Jess Glynne has revealed she was “deeply unhappy” in music and questioned returning after receiving death threats during a backlash.
The singer, who has new music after a five-year hiatus, says she was “really burnt out” and hospitalised with exhaustion after her 2019 world tour.
Her grandmother’s and friend’s death also left her “scared to go back into the studio”, she told the Telegraph.
In 2021 Glynne was accused of transphobia after using a slur.
“It felt like the world caved in on me,” said the chart-topper, who responded to the backlash after appearing on comedian Mo Gilligan’s podcast by deleting her social media accounts.
“People can be so aggressive. They hear one thing and all just jump on this bandwagon, and… it feels like the world is over.”
Glynne said: “The way I said it wasn’t even an attack, it was actually me celebrating a community that I’m a part of, and that I love.
“And instead of that community being supportive and saying, ‘Oh, by the way, Jess, you know what, that word is actually really uncomfortable’, there were death threats and all these awful things.”
The Rather Be singer, who apologised at the time over the remarks – which she called “unacceptable” – told the Telegraph the incident made her wary of expressing herself in public “for a year or two”.
Reflecting on her period away from music, she said: “I fell in and out of love with music. I was deeply unhappy.”
Glynne, who has seven UK number ones to her name, signed to a new record label, Jay Z’s Roc Nation, in 2022 after spending years being told “I’m not allowed to do this, I have to wear this and go there, I have to be that, I can’t say this and I can’t do that”.
The London-born star, also touched on her relationship with presenter and former England footballer Alex Scott, saying: “Over the years, I’ve never hidden who I am. I’m a very open person. I believe that love is love.
“And I’ve never hidden the fact that I’ve been in relationships with men, and I’ve been in relationships with women. That’s a massive side of my life.”
It comes as Glynne prepares to release her first single in five years, titled Enough. The star said she was one song away from finishing her third album.
She added: “I want the album to tell a story about vulnerability and power, being brave, showing all sides to who I am. I want it to be unapologetic.”
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