Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock signs up huge rapper for debut solo album
LEIGH-ANNE PINNOCK is going solo and she’s enlisted a huge star to ensure the move is a success.
I’ve learned the Little Mix singer has teamed up with Stormzy to help her with her debut album.
Last night fans got the first snippet of music from Leigh-Anne, who has dropped her surname from her stage name after getting married to footballer Andre Gray at the weekend.
In the drum and bass-infused snippet, which was shared on Instagram, she sings: “Do say so myself, you’re gone, if I do say so myself you’re gone, you don’t want to talk about the way we were . . . ”
Alongside the post she wrote the hashtag #leighanneiscoming.
It is the first taste of her solo LP, which she has been working on since before Little Mix went on their hiatus in May last year.
read more on stormzy
The group worked with Stormzy on a version of their single Power, and I’m told he has now added his input to a track from her forthcoming record.
A source said: “Leigh-Anne has worked extensively with producer PRGRSHN on her first LP as a solo artist and it was him who helped bring Stormzy on board.
PRGRSHN was the creative behind a lot of Stormzy’s most recent album, This Is What I Mean, and he got in touch with him about coming on board with Leigh-Anne.
“Stormzy has worked on a track with her and they will be unveiling it soon.
Most read in Bizarre
“It is hugely exciting for Leigh-Anne to have worked with Stormzy and he is also a big fan of hers.
“Fans are in for a surprise and Leigh-Anne can’t wait to show off what she has been working on.”
Leigh-Anne has also been working with Kuk Harrell, one of the masterminds behind Beyonce’s 2008 hit Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).
I revealed in February how Leigh-Anne had signed a huge record deal with Warner.
She will be the first of Little Mix to release a solo album, beating Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall, who are all working on their own music.
I’m looking forward to hearing what Leigh-Anne has to offer.
CAT & SOPH IN THE PICTURE
CAT BURNS and Sophie Ellis-Bextor will help judge the Abbey Road Music Photography Awards.
They celebrate the best of music photography in four categories: Portrait, Editorial, Artist at Work and Icon.
Announcing the awards were open, photographer Rankin, who helped create them, said: “It doesn’t matter if you’re emerging or a celebrated professional photographer, we want your photographs to be seen.
“This is our opportunity to celebrate what music photography means, not just to the audience and the musicians, but to the photographers behind the lens.”
The winner get a day’s mentoring from with Rankin on a music shoot.
NEW TRACK FOR CHRIS
YOU’D expect a bloke worth an estimated £160million to be using private jets and chauffeur-driven cars to get around.
But Coldplay frontman Chris Martin casually rocked up alongside fans at Cardiff Central Station after choosing a more eco-friendly way to get to the band’s gig – and was caught on camera by a chuffed train conductor.
He forked out £90 to travel from Manchester to the Welsh capital ahead of the first of their two shows at the Principality Stadium on Monday.
Chris and the band, who are on their Music Of The Spheres World Tour, are on a mission to make the gigs as environmentally friendly as possible.
They revealed last year how they had aimed to reduce their carbon footprint by 50 per cent and as part of the tour use kinetic floors and bikes to help power the concerts.
It’s refreshing to see a star like Chris practise what they preach.
I can think of plenty of private jet-hopping celebs who could take a leaf out of his book.
KELLY’S STRIKING IT RICH
KELLY JONES is keeping things in the Stereophonics family by bringing the group’s bassist Richard Jones on tour with his new band Far From Saints.
His Americana-tinged side project release their self-titled debut on Friday next week and Kelly says it means a lot to have Richard involved – especially because it was their mums who were thick as thieves before they even met.
On stage in East London, he said: “Richard and I were in school together from when we were three.
“He stopped going to school when he was about 12 but he went down the cafe, played on the bandit for a bit then went to the school of life and became the wisest one out of all of us.
“His mother and my mother went to the same school as well.
"They asked if they could go for a pee once in the classroom and the teacher said no.
“So they took it upon themselves to p*** in the sink and got expelled together.”
JOE’S A GROWER
FINALLY I’ve found a TikTok account I’m actually interested in – and it’s helpful, too.
Rather than just celebrities doing strange dance routines, green-fingered Joe Clark dishes out advice on how you can grow your own veg to help with the cost of living crisis.
He has become a sensation with his account @JoesGarden – and if you want your own produce, it’s worth having a look.
Trust me, it’s not the usual TwitTok fodder.
JASON: HOW SAYING NAME GOT ME FAME
JASON DERULO is famous for warbling his name in his songs – and he reckons it’s the secret to his success.
