Jade Thirlwall, known simply as Jade, is no stranger to the stage—but now she’s returning to it in a different way: solo. She had her meteoric rise in 2011 as part of the Brit-pop girl group Little Mix, formed on The X Factor UK. Their debut album dropped in 2012, and the group quickly became a global hit with singles like “Wings,” “Black Magic,” and “Shout Out to My Ex.”

After the girl group went on hiatus in 2022, Jade set out to carve her own voice in the industry. In 2024, she released her breakout debut single, “Angel of My Dreams,” which has since racked up over 64 million streams on Spotify and helped her reach 1.9 million monthly listeners. Now, she’s officially kicking off her solo era with the release of her debut album, That’s Showbiz Baby!

Speaking exclusively with L’OFFICIEL, one thing was clear from my conversation with Jade: she’s ready to own it. Her sense of identity came through instantly as she opened up about the trials and tribulations of moving from girl group to solo artist—suddenly relying only on herself, something she’s learned to truly embrace. She also spoke about the different reactions to her music, admitting she loves being seen as an “unexpected success” and hopes to convert everyone to “Jadeism.” Call it confidence or call it destiny, but Jade makes one thing clear: the era of “Jadeism” has officially begun.

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L’OFFICIEL: I see you’re going on a little UK tour next month. Can fans expect to see more touring in 2026?

JADE THIRLWALL: I want to do that more than anything! Yeah. And when I want to do something more than anything, I make sure it happens.

L’O: Since it’s your first time doing full solo shows, what can fans expect? Will there be any Little Mix references, or is it going to be a completely new experience?

JT: Well, I have referenced Little Mix at a lot of my festival shows, so I feel like for my own solo shows, I might hinder it slightly, but I do think it’s cool to just be like, okay, I’ve established myself now as my own artist. And so I think if I do it, it will be very minimal. I think that’s the vibe!

L’O: I love the album cover you chose with all the different looks. What inspired you to have different versions of yourself on the cover?

JT: I wanted it to reflect the idea of multiple Jades. The album as a whole is about my experience in the industry and how I’ve had to wear many hats and navigate that space, so there are a lot of references, like songs about puppeteering and the puppet on a string energy. And so I wanted the art to represent this idea that the big Jade is in charge now; I’m the one steering the ship. One of my references was actually Willy Wonka. I don’t know if you’ve seen the original movie, but when they were in the lab room, they shrank into smaller versions of themselves. I like that kind of clinical aspect to it. And I do think they are different versions to me, and you can hear that on the record.

L’O: It’s obvious this album has a very clear vision. The album title ‘That’s Showbiz Baby!’ alludes to a campy, fun attitude. Where can we see those themes throughout the project?

JT:  Well, I think That’s Showbiz Baby! is a kind of laugh at your own trauma. It’s become like a running joke for me to be like, ‘well, that’s just showbiz baby,’ whenever anything happens, good or bad. So it just felt right for the record, and across the board on all of the songs, there was an element of chatting about the music industry and what it’s been like navigating my personal life alongside that. So it just made sense. It was originally called something else, but the fans actually changed my mind when I released “It Girl.” They were really drawn to that specific lyric.

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L’O: What song are you most excited to perform live off the project?

JT: I’m really excited to perform “Unconditional.” I’m also excited to perform “Lip Service” and  “Headache.” I’m really excited to do that one specifically because it’s just a bit bonkers and I think it’ll make a good live performance.

L’O: How different has it been to make this album alone versus being in Little Mix?

JT: In a group, you get so used to compromising, and it’s never just your choice. And so on my own, I have to own my own decisions, I have to go with my gut, and that’s been a really good lesson for me to learn because I’d much rather fail or fuck up off my own decision than somebody else’s. I’ve felt quite liberated through this creative process because the label and management have just been like, ‘what do you want to do?’ And sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t, but it is all me. That’s probably been one of the coolest things to come out of being a solo artist. Being in Little Mix, I think we had such a formula that the records wrote themselves over the last few years. We were so in sync with each other, so it was this sort of conveyor belt of just churning out music, music that I still love, by the way.

I came out of the group like, oh, well, there are actually still so many people who don’t know about me. There’s a lot they don’t know about my artistry or what I can write on my own. So, once I started the writing process and got in the swing of things, I loved the idea of pleasantly surprising people. And I’ve seen that a lot through this new journey, and I think there was an advantage to being almost an unexpected success. It was good because it meant that I could come out swinging and be like, ‘Guys, this is who I am.’ And so many people are like, ‘Oh, fuck. She’s actually really good.’