The BRIT Awards 2020 with Mastercard - Show Programme

Life could have turned out
differently after being born in LA…
Yeah, but my mum moved back to
England when I was two, so I never grew
up as an American. I think it is tough to
grow up in LA, especially if you don’t
have money. I’m glad I’ve grown up here.
But now you travel there a lot
Yeah, I went for a month in October.
Actually I first went back when I was
sixteen. My [Jamaican] dad was
diagnosed with cancer so we went
over there to visit him then, before
he passed. Obviously my memories
weren’t positive, so when I went
back with my manager at 23 I wasn’t
keen! That visit changed my outlook.
I’ve got good friends there now.
Your singing took off
amongst the heartbreak…
Yeah the idea is that its good to set
your sights on something. Don’t let
anyone or anything stand in your way.
I had a lot of things happen when I
was about sixteen – things I hadn’t
experienced before, like people
passing. I could have become down
but I used it to spur me on. My mum
was a single mum but she always had
her own motivation. Anything you want
or need find a way to get it yourself.
How is 2020 shaping up for you?
Six weeks of writing in January into
February, before big headline shows,
including Shepherds Bush Empire, April
into May. I have a lot of festivals, and
hopefully more new music, from June
onwards. I love playing new songs to
the crowd to see what the reaction is.
TWO MORE GREAT ACTS MADE THE
2020 BRITs RISING STAR SHORTLIST.
BEABADOOBEE
Nineteen-year-old beabadoobee
– Beatrice to her friends – grew up
listening to lo-fi indie rock and Filipino
music. The 90s inspired songwriter, who
only wrote her first song, Coffee, in 2017,
is now a prolific producer of earwormladen
atmospheric EPs including
Patched Up, Loveworm, and Space Cadet.
JOY CROOKES
A jazz-loving, Irish dancing Joy
Crookes grew up in the shadow of
Elephant and Castle, leaving school
early to concentrate on soulful music
intertwining Billie Holliday, identity,
and WB Yeats. Now 21, she spent 2019
wowing Glastonbury, and helping the
world hear her songs Mother May I Sleep
With Danger, Early, and London Mine.
How will you know you’ve
hit the big time?
I want to have an album out, and feel
proud. And get the chance to make a
second album. And a third! I’ll know if
I can relax, waking up knowing this is
my permanent job! But I might be 50
before I feel like that…
But you’re already hanging
out in showbiz circles…
I met Mick Jagger the other night!
Amazing, because I love the Rolling
Stones! I wish I met him fifty years ago. I
really fancied him when he was younger.
(Sighs) I’m glad there are people that I
idolise that are still alive.
Make the most of it
with a collaboration…
I’m thinking I need to make this happen!
I’m excited! Because, y’know, most of
my heroes aren’t alive any more.
JM Enternational
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