He is convinced this quirky vocal habit tricked the cells of his body into believing he was a star.
The singer said: “It’s the power of the tongue and how the words you say can affect your life.
“Within my life, I always spoke my dream into existence, when I was a kid, almost to a fault.
“My mum would be like, ‘Come into this kitchen and clean up.
"When you’re older, your kitchen is going to be a mess’, and I was like, ‘Mum, I’m probably never going to clean my kitchen myself’.
“And my mum gave me that backhand so fast.
“What I meant is I believe in myself wholeheartedly and when I get older I’m going to utilise all of my time and energy on my craft.
"I moved through my life as if I was preparing for my big break.
“I think it’s a major part of where I am today. Through those words.
“Your body can hear it.
"There’s a trillion cells in your body that are listening to the words that you’re saying, so the more you say it, the more your mind starts to believe it, and the more your trillion cells will know the path to get you there.
“Singing your name out loud, so to speak, is the way. You have to speak it for your body to start to believe it.”
That said, he thought his career might be over for good when he broke his neck after landing on his head during a concert rehearsal in 2012.
Discussing his self-help book, appropriately named Sing Your Name Out Loud, he said: “It was really difficult to write the chapter about breaking my neck.
“I never thought I’d break my neck. Who breaks their neck? How did that even happen to me? Why me?
“There were thoughts in my mind which brought me to a place where I didn’t know if I would get out of this situation alive, so to speak. I didn’t know if I would have a career afterwards.”
After more than a decade in music Jason said he now wants to move into cinema, despite his false start in the panned musical movie Cats in 2019.
Speaking in the US, he added: “I’d like to dive into film on a large scale. That’s my next thing.
"I’ve done so much with the music and I’ve done a ton of business but the theatrical world is calling my name.”
ELLIE’S BEST IN GLASS
ELLIE GOULDING has good reason to raise a glass after Miracle became her biggest ever single.
But it isn’t just the success of her Calvin Harris collaboration – which has spent eight weeks at No1 – that has put a smile on her face.
The singer is all smiles to plug her hard seltzer brand Served.
Ellie became a co-owner of the alcoholic sparkling drinks company in 2021 and it has since gone from strength to strength.
She might need to pop to Morrisons on Friday to grab one to drown her sorrows, though. Dave and Central Cee’s collaboration Sprinter is on course to take the No1 spot.
But after two months at the top, Ellie’s track is definitely one of the songs of the summer.
SAM NIGHTMARE WAS MURDER FOR LARSSON
ZARA LARSSON feared her hit single Ruin My Life had come true when she had a nightmare involving Sam Smith.
The Swedish star revealed she dreamed she had murdered the Unholy singer after binge-watching Elizabeth Olsen series Love & Death.
Zara said: “I dreamt that I killed Sam Smith, it was wild.
“I tried to cover it up as it was a really big deal. I felt terrible.
"I was running from the cops who wanted to question me and I didn’t know what to say.”
Recounting the graphic nightmare during a TikTok Live chat, the singer added: “I had cut them up . . . and worse during Pride Month.
“I woke up with so much anxiety. I was so thankful I didn’t kill Sam and they are alive and thriving.”
Zara – who will play Capital’s Summertime Ball in London on Sunday – is now gearing up to release her fourth album.
She added: “It will 1,000 per cent be released this year. There is just a bit more to do.”
I guess a collaboration with Sam won’t be on the cards.
Bizbit
HE has still not wrapped up his Bridges World Tour but Calum Scott isn’t resting on his laurels.
The You Are The Reason singer, sitting at No22 in the charts with his Jax Jones collaboration Whistle, has announced one-off show – The Songbook So Far – at London’s Eventim Apollo on March 12.
Calum said: “A lot has changed for me and that is directly reflected in my music, my performances, but, most importantly my shows.”
Tickets for the one-off headline gig go on sale on Friday.
SIMPLY THE BEST AS FANS GO WILD FOR MICK AND CO
YOU know a gig is bloody good when you feel it could blow the roof off.
When Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall and his killer band took to the stage for their only UK concert this year, the rafters at the venue were shaking.
The band kicked off with new single Better With You, before Mick led the crowd through some of Simply Red’s best hits including Night Nurse, Stars and Money’s Too Tight To Mention.
The band were on perfect form. Saxophonist Ian Kirkham sent the crowd crazy with his solo on Thrill Me, while Mick’s vocals were powerful and impressive.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Come back soon, please, Mick. I miss you already.
★★★★☆
ELLIE HENMAN