Jessie J and the cost of popular success
IF you want to be famous, pop star Jessie J will put you off. She says it’s exhausting, boring and frustrating. She earned €5 million last year, but she can’t walk down the street without being accosted. Her throwaway comments risk being distorted. The scrutiny, the gossip never ends. “I was unknown when I made my first album, that was the big difference,” says the ‘Do It Like A Dude’ singer and The Voice judge. “I could go out and nobody would recognise me. It was very normal. I’m still normal. It’s just that people are interested in what I am doing.”
Jessie J became a household face quickly. In December, 2010, she released ‘Do It Like A Dude’, her debut single. She wrote it with Rihanna in mind, but Jessie J’s record label insisted she record it herself. It reached number two in the UK. Six weeks later, her second single, ‘Price Tag’, topped the British charts (as it did in Ireland). Suddenly, she was famous in Britain. Bat there was a downside.
