a lecturer for a number of years.
“I kept a foot in both camps and now I’m able to earn a living strictly from music and touring. But the bulk of the money comes from being credited as a writer so now I’m always involved in the writing process.”
It’s an honour for any artist when another act pays tribute to their track with a new version and in 2019 Sugababes released their take on Flowers shortly after the original line-up reunited.
And Leanne heaped praise on the group – made up of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy.
She said: “I love their version. I know that Flowers is not an easy song to sing, out of every song I’ve ever written or performed it’s the hardest.
“I really rate the Sugababes as vocalists anyway and they made the song sound so effortless to sing. I thought it was really something to celebrate.”
To mark 25 years of Flowers, Leanne teamed up with AMEX Gold to surprise Londoners with a performance of the hit.
AMEX Gold customers spent more money in florists in Islington in the last year than in any other London borough, so this week Leanne gave out free bunches of flowers to passersby to brighten their day – but luckily there was no pouring rain.
After unveiling the billboards, Leanne said of teaming up with the brand: “It was something I just couldn’t say no to.
“It’s something new and different and a way to breathe new life into the track and it was great to bring some cheer to people on a grey morning.”
Leanne Brown of Sweet Female Attitude teamed up with Amex® Gold to reward residents of Islington with a surprise performance of ‘Flowers’, after finding that locals there spent more money in florists than in any other London borough last year. Four ‘You do you, London’ billboards from Amex Gold have sprung up across the capital on 8 and 9 January, to reward communities with free, locally supplied gifts based on what Amex Gold Cardmembers spent more on than in any other boroughs within the last year.