Rita Ora feels “really humbled” to be “so supported” by her fans and the music industry “to be myself”.
The ‘Anywhere’ hitmaker has reflected on her debut studio album ‘ORA’ turning a decade, and admitted she is very fortunate to be in a position to be doing what she loves every day.
The ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ star also admitted it’s still surreal to her that she got to perform at the Vatican in Rome and for former President of the United States Barack Obama at a Christmas concert as she looked back on the past 10 years.
Speaking to The Official Charts Company to mark the milestone, she said: “I honestly never anticipated what the next 10 years would bring. I never could have imagined performing at the Vatican to celebrate Mother Teresa’s canonisation, for Barack Obama, or even at the Oscars.
“I’m really humbled to be able to do what I love every day and feel so supported by my fans and creative community to be myself.”
And she wouldn’t change a thing about the recording of her chart-topping LP.
She said: “I wouldn’t give my younger self any advice because I wouldn’t want to have had it any other way. I think everything is exactly how it’s meant to be!”
The 31-year-old star – who recently got married to New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi – is proud that she got to work with producers and writers from Britain and across the globe to create a record that “felt right for me”.
She said: “My fondest memory was having so many talented people in one space working on it with me.
“I was able to bring British producers and writers together with ones from all over the world to create something that felt right for me. It was a very exciting and special experience to record it with people that I got to know so well during the process; they became like family. They were a huge part of the making of the album, and it just wouldn’t have been the same without them.”
Those involved in the production of the album were will.i.am, The-Dream, The Runners, The Monarch, Stargate, Chase and Status, Greg Kurstin, Jules De Martino and Diplo.
Rita shot to fame in 2012, when she featured on DJ Fresh’s drum and bass chart-topper ‘Hot Right Now’.
She released her second album ‘Phoenix’ in 2018, and has a third album on the way.