Singer Jade Thirlwall turned heads at this year’s BRIT Awards as she was joined by a so-called ‘Simon Cowell’ figure from her first solo music video.
The 32-year-old, who rose to fame in 2011 after winning The X Factor as part of Little Mix, made history at this year’s ceremony as she became the first girl band member to win a BRIT Award as a solo artist. As part of her speech, Jade tearfully thanked those who’d helped her along the way – including her former bandmates, Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson and Leigh-Anne Pinnock.
But as well as her speech and award success making headlines, Jade’s red carpet appearance turned heads. As she posed for pictures, the Black Magic singer wore a statement wedding dress and carried a bouquet of flowers and was joined by a tall influential figure who appeared in the music video for her debut solo single Angel Of My Dreams. Though the video isn’t the only time Jade appears to have taken a swipe at the music industry.
Last year, Jade’s debut solo single Angel Of My Dreams got everyone talking thanks to its cryptic lyrics, which, according to reports, appeared to make a swipe at Simon. During her time in Little Mix, the group switched from Simon’s label Syco to RCA during the recording of their fifth album LM5 following a reported falling out with the father-of-one – and Angel Of My Dreams is alleged to reference the fallout.
The highly-anticipated song features lyrics including: “Sellin’ my soul to a psycho”. According to The Sun, this is in reference to Simon’s former record label, Syco. A representative for Syco told the Mirror at the time: “The entire team who worked incredibly hard behind the scenes with Little Mix to help make the group a success would continue to wish them all solo success.”
Responding to the rumours herself, Jade told Beat Juice : “It’s not specifically about that. But I wanted the song to be my journey, from entering the music business to now, and what that felt like. That’s why the song feels so chaotic. The opening is like the music to that montage bit on The X Factor after you’ve won and you’re just catapulted into the industry.”
Meanwhile, during an appearance on The Louis Theroux Podcast earlier this year, Jade was asked about the particular lyric. “Syco happens to be the name of Simon Cowell’s company,” presenter Louis said.
“Coincidentally, yes,” Jade responded. “Is that what we’re gonna say about that?,” Louis asked. “Mmm,” Jade said, adding: “I mean, it’s written on the tin, isn’t it, really?”
Speaking about the song on its release, Jade revealed she’d taken inspiration from her time in Little Mix. “It’s not as glam as it seems. In the beginning of our career you do think you are this puppet, but at the same time it isn’t true – we wrote a lot of our songs, and we were behind a lot of what we put out there,” she said in a statement when the song was released.
“I resented that as a statement. So it felt natural to take that and show that it can be true and untrue at the same time.”
Meanwhile, Jade’s single It Girl also caused fans to speculate on the meaning behind the lyrics. Throughout the song, Jade sings about working in showbiz and in the final line she sings, “It's a no from me” – leading some to question whether it’s a reference to her time on The X Factor after she auditioned for the show on three occasions.
Taking to social media to comment on the reference, one queried: “The ‘It's a no from me’ reference in the end is a masterpiece!” Another added: “omg is that Simon Cowell shade.”
A third wrote: “I think it is shade to Simon Cowell because before Little Mix Jade auditioned 3 Times the first & second time she was rejected then the third time she was put in to Little Mix.”
Back in 2019, the former Little Mix star appeared as a guest judge on Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK alongside Ru Paul. Michelle Visage and Graham Norton. When introducing Jade on the panel, Ru compared her judging style to Simon.
“Now you're a judge, what is going to be the biggest difference in your style of judging versus Simon Cowell's?,” Ru asked. In response, Jade joked: “Well for starters Ru, Simon has much bigger t**s. It really is true.” Following the joke, Jade’s fellow judges burst into laughter.
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