Jade Thirlwall

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Jade Thirlwall
Jade Thirlwall in 2019.jpg
Thirlwall performing at LM5: The Tour 2019
Born
Jade Amelia Thirlwall

(1992-12-26) 26 December 1992 (age 28)
South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2008–present
Labels
Associated actsLittle Mix

Jade Amelia Thirlwall (born 26 December 1992) is an English singer, songwriter, and a member of the British girl group Little Mix. The band was formed on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011 and became the first and only band ever to win the show. The band have since sold over 60 million records worldwide throughout their career, making them one of the best-selling girl groups of all time.

Early life[]

Thirlwall was born and raised in the Laygate area of South Shields, Tyne and Wear. She is the daughter of Norma Badwi and James Thirlwall and has an older brother named Karl Thirlwall.[1] She is Egyptian and Yemeni from her mother's side and English from her father's side.[2] She auditioned for The X Factor in 2008 and 2010 but was eliminated at the bootcamp stage.[3][4] She attended performing arts college South Tyneside, where she studied a range of courses.[5] As a teenager, Thirlwall experienced racism and bullying which later contributed to her suffering with anorexia for five years before beginning her recovery.[6]

Career[]

Thirlwall first auditioned on The X Factor in 2008, but got no further than bootcamp. She then returned in 2011, performing the song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles. Thirlwall earned four "yes" votes and went through to bootcamp.[7] After she failed the first bootcamp challenge to progress through to the Girls category (solo females aged 16-24), Thirlwall was then placed in a three-piece group named "Orion" alongside Leigh-Anne Pinnock. Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson were in another group called "Faux Pas". Both groups, however were eliminated. The four were then called back by the judges and were later formed into the four-piece group Rhythmix, and they progressed to judges' houses.[8] They eventually reached the live shows and were mentored and loved by Tulisa Contostavlos.[9] On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the band's new name would be Little Mix.[10][11][12] On 11 December 2011, Little Mix were announced as the winners, making them the first band ever to win the show.[13] In April 2019, Thirlwall along with Pinnock, signed to Sony/ATV via joint venture TwentySeven as published songwriters.[14]

Thirlwall has released six albums with the band; DNA (2012), Salute (2013), Get Weird (2015), Glory Days (2016), LM5 (2018) and Confetti (2020).[15] Thirlwall was the guest judge on the "Girl Group Battle Royale" episode in RuPaul's Drag Race UK on 31 October 2019.[16][17] Then in May 2020, it was announced that she would be hosting an MTV web series, titled Served!.[18] In December 2020, Thirlwall won the Equality Award at the Ethnicity Awards 2020 along with band member, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, which they were recognised for their work towards racial equality in the UK.[19] On 29 January 2021, it was announced that Thirlwall would be appearing as a contestant on the fourth series of The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off, which aired on March later that year.[20] She was announced as the winner and was crowned as the "Star Baker" of her episode.[21]

Business ventures[]

In November 2019, Thirlwall opened her own cocktail bar, Red Door, in South Shields,[22][23][24] the name of which was later changed to Arbeia in February 2020.[25] Residents praised Thirlwall for improving the town's nightlife.[26] In March 2020, her new nightclub, Industry, launched next door to Arbeia.[27] In June 2020, she collaborated with Skinnydip London, a British clothing brand.[28]

Personal life[]

Thirlwall has confirmed that she is currently in a relationship with singer Jordan Stephens.[29]

Activism and charity work[]

Thirlwall is known for being a prominent supporter of the LGBT community and her involvement with charity work. In May 2018, she spoke at the Stonewall Youth Awards about what it means to be an ally and encouraging more artists to do the same.[30] In August 2018, Thirlwall attended the Manchester Pride alongside LGBT charity Stonewall, joining 50 young LGBT people at the front of the parade.[31]

In 2019, Thirlwall, alongside Michelle Visage, raised £10,000 for the Mermaids UK. That same year, Thirlwall, together with band member Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and other British celebrities, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day.[32]

Discography[]

Main articles: Little Mix discography and list of songs

Songwriting credits[]

