Special thanks to Lizzie Emeh’s estate, for their collaboration on this project. Below Monica, Lizzie’s sister, shares her thoughts on today’s Doodle and Lizzie’s legacy.
Lizzie always had a passion for music ever since she was a child. When she was young, she received a recording unit which had a mic, and she started singing straightaway, she loved it. Our house was always filled with music. Lizzie had a tough start to life, she was born with severe medical complications and our parents were told she would never walk or talk. However she proved the doctors wrong and continued to defy the odds throughout her life.
Lizzie’s career really started to develop in 1999 when she was discovered by Heart n Soul, a creative arts charity based in South East London. They supported her to develop her music and helped nurture her career. I remember going to see her perform in the early days. It was normal to see Lizzie burst out in song at home, but it was such a surprise seeing her on stage. We didn’t know she had that confidence, she was brilliant and we were so proud of her. When she told us about making her first album Loud and Proud, we thought it was amazing. She was writing and producing songs and it was incredible. I came to many of her performances over the years, her music was great. I loved seeing her perform, it was amazing to see how all the audience felt included in her performance.
Lizzie achieved so much in her life from creating lots of music, performing across the world and winning awards for her achievements in music. Lizzie was also passionate about talking about the lives and rights of people with learning disabilities. She wanted to inspire people and let them know that they can make their dreams come true, just like she did. Lizzie would have been so proud to know she is being honoured in this way, she wouldn’t have stopped talking about it! She believed in working hard and always doing your best. Lizzie was loud, proud, positive, happy and joyful! We miss her.
-Monica Emeh
