Jade Amelia Thirlwall, born December 26, 1992 (age 22) is a member of the British four-piece girl group Little Mix (formerly Rhythmix) with Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock.
Early Life
Jade is from South Shields, Tyne and Wear. She was born to a single mother Norma and lived with her brother Karl. At first, she was a student and participated in various singing contests in the area. She is close friends with The X Factor season 6 winner, Joe McElderry, who is also from South Shields. The two used to duet together.
Jade began singing at an early age and from the age of 3, until she was 15, she attended Steps Dance & Fitness, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, where her dance instructor was Pam Eglintine, who said Jade "was always a good singer and used to work really hard in everything she did. Jade is quite a quiet kind of girl who just gets on with things. As she progressed with the dancing, I knew she was going to be a star because she just has that natural ability... She's got an amazing voice. Even from a young age, she had a strong voice" At the age of 9, Jade joined Performers' Stage School, South Shields, Tyne & Wear. When she was 13, in year 9 at St Wilfrid's Community College, secondary school in South Shields. Jade was asked to sing in the school assembly and joined the choir. Delia McNally, Jade's teacher at St Wilfrid's, recalled, "Jade performed many times at school and sang at our tsunami relief concert in support of World Challenge". Jade remembers, "I did little school plays and musicals" From the age of 16, Jade performed in pubs and clubs. Jade's mother, Norma, said, "Jade would be doing a gig and she'd invite Joe (McElderry, winner of X Factor 2009) to sing with her. They also appeared at festivals and charity gigs together".
Career
X Factor (2011-present)
Jade auditioned for the show twice before in 2008 and again in 2010. She was sent home both times due to lack of confidence, she then auditioned once again for the 2011 season with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" made famous by
15-year-old Jade in her first audition in 2008
the Beatles. Jade, along side the other girls of what was to be Little Mix did not make it into the bootcamp stage of the television show. The girls were all selected from failed solo auditions and all put into separate groups, being named Faux Pas and Orion (in which Jade was in). Neither of the groups made it past the judges house. However, a last-minute decision was made and two members from both groups were selected and put into a third ensemble, named respectably Rhythmix. A few weeks into competition X-Factor executives attempted to Co
Jade at her third audition singing the song I Wanna Hold Your Hand by The Beatles
pyright the Rhythmix name, and come to find out that the name was already for copy written. The girls had then decided to change the name of the group to avoid any confusion with a charity that had been step up for helping young people make music. Thus, Little Mix was born. Simon Cowell donated an undisclosed amount to the charity. Jade, alongside the other girls made X-Factor history as weeks went on, becoming the first all-female band to ever make it in the top 6. Little Mix are one of the few X-Factor contestants to never be in the bottom 2. In December of 2011, Little Mix became the first band in the 8-year run to win the competition, which was followed by the release of the winner's single "Cannonball" which hit the #1 position in 3 different countries.
Jade during the music video for "How Ya Doin'?"
DNA (2012-present)
Following The X Factor, the girls signed a record contract with Sony Music subsidiary Syco Music. They said through a live stream via Twitcam that their debut single will be called "Wings". Little Mix announced their debut album in September 2012 called DNA, which released on 19 November 2012. They later published lyrics videos and official music videos of their other singles, "DNA", "Change Your Life", and "How Ya Doin'?".
Jade during the "Little Me" music video
Salute and Word Up! (2013-14)
Following the release of their debut album DNA, the girls uploaded a video to their official YouTube page, announcing that their second album would be called Salute and would be available for pre-order on 7 October. The album was released on 11 November 2013 in the United Kingdom and was released in the United States on 4 February 2014. It was followed by the release of three singles Move, Little Me and Salute. The band released a cover version of the Cameo's song "Word Up!" as the official single for Sport Relief 2014. The song reached number six in the UK and number thirteen in Ireland while also charting in Australia, Austria, Denmark and France.
Little Mix during the photoshoot for "Get Weird"
Get Weird (2015-present)
At the 2015 Brit Awards, the group confirmed that their album was completed, describing it as having a "whole new sound" and projecting the release for sometime in 2015. In addition to writing over 100 songs for their forthcoming album, In May 2015, Little Mix released a song called "Black Magic". Little Mix also co-wrote Britney Spears' single "Pretty Girls", which was released also in May 2015.
On 15 July 2015, following a leak of the album's cover art, the group officially announced on Twitter that their third studio album would be titled Get Weird, and would be available for pre-order in the UK from the following day, with a global release date set for 6 November 2015.
Personal Life
Jed Elliot
Jade is in a relationship with The Struts bassist Jed Elliott. They got to know each other through Jesy's fiancé Jake Roche, whose band Rixton is friends with Jed. After being friends for some time Jade and Jed started dating in early 2016.
Sam Craske
Jade is the ex-girlfriend of the 21 year old dancer Sam Craske. Sam is a member of Diversity, a dance troup, that won Britan's Got Talent in 2009. They broke up in the end of June 2014 because of their busy schedules. Jade's bandmate Jesy Nelson broke up with her boyfriend Jordan Banjo, a bandmate of Sam, around the same time.
Quotes
| “ |
As the Black Eyed Peas once said to me, I gotta feeling tonight’s gonna be a good night |
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—Jade Thirlwall | ||
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At school I was the swot who had rubbers [erasers] thrown at her in class until I stood up in assembly and sang. There was this cheering and suddenly I began to be cool. |
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—Jade Thirlwall | ||
| “ |
My security people are always checking up on us to make sure we’re eating healthy, so when they’re watching I eat bananas and satsumas and vegetables, but when they’re not looking, I eat chocolate. And biscuits! |
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—Jade Thirlwall | ||
| “ |
“Sisters before misters is a good rule. You never, ever dis one of us for a boy! |
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—Jade | ||
| “ |
We watch Matilda together. We reenacted a scene on YouTube, the bit in the school hall with the cake!” |
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—Jade | ||
| “ |
I always have bows in my hair, that’s my little thing. The thing about bows is that they can be quite boyish, like a bow tie. A typical outfit for me is baggy jeans and a little crop top, and a big bow! |
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—Jade | ||