List of songwriting credits, with year released and album shown
Title Artist(s) Year Album Notes
"Change Your Life" Little Mix 2012 DNA Co-writer
"DNA"
"Wings"
"How Ya Doin'?"
"Little Me" 2013 Salute
"Move"
"Salute"
"Pretty Girls" Britney Spears & Iggy Azalea 2015 Non-album single
"Shout Out to My Ex" Little Mix 2016 Glory Days
"Joan of Arc" 2018 LM5
"Wasabi"
"Break Up Song" 2020 Confetti
"Holiday"
"No Time for Tears" Nathan Dawe and Little Mix Non-album singles
"Heartbreak Anthem" Little Mix, Galantis, and David Guetta 2021
"Love (Sweet Love)" Little Mix Between Us

Filmography[]

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2011 The X Factor Contestant Winner, Series 8 [33]
2017 Glory Days: The Documentary Herself Tour documentary [34]
2019 Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out Herself Documentary [35]
RuPaul's Drag Race UK Guest Judge Episode: "Girl Group Battle Royale" [36]
Celebrity Gogglebox Herself One episode [37]
Eat in with Little Mix Herself Web series [38]
Alan Carr's Celebrity Re-play Herself Guest appearance [39]
2020 How's Your Head, Hun? Herself Guest appearance [40]
Served! Presenter Web series [41]
Little Mix The Search Judge Music competition series [42]
2020 MTV Europe Music Awards Host Also a performer [43]
How To Be Anne-Marie Herself Documentary [44]
LM5: The Tour Film Herself Concert film [45]
Chicken Shop Date Herself Web Series [46]
2021 The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off Herself Series 4, episode 4, Winner [47]
Since September: The Empty Seats Tour Herself BBC Web Series, Episode 1 [48]
Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power Herself Documentary [49]

Awards and nominations[]

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Little Mix
Year Award ceremony Category Nominee(s)/work(s) Result Ref.
2017 BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards Most Entertaining Celebrity Herself Nominated [50]
2019 Celeb Mix Awards Philanthropist of The Year Nominated [51]
2020 PLT Awards[52] LGBTQ Influencer of the Year Nominated [53]
Ethnicity Awards Equality Award Won [54]
Inspirational Personality Nominated [55]
2021 Broadcast Digital Awards Best Short-Form Format Served! with Jade Thirlwall Pending [56]

References[]

  1. ^ "No place like home for Little Mix stars". Jarrow and Hebburn Gazette. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  2. ^ Hamad, Marwa (27 November 2013). "Little Mix Want to Make Their Mark". tabloid!. Gulf News. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  3. ^ "So we're low key obsessed with these Liam Payne and Jade Thirlwall throwback pics". 11 December 2015. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Jade Thirlwall And Little Mix". www.listal.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  5. ^ Lawson, Ruth (10 October 2011). "Teachers back X Factor's Jade and Perrie". Archived from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall on anorexia: 'How I recovered from an eating disorder'". BBC Newsround. 12 August 2019. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Auditions". All About Little Mix. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  8. ^ "X Factor finalists Rhythmix in legal trouble with charity over name". Metro. 6 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  9. ^ "X Factor: Tulisa Planning Duet With Little Mix? | MTV UK". Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  10. ^ "X Factor girl band Rhythmix are renamed Little Mix". 28 October 2011. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  11. ^ Halliday, Josh (9 November 2011). "X Factor: Simon Cowell drops attempt to trademark Rhythmix". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  12. ^ Glamour (21 November 2011). "Simon Cowell donates money to Rhythmix charity". CondéNetUK. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012.
  13. ^ "Teen, duo, country mum battle for X Factor". AAP. The West Australian. 24 November 2015. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  14. ^ Halperin, Shirley (4 April 2019). "Little Mix Members Sign With New Sony/ATV Venture TwentySeven Music Publishing (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  15. ^ Dixon, Faye (20 August 2019). "Eight years of Little Mix: Girl group celebrates milestone anniversary with social media message". Shields Gazette. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  16. ^ Welsh, Daniel (1 November 2019). "RuPaul's Drag Race UK Fans Were Living For Jade Thirlwall's Judging Stint". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  17. ^ "Every Guest Judge On Ru Paul's Drag Race UK – Including Jade Thirlwall, Cheryl And Maisie Williams". Capital FM. 9 October 2019. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  18. ^ MTV [@MTVUK] (18 May 2020). "You are invited to dinner! Join @LittleMix's Jade Thirlwall as she competes to cook up some eleganza realness with her superstar drag queen friends