Jade Thirlwall

Biography

Jade Amelia Thirlwall (born 26 December 1992), known mononymously as Jade (stylised in all caps), is an English singer. Her music career began at the age of 15, when she auditioned for The X Factor on three occasions before rising to prominence as a member of the girl group Little Mix. Formed during the show's eighth series, Little Mix became the first group to win the competition, and together went on to release six studio albums and amassed nineteen UK top-ten singles, five of which reached number one. Before going into hiatus in 2022, they became the first girl group to win the Brit Award for British Group.
In 2022, Thirlwall signed a solo record deal with RCA Records and released her debut single, "Angel of My Dreams×Angel of My Dreams19 July 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Angel of My Dreams3:18" in 2024, which reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2025 Brit Awards. Her debut solo studio album That's Showbiz Baby!×THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY!12 September 2025 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Angel of My Dreams3:182IT girl2:343FUFN (Fuck You for Now)3:354Plastic Box3:215Midnight Cowboy3:316Fantasy3:377Unconditional3:328Self Saboteur4:279Lip Service2:2710Headache2:4511Natural At Disaster3:1812Glitch3:1713Before You Break My Heart3:1614Silent Disco3:28 was released on 12 September 2025 to critical acclaim, and debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart. It also spawned six other singles, which all appeared on the UK Singles Chart, "Midnight Cowboy×Midnight Cowboy25 September 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Midnight Cowboy3:31", "Fantasy×Fantasy18 October 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Fantasy3:37", "It Girl×IT girl9 January 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1IT girl2:34", "FUFN (Fuck You for Now)×FUFN (Fuck You for Now)13 March 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1FUFN (Fuck You for Now)3:35", "Plastic Box×Plastic Box20 June 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Plastic Box3:21", and "Unconditional×Unconditional10 September 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1Unconditional3:322Angel of My Dreams3:183Plastic Box3:214FUFN (Fuck You for Now)3:355IT girl2:346Fantasy3:37".
In addition to her solo work, Thirlwall has co-written songs for various artists through her publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music. Known 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 and 2025. She won Best Pop Act at the 2025 Brit Awards; making her the first former girl band member to win a solo Brit Award. In 2024, she received the Trailblazer Award at the Rolling Stone UK awards.

Early life

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. She is of Egyptian and Yemeni descent on her mother's side and English descent on her father's side. She identifies herself as mixed-race, and has been making efforts to reconnect with her Arab heritage and learn the Arabic language in hopes of travelling more to the Middle East.
As a child, Thirlwall attended an Islamic school to learn how to read and write in Arabic and attended church. During her teenage years, she studied pop vocals and cosmetic makeup and completed three A-levels at South Tyneside College. In 1943, Thirlwall's grandfather Mohammed, a devout Muslim, emigrated from Yemen to South Shields, where he met Jade's grandmother, his wife Amelia who was from Egypt.

2008–2022: Career beginnings and Little Mix

In 2008, at the age of 15, Thirlwall auditioned for The X Factor (UK), singing "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" by Whitney Houston, but was eliminated at the boot- camp stage. She returned for a second time in 2010, but was unsuccessful. 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. 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.
On 28 October 2011, it was announced the group had to change their name to Little Mix, because of legal issues. 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 before it was discontinued.
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. Since Little Mix's debut they have been cited for helping the girl band renaissance in the UK and for re-defining girl groups. 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.

2022–present: Solo endeavours and That's Showbiz Baby!

