Jade Thirlwall wants to show fans she writes her own songs

The former Little Mix star admitted that her years in the girl group left her feeling like she had something to prove, and that she often needs to show people she is a “credible artist,” which is why she makes a point of talking about the inspiration behind her music.

She told NME: “I like doing it [sharing the stories behind my songs] at this stage of my career because I want people to see that I really do write my own music.

“I think being in a girl group, you spend so much time trying to convince people that you are, in fact, a credible artist. To some extent, I definitely have a bit of a chip on my shoulder about being seen as the underdog, like I still need to prove I deserve my seat at the table.”

Jade went on to share that her mother’s battle inspired her latest single Unconditional with lupus, and she poured all of her emotions into writing the track.

She told the outlet: “It’s about my mum, who has lupus. The week we wrote it, she was in the hospital, and I was of course agitated. I went into the studio with Pablo Bowman and Mike Sabath and told them everything that was happening. I was running in and out of the room, on the phone with the hospital and my brother; it was all really touch-and-go.

“So the song is about my endless love for my mum, how I wish I could make it better, but I can’t. The musical inspiration came from Diana Ross and disco since that’s what my mum loves, but I also wanted to mix in some MGMT elements, which you can hear in the synths, along with touches of Gossip.”

Jade first rose to fame as part of Little Mix, alongside Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jesy Nelson, who left the group in 2020. The band has been on hiatus since 2022 as each member pursues solo projects.

Even so, Jade has said she remains deeply proud of everything the group achieved.

She told RTÉ Entertainment: “I’m so proud of what we did. Sometimes one of us will send a message in the group chat like, ‘Oh my God, I just watched our BRITs performance from 2017, and we were amazing!’

“When you’re in that bubble, it’s hard to recognize how special it really is. The best part is that we stayed friends, we stayed equals, and we built such a fantastic fan base. For us, being in a girl group was always about female empowerment and sisterhood. So many of our fans became lifelong friends because of it.

“Even now, as a solo artist, when I look out into the front row at festivals, it’s still those diehard day-one fans who’ve been there since they were kids. I think that’s so beautiful.”