Jess Glynne speaks ahead of Birmingham gig

Within a year of reaching the top of the chart with that hit – and replicating the feat as guest vocalist on Route 94's My Love – Glynne was enjoying chart success in her own right.

Her debut solo single Right Here was a top ten hit, while she followed that with Hold My Hand and Don't Be So Hard On Yourself – then debuted at number one on the UK album charts with I Cry When I Laugh.

Since then, life has been a whirlwind and Glynne has even met the Queen.

"Yeah, I had to learn how to curtsey," she said. "Everyone I was with was like, 'Jess, just give her a hug. Just bump fists.' But you can't, can you?

"They did say when she goes to shake your hand, you don't grab it because she pulls it away. Anyway, she spoke first, and I was, like, 'hello, Your Majesty'.

Glynne has had to learn quickly how to deal with the pressures of fame. And there are frequently unexpected instances of fandom that require evasive action.

"I was chased by a load of kids the other day and I felt like I was One Direction. It's really sad," she said.

"The crazy thing is I'm still the same. For ages, people didn't know who I was. Then all of a sudden everyone knows who I am. But I haven't changed. My whole life has changed. At the same time, I love it.

"Even when I say I'm famous, I don't think I am. But I am. And I'm not really the same. It's weird, but amazing.

"I love it because it means I've obviously touched someone in some way, but there's another side. If I'm on my own and I get swamped, then I hate it."

Glynne is back on tour to promote her platinum-selling debut album and will headline Birmingham's Genting Arena tonight. She's thrilled that so many people have taken the record to their hearts.

"It's just really overwhelming. The tours in America, the tours here. I look at all the things I've done and it all feels like a massive blur. The past year, it's not normal."

Glynne decided to follow her own path – and is glad that she did. While many young pop hopefuls head along the X Factor route, she walked out of the show at 15 to make a go of things in her own way.

"I don't even look at it as part of my journey. My family said I should go on it. A lot of people were negative towards me musically, a lot of friends, even. Not intentionally, I don't hate anyone for it. My friends believed in me, but at the same time it was, like, 'okay, how are you gonna do that?' When you're working in retail for that long it gets to the point when the only thing you have is your own self-belief. The fight is still there."

Instead of reality stars, she looks up to authentically talented performers who broke the mould, like the late Amy Winehouse.

"I wanted to be her. When she came out I was like, 'she's basically me'. Part of me was really hacked off that she got there first, but I was obsessed with her.

"Those two albums, Frank and The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, were the first albums that hit me lyrically. How to write songs and write about life, and just love," she said as she gets ready for tonight's gig.

Jess' debut album focuses on heartache and break-ups and she has spoken about her sexuality to interviewers.

"You know, people love to talk about the fact I've been with a female. That comes up in every interview. And I don't want to talk about it again and again. It gets to the point I don't feel like I have to justify myself in a certain way anymore because there's nothing to justify. All of these things are aspects of being a woman.

"And I think a lot of women break easier, succumb to talking a lot, saying too much, because they feel they have to. I was in an interview once and the journalist was going on about I Cry When I Laugh being about a guy. I'm not a liar. It wasn't a guy.

"I didn't want him to print a story and my fans to read that. It didn't feel right to lie. I've been in relationships, the majority have been guys. I don't look at love as anything other than it is what it is. I don't know where that person is these days."

By Andy Richardson