13 facts to make you fall in love with Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall ✨
Her debut solo single is out NOW!
Fans of Jade Thirlwall have been beside themselves waiting for the former Little Mix singer's solo music. Finally Jade's debut track 'Angel Of My Dream's was released in July 2024, and in the midst of teasing a solo album for a 2025, she's even gifted us with ANOTHER track - 'Midnight Cowboy', with a third on the way called 'Fantasy'.
After Jade, Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock went on hiatus in 2022, we've seen releases from both of her bandmates - and now that it's Jade's turn, she certainly hasn't disappointed. We've gathered together 13 interesting facts about the superstar that will make you fall in love with her - or even MORE in love with her if you were already a fan!
1) She's from South Shields
Jade is a Geordie lass just like her fellow Little Mix-er Perrie. The girls are both from South Shields, and despite only living a few miles from each other, never met until they came face to face at The X Factor! Jade is one-quarter Yemeni and one-quarter Egyptian through her mum Norma Badwi.
2) She loves going back to her hometown
Little Mix often travelled the world, spending time away from their loved ones for months. So whenever Jade gets an opportunity to go back to her hometown, the 'Black Magic' singer spends quality time with her friends and family, often posting photos of her night out on social media.
Jade has even frequented the charity sea dip in South Shields, for charity, braving the cold North Sea alongside hundreds of other fundraisers.
3) She is officially a solo artist
That's right, the wait is finally over! Following her former Little Mix bandmates, Jade has now released her own solo material! After months of teasing from the studio, the singer revealed at the beginning of July 2024 that she'd be releasing 'Angel Of My Dreams' on 19th July.
Jade also dropped the sensational music video the same day, portraying her "love/hate relationship with the music industry" - and fans of the star flooded her YouTube premiere comments with messages of support and love! We can't wait to hear more solo music from Jade.
Not only that, but on 25th September, just two months after her debut single's drop, Jade released another track, as a 'gift' to fans to tie us all over until her next single drops. The track is called 'Midnight Cowboy', and features a vocal cameo from none other than Doctor Who and Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa! Find out all about it right here.
4) She has a super cute relationship with her mum Norma
Jade is incredibly close to her mum Norma Badwi, often sharing photos on social media with her and attending Little Mix gigs together - Norma even enjoys the odd night out with Jade!
5) She sang 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' by The Beatles at her X Factor audition
Jade actually auditioned for The X Factor three times - first in 2008 and again in 2010 before trying out a third time in 2011 and going through to Boot Camp.
6) Jade was put into a group with Leigh-Anne
She was originally put into a group called Orion with Leigh-Anne, and when they failed to go through, they were introduced to another failed band called Faux Pas with Jesy and Perrie in... And the rest is history! The first time they performed together was in the Judges' Houses round where they performed a beautiful version of 'Big Girls Don't Cry' by Fergie.
7) Jade is a songwriter too
Although all the girls in Little Mix are credited as songwriters on their albums, Leigh-Anne and Jade have a special gift for writing, and signed to Sony's TwentySeven publishers as songwriters in April 2019!
8) She's best friends with her bandmates
Ok, we know this one is a given, but their special bond is always worth mentioning. After striking up an amazing friendship after meeting on The X Factor, the trio are always giving us serious friendship goals.
Whether it's having each others backs against their haters, posing for hilarious photos together, or supporting each other on stage, the Little Mix bond is unbreakable! The girls even got matching tattoos following the start of their hiatus in 2022.
9) She throws the most epic party for her birthday EVERY year!
Jade has started quite the tradition of hosting a themed birthday party just before Christmas in recent years. To celebrate her 25th birthday, Jade held a drag queen-themed party, inviting some of the world's most famous drag queens to help celebrate alongside her Little Mix army.
For her 26th birthday, Jade hosted an 'Icon' party, dressing up as her idol Diana Ross, whilst Leigh-Anne turned up as none other than Rihanna.
And Jade's 30th was no different - with Jade hosting an 'iconic red carpet looks' party. It's fair to say that Jade took our breath away as she rocked a recreation of Lil' Kim's famous purple jumpsuit look, from the 1999 MTV VMAs.
THEN in 2023, she transformed herself into the Jade Bratz Doll - looking eerily like the actual doll!
...And let's not forget her Halloween 2023 costume as none other than Mr. Bean!
10) She's humble despite her fame
In June 2019, Jade was over the moon as she actually got to meet her idol, Diana Ross! Taking to Instagram, she posted a photo of the memorable moment for her fans to see and telling them she 'couldn't believe it'!
She went on to explain how she had surprised her mum by flying them out to Las Vegas to see Diana Ross, creating 'a mother/daughter memory I will cherish forever'. Cute!
11) She does a lot for charity
All of the Little Mix girls do their bit for charity, but every Boxing Day, on her birthday, Jade returns to her hometown of South Shields to take part in the infamous 'Boxing Day dip' in the North Sea for the charity Cancer Connections.
As she documented on her Instagram page, the 2018 dip was extra important to Jade, with her writing: 'Running into the North Sea as is birthday tradition to raise money for Cancer Connections.
'Especially close to ours hearts this year, as our Nana Pam passed away last month and Cancer Connections were incredible to us and to my beautiful Nana ♥️ I couldn’t be more proud to be patron to such a wonderful charity who help so many in so many ways.' (sic)
Not only that, but after weeks of training, a bunch of well-known celebs including Jade and Leigh-Anne reached the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of Comic Relief in March 2019.
