Jess Glynne reveals hilarious reason she turned down chance to meet rap superstar Jay-Z
JESS GLYNNE had the chance to meet her superstar boss JAY-Z – but turned it down as she was having a new TV fitted at home.
The Hold My Hand singer signed to the rapper’s management company Roc Nation last year.
In an exclusive chat before her performance at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Dundee on Saturday, Jess admitted she has still not met him.
She said: “I was meant to meet him but I was getting my TV fitted on the day.
“I was in LA and I was in a brand new apartment. I had loads of workmen delivering stuff and putting things in and I was meant to be in the office.
“I was like, ‘Ah yeah, I can’t make it’. Partially nerves but partially I had people fitting my TV.
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“He found it funny though, so that’s OK. He laughed, he respected the fact I had to get my s**t together, you know. I was doing what real people do.”
Jess, who has racked up seven No1 singles since breaking into the charts in 2014, signed to the agency founded by Jay-Z, amid a huge shake-up, when she also quit her deal with Atlantic Records.
Reflecting on it now, Jess revealed that she struggled through a “really dark space” while figuring out what to do with her career.
She explained: “It really was a very nerve-wracking time of my life. It was very brave and bold and I think you never know what the outcome is going to be when you make such big decisions.
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“But for me, I was at a point where a lot had happened in my life, and life is short.
“It’s important to put happiness, mental health and greatness in front of you, rather than suppress it.
“If you do that, I think you’re going to be a very depressed person, and I think I was in a really dark space.
“It was a clash. It got to a point with my record label where we had extremely different creative views and I think it was important I had a team around me that understood and believed in what it was I wanted to achieve.
“That’s where it made complete sense for us to go our separate ways.
“For me to be my authentic self and do what felt right, it was like, I either stick in a relationship that isn’t going to provide what I want or I make a decision to choose me and do what I want.”
Now Jess is feeling more creatively fulfilled than ever and said her third album, which she hopes to release later this year, is her most “personal, honest and real”.
The first taste is her single Silly Me, which came out last month.
She said of the track: “It’s a self-acceptance song. It’s a reassurance of, ‘You know what, this is the journey I’ve been on in my life and this is the journey I needed to go on to get to where I am today’.
“It’s important to reflect, hold your hands up and be able to look at life and say, ‘I did this, I did that and that’s OK — that’s who I am’.”
ABBA staged a mini-reunion at the one-year celebration of their avatar residency, ABBA Voyage.
Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson were joined by Frida Lyngstad to watch the show at East London’s ABBA Arena and waved to fans at the end of the show.
Agnetha Faltskog, who was at the launch last year, missed the event but there were lots of other celebrities in the room.
Ronnie Wood and his wife Sally, Naomi Campbell, Sir Ian McKellen and John Bishop were at Saturday’s show.
Bjorn said: “So, the second year has begun. We had almost, but not quite, dared to count on it, and going into the second year with over 300 sold-out concerts behind us is more than we could ever have dreamed of.”
Boob buy for Miley
MILEY Cyrus is such a fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race she has tried to buy a set of fake boobs used by one of its stars.
She struck up a friendship with Kylie Sonique Love, who won Drag Race All Stars in 2021, and now it has become a little more intimate.
On Bianca Del Rio’s podcast The Pit Stop, Kylie was asked about changing her fake boobs.
Kylie said: “I got a couple at the house that I’m looking for a good home for, my old t****es. But Miley wants them.”
Miley has appeared as a judge on the US version of the show and called on Kylie for a duet in 2019, when she put on her Stand By You Pride concert.
The pair sang Cher’s Believe with Kylie and five other Drag Race stars, leaving fans desperate for more.
Taylor is boxing clever
TAYLOR Swift is following in the footsteps of her best mate Ed Sheeran when it comes to her Eras Tour.
I can reveal the singer has been secretly making her way to the centre of her stage in a cramped box.
A source said: “Taylor wants to keep her entrance as magical as possible.
“So rather than walking to the stage via the back and risk being seen, she gets into this tiny guitar box in her dressing room and is wheeled on stage.”
The same trick is being used by Ed as part of his Mathematics World Tour and was employed by Adele on her last global trek.
Admitting it’s far from glamorous, Adele said: “How I get to this stage makes me so sweaty, I’m drenched.”
Taylor’s Eras Tour is tipped to reach the UK next summer with stadium shows up and down the UK, although she has yet to announce details.
She is tipped to headline Glasto 2024 after missing out in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Taylor will be bigger than ever by then, as she is ready to take over the charts on Friday.
Three tracks from her newly released album Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition) are on course for the Top Ten. Karma has risen 65 places to No2 after she released a remix featuring Ice Spice, while Hits Different is at No8 and Snow On The Beach with Lana Del Rey is at No10.
BECKY Hill hit the stage in style at Radio 1’s Big Weekend yesterday – but she hasn’t always had such a fun at British festivals.
The Side Effects singer wore this bright outfit for her set at Camperdown Country Park in Dundee, after revealing a horror story about a previous performance.
Asked about her worst festival memory, she told me: “At T In The Park 2014 I was on tour with Rudimental and this one guy was on his mate’s shoulders.
“I remember looking and pointing at him and he pulled up his kilt and showed me his b******s. Full c**k and b******s. It crippled me so much.
“I walked away and was like, ‘Focus on the song, focus on the song’. But I still have the image of his full genitalia with his kilt up to his nipples. It’s an arrestable offence.”
Thankfully things went more smoothly at the weekend’s festival, where Anne-Marie, Zara Larsson, Niall Horan, Wet Leg and Raye also performed.
Rick Astley has heaped praise on pal Kylie Minogue’s new song Padam Padam after it became her highest chart entry in nine years.
Rick said in an exclusive chat at the Chelsea Flower Show: “She’s pretty amazing. I’m hoping the single does well.
“Last time I saw her, I’ll name drop now, was at her 50th birthday party. I’ve got a lot of time for that woman.”
The Never Gonna Give You Up singer also revealed he has started a side hustle – as a wedding singer.
Rick added: “At friends’ weddings and stuff, I get up and sing spontaneously.
“I did it last summer at someone’s wedding and I wasn’t expecting to do it.
“There were some other musicians there and we sang. It was great.”
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