At the 16th GLAMOUR Women of the Year Awards, in partnership with Samsung, we’re honouring those women who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo and reshape the world. From activism to acting, our winners are working across a variety of industries to make the world a better, more equal place.
Taking home the award for Musician of the Year is Anne-Marie, a game-changer in the world of pop music (and beyond), whose vivid lyricism inspires women to be open about heartbreak, mental health and discovering their inner-strength.
If you saw Anne-Marie in the street, do you know how you'd react? Because according to GLAMOUR's Musician of the Year, most fans greet her with a simple, “You alright, mate?”
It's perhaps not the response you'd expect for a woman with over 9 million Instagram followers, 22.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and a prime-time judging gig on The Voice. Having made her pop debut in 2016 (providing the vocals for Clean Bandit's number-one-hit hit ‘Rockabye’), Anne-Marie's distinctive sound and lyricism – raw, sexually empowered, frank – has become a mainstay in the Top 40 – not to mention girly pre-drinks around the world.
“You know what?” she explains to me over Zoom, “I never really left the ground.” And I believe her. Throughout our interview, I feel as though I'm reconnecting with an old friend – you know, the one who always found the perfect excuse for bunking off P.E. lessons.
Anne-Marie (full name Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson) attributes her grounded attitude to her family and friends, who “cringe at the thought of [her] becoming someone else.” This is probably why her “Ninjas” – the name she chose for her fanbase back in 2016 – are so casual with their Queen of pop. She prefers it this way, telling me, “I want them to see me as a normal person. I don't want to have that disconnect of like, Oh my God, a celebrity! I just want to be their friend.”
Ahead of GLAMOUR's annual Women of the Year Awards, where Anne-Marie will be picking up the award for Musician of the Year, we've convened to chat about the women who've inspired her across her personal life and career. And you know who's right up there? Alanis Morrisette, because, of course.
“I want someone to feel like how I felt when I listened to Alanis's music.”
Before Anne-Marie discovered the American-Canadian champion of confessional pop-rock, she didn't “understand much about music.” It was all just “dancing and not listening to the lyrics.” Then, bam! “I listened to Alanis Morissette's music, and it hit me that she's actually saying something. I was like, What is going on?”
This was when the lyrics started to matter to Anne-Marie: “I started listening to her lyrics and got obsessed with every story she told. I just thought, Oh my God, this is her life, and she's just telling everyone what you normally write in a diary. If I hadn't had that moment, my music would've been really different because it made me think, If I'm going to make music, what do I want to say? I want someone to feel like how I felt when I listened to Alanis's music.”
It wasn't just Alanis's sound that inspired Anne-Marie. After seeing her perform live for the first time earlier this year, Anne-Marie was struck by Alanis's attitude: “She just don't give a sh*t. She just walks around on stage, wearing a baggy t-shirt and jeans – it just makes you think F*cking go on! It made me think about being a woman in the music industry, you don't have to dress a certain way, and you don't have to be [limited] by how you think you're supposed to be seen.”
As a long-time fan of Anne-Marie and Alanis, I point out that both embody a sense of vulnerability and strength in their work. Does Anne-Marie see the resemblance? “Yeah, for sure. I write a lot about heartbreak and sad situations that I've been in, but by the end of the three-minute song, I try to be the stronger person out of the situation.”
The most empowering night of the year is back.
Is there anyone else in the industry who Anne-Marie looks up to? Well, there's the small matter of Rihanna. “She's so good to look at as artist because I feel like she's never really swayed on her intentions and her vision. And it's f*cking odd not doing that because there's so many people around you going, 'Oh, we think you could do that and we think you could do that.' I think she's going to be one of the longest artists ever running from our generation.” Agreed.
"Whether it's standing up for other women or just sticking up for someone who's looks like they're having a tough time, it's f*cking important to just speak up.”
It doesn't go unnoticed that Anne-Marie has highlighted two women in the music industry as her inspiration. How important is it for women in the industry to stick together? “Yeah,” Anne-Marie starts, “I think when you feel something, whether it's standing up for other women or just sticking up for someone who's looks like they're having a tough time, it's f*cking important to just speak up.”
Despite being “a little pr*ck as a teenager” Anne-Marie was always the one in the friendship group who “said something” – even if it was an unpopular opinion. “I'm really proud of that. And I think when it comes to other women in the music industry, I think it's easy to stand by them because you kind of know the drill, you know what I mean?”
A conversation about the women who've inspired Anne-Marie wouldn't be complete without an honourable mention of her mother: the subject of the singer's 2020 single ‘Her’, which featured the powerful lyrics, “When I was younger I treated her the worst, Never known someone stronger, ‘Cause damn it must’ve hurt.”
“I was a sh*t,” Anne-Marie admits, adding, "I definitely was a bit of a pr*ck to my parents, but [my mum] has always been a strong woman.
“She worked nights when I was younger, then went to university to learn sign language, and she's done so much in order to help other people. The older I've got, the more I realised that she had me to deal with and she was trying to do her own thing as well.
“Her mum died when she was like 30 something and I think, F*cking hell, how did she get through that? And then taking me to dance lessons and to karate. It feels like she's just always been a solid part of our foundation of our family. But she's the quiet one, so you don't even realise.”
From Little Mix to Munroe Bergdorf.
Anne-Marie is currently working on her third album and while she's limited as to what she can tell me, she's happy enough to chat about what we can expect. “With the first album,” she explains, “It was kind of figuring out what kind of music I wanted to make and who I was. And then the second album was like, Okay, now I'm figuring out who I am as a human.” And the third one? Anne-Marie laughs, "We've all come out of lockdown, and I'm kind of like, "Right, I need to f*cking go a bit mental."
Obviously, this sounds f*cking amazing. “I don't know how people are going to feel about it,” Anne-Marie admits, “But I feel like me as a human, I'm way happier. I'm more confident and I just want to use that. I want to be able to grip it with both hands and be like, Yes, finally, my anxiety isn't taking over, and I'm going to be whoever I want to be, and I don't want to second guess who I am, and I don't want to compromise.”
“Basically,” she adds, “I'm being Rihanna.”
For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.
