Jade Thirlwall

Jade Thirlwall
Thirlwall in 2024
Background information
Birth name	Jade Amelia Thirlwall
Born	(1992-12-26) 26 December 1992 (age 31) South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England
Genres	Pop R&B
Occupations	Singer Songwriter
Discography	Solo Little Mix
Years active	2008–present
Labels	RCA Sony Music
Member of	Little Mix
Website	jadeofficial.com

Jade Amelia Thirlwall (born 26 December 1992) is an English singer. Her music career began at the age of 15, when she auditioned for The X Factor UK on three occasions before rising to prominence as a member of the girl group Little Mix. The group was formed and won the eighth series in 2011, and released six studio albums together, and amassed nineteen UK top-ten singles, five of which reached number one. Before going on hiatus in 2022, they became the first girl band to win the Brit Award for British Group. Inspired by pop and R&B music with elements of electronica and electroclash sounds, she has been described as one of Britain's next biggest pop stars.^[1]

Following Little Mix's hiatus, she signed with RCA Records in 2022, and portrayed herself in the British TV series Mood, and appeared in music videos for Kamille, Jordan Stephens, and Fontaines D.C. In July 2024, Thirlwall released her debut single "Angel of My Dreams" to commercial success and critical acclaim. It reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart, and earned five nominations at the UK Music Video Awards 2024.

In addition to her solo work, she has co-written songs for various artists through her publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music. Noted for her political and social activism, she is an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and an ambassador for Stonewall. Her involvement with charity work earned her the Gay Times Honour for Allyship in 2021.

Jade Amelia Thirlwall was born on 26 December 1992 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England, to parents Norma Badwi and James Thirlwall. She has an older brother called Karl.^[2] She has Egyptian and Yemeni descent from her mother's side and English descent from her father's.^[3] Thirlwall identifies herself as mixed-race,^[4] and has been learning to connect more with her Arab-Egyptian-Yemeni heritage and its language in hopes of travelling more to the Middle East.^[3]

As a child, she attended Muslim school to learn how to read and write in Arabic and attended church.^[3][4] During her teenage years, she studied pop vocals and cosmetic makeup and completed three A-levels at South Tyneside College.^[1] In 1943, Thirlwall's grandfather Mohammed Ahmed Saleh Badwi, a devoted Muslim, emigrated to South Shields, from Yemen, and worked as a fireman in the merchant navy, and as a laborer at the docks. He met his wife Amelia in South Shields. Thirlwall's great-grandfather was from Egypt.^[3][5]

In 2008, at the age of 15, Thirlwall auditioned for The X Factor (UK), singing "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" by Whitney Houston,^[6] but was eliminated at the boot- camp stage. She returned for a second time in 2010, but was unsuccessful.^[7] In 2011, at age 18, Thirlwall returned for the show's eighth series and auditioned with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles, and advanced to bootcamp stage.^[8] After failing the first challenge she was placed into a group named "Orion" with Leigh-Anne Pinnock. Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson were both in another group called "Faux Pas", and eliminated from the contest. Later, she and the other girls were called back by the judges and were placed into a supergroup originally known as Rhythmix. Without a performance, they automatically progressed to the judges' houses and reached the live shows where they were mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos.^[9]

On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the group had to change their name to Little Mix, because of legal issues.^[10][11][12] On 11 December 2011, Little Mix was announced as the first group to win the series and subsequently became the first girl group to make it past week seven of the live shows, the first to reach The X Factor final and the only girl band to win the show after it was discontinued.^[13][14][15]

Thirlwall shares songwriting credits for more than 50 songs, across Little Mix's six studio albums. She has co-written two UK number one singles with "Wings" in 2012 and "Shout Out to My Ex" in 2016. In 2019, she was recognised as an official songwriter after signing with Sony/ATV.^[16] Since Little Mix's debut they have been cited for helping the girl band renaissance in the UK and for re-defining girl groups.^[17] They have gone onto become one of the best-selling girl groups and one of Britain's biggest selling acts. In December 2021, the group announced they would be going on a hiatus, after The Confetti Tour in 2022 to allow its members to pursue solo projects.^[18]

