Rebecca Ferguson has announced her retirement from the music business.
The 35-year-old singer – who rose to fame as the runner-up on ‘The X Factor’ in 2010 – has campaigned against alleged bullying and exploitation of artists in the industry, and she has now confirmed her upcoming album ‘Heaven Part 2’ will be her “final” release.
She’s quoted by the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired column as saying: “My final album will drop next year and will be a combination of songs I have written over the past 10 years.
“After my retirement, I will dedicate my time and energy into helping and nurturing emerging artists and fighting for better treatment.”
Meanwhile, she has hit out at unfair streaming revenue for artists, and insisted the “current model is not sustainable”.
She added: “They create ‘art’ as it’s who they are – we should not exploit that fact!
“Nobody is more important than the creator, without the creators of music there are no independent or major labels!
“If songwriters are struggling to pay their rent the industry will naturally fail or evolve into something else as the current model is not sustainable.”
Her comments come after she revealed the news on Twitter this week, and revealed her fifth studio album will serve as a follow-up to 2011 debut ‘Heaven’.
She tweeted: “10 years today I released my first album Heaven…
“A young woman telling her story through songs, this album took me around the world and changed my life!
“I am grateful to all of the people involved! We created a classic album that is still listened to today.
“I look forward to concluding my career with my next album a follow on from this album (Heaven pt 2)
“I am grateful for the career I have had in music, I’ve achieved all that I ever wanted to achieve in music I’m now excited for my next chapter.”