In March 2022, Thirlwall appeared as a guest judge on the first series of RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World, and made a cameo appearance in the British musical television drama series Mood. The same month, she signed a solo recording contract with RCA Records in the UK and USA, and with Full Stop Management. She co-wrote a track for Nayeon's 2022 debut album, Im Nayeon, marking the second time she had worked with her having previously contributed to Twice's album Taste of Love in 2021. She dropped her surname for her solo activities, choosing to perform mononymously under the name Jade.
Thirlwall's debut solo single titled "Angel of My Dreams×Angel of My Dreams19 July 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Angel of My Dreams3:18" was released on 19 July 2024. The song peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. In September 2024, she released the single titled "Midnight Cowboy×Midnight Cowboy25 September 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Midnight Cowboy3:31", followed by her single, "Fantasy×Fantasy18 October 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Fantasy3:37", on 18 October 2024. She performed "Angel of My Dreams" for the first time, along with "Fantasy", on Later... with Jools Holland on 19 October 2024. At the UK Music Video Awards 2024, she received five nominations for "Angel of My Dreams", winning Best Editing. On 25 October, she performed "Fantasy" and a cover of Chase & Status and Stormzy's "Backbone" on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. In November 2024, she won the Trailblazer Award at the Rolling Stone UK Awards. Thirlwall performed "Fantasy" and a medley of Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" and Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood" on Jools' Annual Hootenanny on 31 December 2024.
On 10 January 2025, she released the single, "It Girl×IT girl9 January 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1IT girl2:34". At the 2025 Brit Awards, she won Best Pop Act and was nominated for Song of the Year for "Angel of My Dreams", which she performed during the ceremony. On 7 March 2025, she released an Apple Music exclusive cover of Madonna's song "Frozen×Frozen7 March 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Frozen3:21", the release later came to all platforms on 6 June 2025. She followed the release with her next single, "FUFN (Fuck You for Now)×FUFN (Fuck You for Now)13 March 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1FUFN (Fuck You for Now)3:35", on 14 March. Thirlwall was also featured on the remix version of Le Sserafim 2025 single "Hot" released on 14 April. Thirlwall's next single, "Plastic Box×Plastic Box20 June 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Plastic Box3:21", was released on 20 June 2025. At the 2025 British LGBT Awards, Thirlwall won the Celebrity Ally Award. On 28 June, she performed at Glastonbury Festival, and premiered the song "Gossip×gossip23 July 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1gossip (extended mix)4:352gossip (dub version)6:12", a collaboration with Confidence Man released on 23 July. On 8 July, she was included on the deluxe reissue of Kesha's album Period (2025), as a feature on a remix of the song "Boy Crazy". On 25 July, Jade headlined the first-ever televised BBC Proms concert outside of London, at The Glasshouse in Gateshead, performing with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and conducted by Robert Ames. Thirlwall released "Unconditional×Unconditional10 September 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1Unconditional3:322Angel of My Dreams3:183Plastic Box3:214FUFN (Fuck You for Now)3:355IT girl2:346Fantasy3:37" two days prior to her debut album, That's Showbiz Baby!×THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY!12 September 2025 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Angel of My Dreams3:182IT girl2:343FUFN (Fuck You for Now)3:354Plastic Box3:215Midnight Cowboy3:316Fantasy3:377Unconditional3:328Self Saboteur4:279Lip Service2:2710Headache2:4511Natural At Disaster3:1812Glitch3:1713Before You Break My Heart3:1614Silent Disco3:28, which was released on 12 September 2025. The following month, she made guest appearances on two songs: "Tonight" with PinkPantheress and "Angel of Satisfaction" with Rose Gray. On 28 November 2025, Thirlwall announced a deluxe edition for her debut album, That's Showbiz Baby! The Encore, featuring seven new songs and her previously released cover of Madonna's "Frozen". The deluxe edition was released on 5 December 2025. On 19 December 2025, she was granted the freedom of borough honour in South Shields.

Artistry

Thirlwall's sound has been described as a combination of pop, R&B and disco She describes her sound as "Frankenstein pop" with influences from other genres including europop, techno, tropical house, Latin pop, and electronic music. She grew up listening to Motown music, with her grandfather playing Arabic music to her as a child. She cites Diana Ross as a music influence and has also expressed her love for drag culture, drag queens and is fan of RuPaul. 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 Diana 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".

Personal life

From 2020 to 2026, Thirlwall was in a relationship with English singer Jordan Stephens, from the hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks. The pair started dating in 2020 after being spotted together for the first time at a Black Trans Lives Matter rally in central London in July of that year. After speculation and leaks to tabloid media, Stephens confirmed the pair had split on the Miss Me? podcast in July 2026.
Thirlwall has 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 on her feet, and in 2019 revealed a henna-style design on her right foot. She got a tattoo on her leg in 2021 to commemorate the day Little Mix was formed, in celebration of the group's tenth anniversary.

Thirlwall is open about her struggles with body image, racism, bullying, and eating disorder, which she first developed at the 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."Thirlwall began recovery and left the hospital weeks before she auditioned for The X Factor in 2011. 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.
In 2022, Thirlwall appeared on Heat's "UK and Ireland 30 under 30" rich list for the first time with an estimated net worth of £17.5 million placing her at number 15. The following year, she climbed to 11th position with £19.8 million.

Endorsements and fashion

Thirlwall is a patron for Cancer Connections and an ambassador for Stonewall. In November 2019, Thirlwall opened her own cocktail bar, called Arbeia, in South Shields. 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. 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.
In September 2020, she was photographed alongside Heidi Klum, Lil Nas X and Helen Christensen by fashion campaign Christian Cowan for his Spring/Summer 2021 collection. On 10 September 2021, Thirlwall was announced as the new face ambassador of the Italian sportswear brand, Ellesse "Autumn/Winter" collection. On 11 October 2021, she released her own eyeshadow palette in collaboration with Beauty Bay. On 12 February 2025, Italian fashion house Fendi launched an advertising campaign featuring Thirlwall.

Activism

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 proceeds going to homelessness support. 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. 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. In 2018, she became an LGBTQ+ rights ambassador for LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, and in 2018, attended Manchester Pride with them.
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. In December 2019, she spent her birthday raising money for cancer charities which has become a yearly tradition for her. 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.
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.
In January 2021, Thirlwall won one of The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off specials in the fourth series. In March 2021 she partnered up with UNICEF to learn about the war in Yemen. 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. 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. 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. 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.
In June 2025, Thirwall criticised J. K. Rowling during her performance at Mighty Hoopla for her comments towards the transgender community.

Headlining

That's Showbiz Baby: the Tour (2025-2026)

Supporting

Chappell Roan – Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things Tour (2025; Scotland only)