On 1 March 2022, Thirlwall appeared as a guest judge on the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World.^[19] On 2 March 2022, she made her acting debut and a cameo appearance in the British musical television drama series Mood.^[20][21] In the same month, she signed a recording contract with RCA Records in the UK and USA and with Full Stop Management.^[22][23] In May 2022, Thirlwall contributed to Sink the Pink's book titled Sink the Pink's Manifesto for Misfits, writing about her experiences with bullying, anorexia and her identity issues because of her mixed race.^[24] On 24 June, she co-wrote a track for Nayeon's debut album, Im Nayeon, marking the second time she had worked with the artist after she contributed to Twice's album Taste of Love in 2021.^[25]

In November 2022, Thirlwall appeared on Heat magazine's "UK and Ireland 30 under 30" rich list for the first time with an estimated net worth of £17.5 million.^[26] In June 2024, after teasing the release date of her debut solo single titled "Angel of My Dreams", it was released on 19 July 2024.^[27][28] The song peaked at number 7 on the UK singles chart, and became the first single from a Little mix member to spend two consecutive weeks inside the top 10.^[29] At the UK Music Video Awards 2024, she received five nominations for "Angel of My Dreams", and in September 2024, her first promotional single titled "Midnight Cowboy", was released.^[30][31] Her second single, "Fantasy" was released on 18 October 2024.^[32] That same month she performed "Angel of My Dreams" for the first time, along with "Fantasy" on Later... with Jools Holland on 19 October 2024.^[2] On 24 October she won "Best Editing" at the UK Music Video Awards 2024.^[33] On 25 October, she performed "Fantasy" and a cover of "Backbone" by Chase & Status and Stormzy on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.^[34]

Thirlwall's sound has been described as a combination of pop and R&B with influences from other genres including tropical house, latin pop, and electronic music.^{[35][36][37][38][39]} She grew up listening to motown music, with her grandfather playing arabic music to her as a child.^[3] She cites Diana Ross as a music influence and has also expressed her love for Drag Culture, Drag Queens and is fan of RuPaul.^{[40][41][42][43]} In 2020, for an interview for Attitude magazine she added:

"Doing a lot of performing arts growing up and stuff, I've always been surrounded by a lot of LGBTQ+ friends that have been in theatre school with me or at school. When we used to go on holiday Benidorm, one of the favourite things was when me mam used to the drag shows. Me mam's always been into the glitz and the glamour [of drag] and her idol and my idols are Dana Ross, and all the big divas. And I think for me growing up, whenever I saw drag shows as a little girl, I associated drag queens with the big divas. It's something that we've always loved".^[44]

Since 2020, Thirlwall has been in a relationship with English singer Jordan Stephens, from the hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks. The pair started dating in 2020 and were spotted together for the first time at a Black Trans Lives Matter rally in central London in July of that year.^[45][46]

Thirlwall has multiple tattoos. On her spine, she has an Arabic tattoo that reads "Anyone can achieve their dreams if they’ve got the courage" as a tribute to her Egyptian and Yemeni ancestry, as well as a tattoo on her ribcage that means "queen" in Arabic. She also has tattoos located on her feet, and in 2019 revealed a henna-style design on her right foot. In 2021, she got a tattoo on her leg to commemorate the day Little Mix were formed in celebration of the group's 10 year anniversary.^[47]

Thirlwall is open about her struggles with body image, racism, bullying, and eating disorder, which she first developed at that age of 13. As a child and teenager she experienced prejudice and racism for her mixed ethnicity, recalling in an interview for Vogue Arabia:

