Leigh-Anne at Reading 2025: “I’m doing everything myself. It has to be this way”

Leigh-Anne has opened up to NME about how she is entering a “new era” as an independent artist. Check out the full interview below, or watch it in the video above.

The former Little Mix turned solo star caught up with us backstage at the 2025 edition of Reading this weekend, shortly after performing an ecclectic set over at the Chevron Stage. The slot marked the final of her festival slots lined-up for this year, and saw her end the run with a bang – breaking out her latest singles, ‘Burning Up’ and ‘Been A Minute’, along with renditions of Little Mix’s fan-favourites ‘Touch’, ‘Sweet Melody’ and ‘Power’.

“I’m still buzzing,” she told us of her set. “It was amazing, and the crowd were incredible. It’s always going to be one of those things where you don’t know what to expect, and you don’t know if [the crowd] is going to fill up… but it was just completely full and there was a mosh pit happening too. It was crazy.”

Check out the full interview with Leigh-Anne below, where she also discussed how she is looking to put her “Leigh-Anne stamp” on the pop scene by blending influences from R&B and jungle, when fans can expect her new album, and if her new direction could impact Little Mix’s sound when they return from their hiatus.

NME: Hi Leigh-Anne, congratulations on completing your run of 2025 festivals! What was it like to be out there performing as a solo artist compared to in a group?

Leigh-Anne: “It’s different being in a group in general compared to being solo, but performing is in my blood. I love it, and I’m the happiest when I’m on stage. I feel like my dancers are kind of acting as my Little Mix sisters this time around – I’ve still got a pack on stage and I feel supported.”

You’ve recently released two new singles ‘Burning Up’ and ‘Been A Minute’. Is this the start of a new era?

“It is 100 per cent the start of a new era. I had to take a bit of time to step back – and I’m newly independent now as well – so I was going through that process. I needed to find my tribe. People say ‘Have a tribe around you that sees your vision, otherwise how can you really get to where you wanna go?’ I finally get that, and I’m trusting myself and leading everything myself. I feel great.”

We’ve seen you grow as an artist from your beginnings in Little Mix. How has your sound evolved over that time?

“At the beginning of my solo career, I felt like I knew what I wanted, but there was too much noise around it. There was too much politics, like ‘It has to sound a bit more like this’, and I couldn’t have the real creative control to do what I wanted. So I think it’s evolved by literally just taking the reins myself and saying, ‘No, I’m doing it my way’ and taking the jump to go independent.

“Now I can finally say that it’s everything that I want it to be. There’s so much to come as well.”

Is there anything that you’ve taken from your time starting out in the girl group that you’re still implementing now, or is it two separate worlds for you?

“I definitely feel like I learned everything in Little Mix, so everything I do now [stems] from that. Probably, the fact that I always want to put on a show. In Little Mix, we turned it out every time. I’ve still got that in me – always wanting to give everything I can to have the best show possible. That’s the main thing, the performance level and striving to be even better.”

You’ve said that this isn’t the end for the group, it’s just a hiatus. Do you think all of your respective solo projects and individual sounds could shape the way that we see Little Mix when it makes a comeback?

“I’ve been thinking about this, because we have all gone off and done our own things, found our own sounds, and we are in completely different lanes — which is amazing. I have been wondering though, when we eventually come back, what will that sound like? That’s going to be an exciting thing… but at the same time, Little Mix is Little Mix, and part of that is wanting to deliver what people love. I have to wait and see.”

It could be like a new evolution of the group…

“To be honest, it probably has to be that. I think we’re going to have to surprise people.”

How’s work on the new solo album coming along?

“It’s nearly done! It’s so, so close, and I’m already so happy that I can actually say that! It’s everything that I wanted it to be. It’s the mix of the sounds that I love, paired with my Leigh-Anne pop stamp.

“That’s something that I’ve always wanted; to find the balance of Leigh-Anne, the Pop Star, but also the musical genres that I love. Whether it be reggae or R&B — it’s about merging that and putting my stamp on it.”

You also spoke on stage about how advice that your parents shared with you helped shape you and your outlook. Has that extended to their taste in music influencing your own sound in any way?

“Without a doubt! All the stuff that I listened to growing up, and having two older sisters as well, shaped it. One of them is into R&B, and the other one is into jungle, but then my mum listened to Alanis Morissette — like it was all very eclectic. I’ve taken all of that, [along with] what I love now, and mixed all of that up and it’s my album.”

Does it feel like a new sense of freedom being independent?

“Oh 100 per cent. I almost feel like I probably should have started off my solo career like this, but then I would never have known…

“I’ve been with a major label my whole career, so I wouldn’t have known any different. It is different though, and it’s also daunting. You don’t have that massive system pumping in money into what you’re doing. I’m doing everything myself. It is very different, but it’s right. It has to be this way.”

Check back at NME here for all the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more Reading & Leeds 2025.

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