When you hear a genuinely magnificent singer, it’s understandable to be jealous of their talent. The jealously is bad enough when listening to an adult, but what if this amazing talent comes in a pint-size package? Meet Leyna Kagere, known as Leyne K, the first person on East Africa’s Got Talent to get a golden buzzer and move straight through to the semi-finals. She did this when she was only seven years old!
Born in Uganda on 6th August 2011, Leyna Kagere is the second oldest of her siblings. She loved to sing from a very young age and started to do it seriously at just five years old. Her family home was filled with the sound of her singing, and it was at this time her mother decided to support her talent.
Inspired by local musicians Juliana Kanyomozi, Sandra Ssubi and Rema Namakula, as well as international stars like Celine Dion and Josh Groban, Leyna’s singing talent grew until she was selected to go to Nairobi, Kenya, to compete in Eat Africa’s got talent. Unfortunately, she didn’t win, but the judges and viewers were all very impressed by her incredible voice.
In the time since, Leyna’s popularity has continued to grow. She regularly uploads videos to her YouTube channel. Over lockdown, Leyna and her mum tried to keep everyone’s spirits up by uploading a mixture of spiritual hymns and cover versions of classic pop hits like The Greatest Love Of All by Whitney Houston.
She’s also not afraid to tackle songs that were massive hits well before her time, like Feelin Good’ by the incomparable diva Nina Simone. Perhaps that’s why her Facebook page has over 110,000 followers, all eagerly awaiting her next performance. To further enhance her popularity, Leyna sounds amazing, but she’s also as cute as a button and appears in a variety of lovely dresses and even a policeman’s helmet!
Finally, if all of these achievements weren’t impressive enough, Leyna recently released her first music album called “Good Day”. I don’t think many artists can say they created their first album at just nine years old, let alone one available on iTunes and Spotify.
This young lady is definitely one to watch. If you want to see more from this very talented young singer follow her on YouTube channel or follow her on Facebook.