"At school, I didn't fit into any group, and started to experience prejudice and racism. I was one of the very few people of colour in the school, so from the off I felt like an outcast. I used to get called the P-word, which I didn't understand as I'm not Pakistani. I was also called half-caste. During one incident someone pinned me down in the toilets and put a bindi spot on my forehead. There was a complete lack of education and understanding of different races and faiths. It affected my mental health. I became very depressed and it triggered the eating disorder I had throughout school."^[48]

Thirlwall began recovery and left the hospital weeks before she auditioned for The X Factor in 2011.^[49] In 2020, she was featured in a documentary titled Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power, and spoke about the time that she wanted cosmetic surgery after discovering her images were heavily edited to make her look as "white as possible" during her earlier days in Little Mix.^[50]

Thirlwall is a patron for Cancer Connections and an ambassador for Stonewall.^[51][52] In November 2019, Thirlwall opened her own cocktail bar, called Arbeia, in South Shields.^[53] In June 2020, she collaborated with Skinnydip London, a British clothing brand, with the money from her collection being donated to help struggling families in South Shields. In the same year she launched a second collaboration with them.^[54] In August 2020, she was announced as the Honorary President for South Shields F.C. and became a shareholder for the club in the same year.^[55][56]

In September 2020, she was photographed alongside Heidi Klum, Lil Nas and Helen Christensen by fashion campaign Christian Cowan for his Spring/Summer 2021 collection.^[57] On 10 September 2021, Thirlwall was announced as the new face ambassador of the Italian sportswear brand, Ellesse "Autumn/Winter" collection.^[58][59] On 11 October 2021, she released her own eyeshadow palette in collaboration with Beauty Bay.^[60][61]

She is noted for her political reviews and social activism, advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and Black Lives Matter and against transgender conversion therapy in the UK. In May 2014, she donated a haul of clothes, with all of the proceedings going to the homeless.^[62] In 2017, Thirlwall donated another collection of her clothes to help raise money for Cancer Connections. In the same year she helped raised money for Stonewall at her drag-themed 25th birthday party.^[63] In May 2018, she also spoke at the Stonewall Youth Awards about what it meant to be an ally and encouraged more artists to do the same.^[64] In 2018, she became an LGBTQ+ rights ambassador for LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall,^[65] and in 2018, attended Manchester Pride with them.^[66]

In 2019, Thirlwall and Michelle Visage raised £10,000 for the Mermaids UK, and in the same year she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day with Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and other British celebrities.^[67] In December 2019, she spent her birthday raising money for cancer charities which has become a yearly tradition for her.^[68] In 2020, she attended a march with Stonewall during Manchester Pride and took to social media to call out someone who questioned the importance of pride month.^[69]

In June 2020, Thirlwall attended a Black Lives Matter protest in the UK following the death of African-American man George Floyd, and attended the Black Trans Lives Matter march in London.^[70][71] In July 2020, she called out L'Oréal for not supporting the black trans community after their treatment towards model Munroe Bergdorf.^[72] In 2020, she criticised the media after journalists mistook her for band member Leigh-Anne Pinnock. A journalist had used an image of Pinnock in an article that was focused around Thirlwall. In the interview she revealed that journalists often confuse the pair during interviews and that photographers often shout Pinnock's name at her whenever she is attending events.^[73]

In January 2021, Thirlwall won one of The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off specials in the fourth series.^[74][75] In March 2021 she partnered up with UNICEF to learn about the war in Yemen.^[76] In July 2021, she signed an open letter to the UK Equalities minister Liz Truss calling for a ban on all forms of LGBT+ conversion therapy.^[77] In October 2022, she wrote an open letter for the Gay Times' Sink the Pink book detailing her experiences with bullying and how she learned to use the "insults as fuel."^[78] She also teamed up with a designer to create a limited edition community shirt for a North East football club, with all donations going to charity Cancer Connections.^[79] Thirlwall attended the Not Safe To Be Me protest at Downing Street advocating for the ban on transgender conversion therapy in the UK, following the government's reversal on the issue.^[80]