Leona Lewis ‘crying in the middle of the night’

Leona Lewis admits she often called her parents in the middle of the night crying.

The 30-year-old British singer was signed to Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music for seven years before parting ways with the company in 2014.

Departing Syco was not an easy experience at all for Leona and she's dedicated her new song Thank You to her parents for all their help through the trying time.

"They thought me calling them in the middle of the night crying was going to end when I was a baby, but apparently it goes on into my 20s, probably into my 30s, 40s and for ever," she told UK newspaper The Sun.

"I wanted to write a song for them and just say thank you, because they've been there a lot for me for the past couple of years."

After leaving Syco Leona later revealed in an open letter to fans she had been "extremely depressed" at points after considering her exit from the label over "several years", but when she was asked to make a record that "would not have been true to myself" the stunning songstress finally mustered up the courage to leave.

Leona utilised the emotional pain she went through as motivation to write incredible music for her forthcoming fifth studio album, I Am.

"I feel like a lot of the low points were actually the biggest inspirations, so it's really taught me to be just as thankful for the lows as I am for the highs," she told The Sun.

In an intimate gig hosted in London on April 14, Leona announced Fire would be the lead single from I Am, which is due for release later this year. She also debuted tracks Thank You, I Got You and Ladders at the show.