Leona Lewis celebrated by the British Consulate-General in Los Angeles for the biggest selling debut album by a female artist in the UK

Last week, The British Consulate-General in Los Angeles held a celebration in honour of Leona Lewis as her 2007 debut album 'Spirit' was crowned the biggest-selling debut album by a female artist in the UK. This was revealed earlier this Autumn on BBC Radio 2 in an exclusive chart compiled by The Official Charts Company in partnership with National Album Day. At the celebration, The British Consulate-General in Los Angeles presented Leona with a disc marking ‘The biggest all-time debut album by a female artist in the UK’.

You can read more about the National Album Day chart and find the top 20 here.

Released the year after Leona Lewis won The X Factor, the album includes the No. 1 singles A Moment Like This and Bleeding Love as well as her chart-topping cover of Snow Patrol’s Run.

Leona Lewis commented: "I had the most incredible support from the UK when I released my debut album Spirit. I was overwhelmed with how much love it received and I just remember feeling the same then as I do now, endlessly thankful to everyone that listened and supported me. I felt like I was representing my county and that felt amazing."

Honouring Leona Lewis and presenting her with the prestigious disc, you can read the full speech from British Consulate-General in Los Angeles below.

"It is really wonderful to be here with you this evening, to highlight the achievements of an incredible British artist, in a new very British pub. What a fantastic British get together in the heart of Los Angeles.

As many of you will know, the theme of National Album Day back in October was ‘Debut albums’. As part of this, the BPI – the representative voice for independent and major record labels in the UK - helped analyse Official Chart data to come up with a list of the biggest debut albums of all time – broadcast on Radio 2 in the UK.

Leona Lewis was the highest-placed female artist, with her 2007 debut album Spirit. It is the biggest-selling debut album by a female artist in the UK ever.

So tonight, we are here to mark Leona’s brilliant achievement with a disk presentation – and 15 years of Leona Lewis records.

A few words on Leona:

- Leona has sold over 50 million albums, she is a three time Grammy nominee, Brit award nominee with a number of other accolades [She spends a lot of time on philanthropy too]

- I remember well when Leona’s records first came out – and the impact she had in the UK and globally. How people connected with her music. And what a voice!

We are so proud of Leona’s achievements in music, and indeed the wider impact of British musicians in the US and all over the world.

The UK is the largest exporter of music in the world, after the US; and the cultural impact is immense. At the British consulate in Los Angeles, we work hard at strengthening trade and investment links between the UK and US on music, as well as incorporate it in our cultural activities too.

Music brings us all together, and that is why I’m so pleased to be here tonight with you.

And now…

Leona please join me on stage…I’d like to present you with this disk to mark you as The biggest all time debut album by a female artist in the UK."