Jess Glynne refused to give one of her songs to Rihanna.
In 2022, the 34-year-old singer/songwriter met with Jay Brown – co-founder and vice chairman of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation empire – in Los Angeles and he expressed interest in her ballad ‘Promise Me’ for Rihanna.
However, Jess refused and eventually ended up firing her team and signing with Roc Nation for management.
She told You Magazine: “I said, ‘No, you’re not sending it to Rihanna.’ I mean, it was the biggest compliment, but I was, ‘It’s my song, and I’m an artist, too.’
“I left that meeting and thought, ‘Who’s to say I can’t fire my team?'”
That meeting, along with the death of a friend in London, left Jess determined to seize the day and move on with a new team.
She said: “Choose what makes you happy. Be true to yourself. Life is precious. That’s when I knew: I had to let go of my team. My friend was very spiritual – she would have understood what I needed. I thought, ‘Do this, Jess, and make your friend proud.’
“I feel very proud of myself. I’m like, ‘You did all of that on your own. You took all those meetings. You flew yourself out there.’ I want other women and young girls to be empowered by the decisions they make.”
Jess revealed she has met both Jay-Z and Beyoncé, calling them “very humble human beings, sweet, charming” and is thrilled with her team at new label EMI, calling them “amazing women”.
She added: “Come on Jess, let’s ‘ave it!” We all wanna win, together.”