LEIGH-ANNE is digging deep into her own pockets to boost her solo career.
Her net worth rocketed to £20million during her time in Little Mix.
But now she is self-funding her entire debut album campaign, after I revealed last year that she had split with label Warner Records over creative differences.
Leigh-Anne, who is now an independent artist, will put out her record, My Ego Told Me To, next month, but admitted it has not been an easy journey.
She explained: “What I would say is hard about it is now I’m my own bank.
“I don’t have a label throwing money at me and I want to do everything.
“I want to do a video for every single song, but this is coming out of my budget and my bank.
“I’ve got to make that stretch and I’m literally funding everything.
“It’s a lot.
“I don’t want to ever compromise on my artistry.”
On US radio station Hot 97, she went on to talk about how tough it has been raising twin daughters in the UK while her husband Andre Gray has been playing football in Turkey.
She said: “My husband lives abroad, so I feel for them because they don’t really have real consistency.
“They don’t know when he’s coming or going.
“He’s in Turkey and we live in the UK.”
Asked if she had considered relocating to Turkey, she added: “We did, for sure, but I need to be in the UK for my career, so that wasn’t going to happen.
“But the light is coming.
“We’ve done it for three years, that’s a long time to do long distance with babies.
“We’ve done it for them.
“But the mum guilt is something I’m still working out.”
RELEASE BY CALVIN & KASABIAN
CALVIN HARRIS and Kasabian are teaming up for a left-field collaboration I certainly wasn’t expecting.
They have worked together on a song called Release The Pressure, which will be out on February 6.
But putting two fingers up to streaming services such as Spotify, Calvin and the band led by Serge Pizzorno have revealed it is only being released on red 12in or marble 7in vinyl, or CD. A
An interesting tactic, and I’m always up for a quirky release strategy.
MARY J: MY UMBRELLA RIRI PASS
MARY J. BLIGE turned down Rihanna’s megahit Umbrella, which catapulted the singer to worldwide fame and spent ten weeks at No1.
Mary explained: “All I heard was, ‘Eh, eh’ and I was like ‘Yo, my fans is gonna bug out on me if they hear me talking about eh, eh, eh’.
“Then when I heard Rihanna do it, I was like ‘See, it was for Rihanna. It wasn’t for me’.
“I’m not afraid to pass on something that’s not for me.”
Good on her.
Dolly too hot to candle
DOLLY PARTON celebrated her 80th birthday by being serenaded with bagpipes – courtesy of U2.
She marked the milestone on Monday and shared photos of herself with a butterfly-shaped cake and flaming candles while holding a fire extinguisher.
Later, Dolly posted a video of a piper playing Happy Birthday and revealed he had been sent her way by Bono and the Irish group.
Piper Pat Darcy even said he “presented her with a pint of Guinness”.
Dolly wrote on Instagram: “Now that’s what you call a surprise!
“This old bag sure feels the love!
“Thank you, Bono and @u2 for making my birthday extra special.”
Hilary’s Dream return
HILARY DUFF pulled out all the stops to make sure her return to the stage was spectacular.
The Disney-actress-turned-pop star opted for multiple outfit changes at the opening night of her Small Rooms, Big Nerves tour at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush in West London.
Hilary gave a nod to the Nineties with a double-denim look, and closed the show in a nude bodysuit with a quirky silver sash, singing an encore of her viral Lizzie McGuire classic What Dreams Are Made Of.
It was the first time Hilary had been on stage in a decade – and almost 20 years since she last performed in the UK.
Fighting back tears, she told the crowd: “I think about you all, and me and our lives, all the chapters we have lived.
“We have fallen in love and lost people and found people and made people.
“Now 20 years have gone by and it’s not lost on me that we are all in this room again together.
“It’s just insane.”
Our Jack was there reliving his teenage years and said it was one of the best concerts of his life.
Hilary will release her sixth album, Luck . . . Or Something next month.
It is her first since 2015’s Breathe In. Breathe Out.
Something tells me she will be back in the not-so-distant future.
NEW HARRY TRACK IS HERE ON FRIDAY
THE countdown is officially on for the first taste of Harry Styles’ fourth studio album – with less than 48 hours to go until you can hear his new song.
He announced last night that the lead single is called Aperture, and will be out at midnight on Friday.
It will appear on his record Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, for which he unveiled the artwork and title last week.
The latest news was accompanied by a picture of the smiling singer with his hands aloft, right.
This is his first release since 2022’s Harry’s House, which was a global phenomenon and came out during a mammoth stadium tour that won him millions more fans.
The new album will be out on March 6 and another tour is in the pipeline, which I’m sure will be announced in the coming weeks.
Time to crack open my piggy bank, I think.