Sharing some super sweet snaps of her and her bestie, Jade wrote on Instagram: 'Don’t think I felt this cuddle I had that many layers on and was frozen to the bone 😂 but we did it! We climbed Kilimanjaro!'
12) She's an LGBTQ+ ally
Jade is also a well-known ally of the LGBTQ+ community, and collected an award at the LGBT Awards 2019 on behalf of Little Mix for Change Makers. Whilst collecting the award, Jade made a speech, saying: "I just want to say, it’s really not hard to be an ally. Anyone in this room, just educate yourself, support the LGBT community, especially when you see things that aren’t right.
"Don’t be that person in the playground who watches somebody get kicked down and you just stand there going, 'Oh, it’s not my business'. It is your business and change will happen quicker with allyship."
13) She's not afraid to take the mick out of herself
Jade also never takes herself too seriously, and often posts hilarious photos of herself on Instagram. To celebrate Little Mix's single 'Holiday' in July 2020, Jade shared a series of holiday throwback photos that were equal parts hilarious and adorable!
Just one scroll down Jade's Instagram feed will show you just how funny she is! After Little Mix released their incredible single and video for 'Bounce Back', Jade shared a video of herself being hit in the face with a beach ball - leaving fans in hysterics.
Scroll through to see Little Mix's biggest collaborations through the years:
Little Mix and Missy Elliot - 'How Ya Doin'?
One year after being catapulted to fame on The X Factor, the Little Mix girls teamed up with American rapper Missy Elliott on the massive hit 'How Ya Doin'? in 2012.
Little Mix and Sean Paul - 'Hair'
He's worked with some of the biggest artists on the planet, so Little Mix couldn't wait to work with Sean Paul on their 2015 track 'Hair'.
Little Mix and Jason Derulo - 'Secret Love Song'
The girls also teamed up with the one and only Jason Derulo in 2015, dropping 'Secret Love Song'. It's since become the band's anthem for the LGBT community.
Little Mix and Charlie Puth - 'Oops'
Jade, Perrie, Leigh-Anne and Jesy worked with singer-songwriter Charlie Puth in 2016, releasing the amazing 'Oops'.
Little Mix and CNCO - 'Reggaetón Lento (Remix)'
In 2017, all three of the singles they released were collaborations! Little Mix and Latin American boy band CNCO worked together to release the super-catchy 'Reggaetón Lento (Remix)'. The track has since been a massive favourite with fans.
Little Mix and Stormzy - 'Power'
It was one of the biggest collabs of the year when Little Mix teamed up with Stormzy for their hit 'Power' in 2017. He later joined them on stage in London on one of their 'LM5 - The Tour' dates.
Little Mix and Machine Gun Kelly - 'No More Sad Songs'
'No More Sad Songs' has been a constant feature on Little Mix's set lists since the girls teamed up with Machine Gun Kelly in 2017.
Little Mix and Sharaya J - 'Strip'
Featuring on their 'LM5' album, 'Strip' was Little Mix's amazing female empowerment track with American rapper Sharaya J.
Little Mix and Cheat Codes - 'Only You'
Little Mix worked with American electronic music DJ trio consisting of KEVI, Trevor Dahl, and Matthew Russell in the Summer of 2018, dropping 'Only You'.
Little Mix and Nicki Minaj - 'Woman Like Me'
The girls enlisted the help from the one and only Nicki Minaj in 2018, releasing the amazing single 'Woman Like Me'. The collab, co-written by Nicki, Ed Sheeran, Jess Glynne and producer Steve Mac, reached Number 2 in the UK charts.
Little Mix and Ty Dolla $ign - 'Think About Us'
Little Mix teamed up with Ty Dolla $ign to release their first single of 2019! The girls dropped 'Think About Us' in February.
Little Mix and Nathan Dawe - 'No Time For Tears'
Little Mix worked with DJ Nathan Dawe on 'No Time For Tears', released on Friday 27th November 2020 - just a few weeks after releasing their sixth album 'Confetti'!
Little Mix and Saweetie - 'Confetti'
Little Mix's first single as a trio was a collaboration with Saweetie - 'Confetti' dropped on 30th April with an absolutely banging music video which featured the girls in dual roles as themselves AND male alter egos: Lenny, Pez and J-Dog. It also starred Bimini Bon Boulash, Tayce and A'Whora from RuPaul's Drag Race!
Little Mix, David Guetta and Galantis - 'Heartbreak Anthem'
Just one month after dropping 'Confetti', Little Mix teamed up with superstar DJs David Guetta AND Galantis on their massive single 'Heartbreak Anthem'.
Little Mix and Anne-Marie - 'Kiss My (Uh-Oh)'
After teasing it way back in 2020, July 2021 saw the release of Little Mix's hugely anticipated collab with the one and only Anne-Marie.
Featuring on Anne-Marie's second album 'Therapy', 'Kiss My (Uh Oh)' samples Lumidee's early 00's R&B classic 'Never Leave You'.
And the gals didn't stop there, releasing a 'Girl Power' remix of the track on 26th August 2021, featuring other huge names Becky Hill, Raye and Stefflon Don.
You can hear Little Mix's biggest hits on Downtown Radio.
Read more:
Little Mix: Get to know the nation's biggest girl band
17 of Little Mix's most successful songs 🎵 💕
Little Mix's biggest collaborations so far 🙌