Jade Thirlwall of British pop girl group Little Mix keeps the LGBTQ community close to her heart.
The Little Mix member made an appearance at Manchester Pride on August 26, marching with Stonewall, a British LGBTQ+ charity. “It was really emotional actually. I feel like as someone in the public eye and as an artist it’s our duty to raise awareness,” she told the Manchester Evening News of her time at Pride.
She also revealed that Little Mix’s fifth album, set for release this November, is dedicated to their LGBTQ+ fans. “We have a lot of LGBTQ+ fans,” she said. “it’s really important for us to encourage them to be who they are and to celebrate that through our music.”
Not only is Jade proud of the new album from an advocacy standpoint, but also an artistic one. “This is definitely my favorite album, you can tell it’s come from us,” she said. “I’m really excited for this album.”
Little Mix has represented the community with their music before. The music video for their collaboration with Cheat Codes, “Only You,” tells a same-sex love story. Their song with Jason Derulo, 2015’s “Secret Love Song,” was written with the community in mind, as was confirmed by Jade herself on Twitter.
@mmm_gash I’m so happy you’ve said this ??❤️ this is how I picture it and how we saw the music video in our heads xxjadexx
— Little Mix (@LittleMix) November 5, 2015
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Other pop artists have been using their star power to acknowledge their LGBT fans, as well. Billboard named Ariana Grande’s 2018 single “No Tears Left to Cry” and Sia’s “The Greatest” among their list of 25 New LGBTQ Anthems, both for the advocacy of the artists and the rainbow symbolism in the cover art and music video, respectively.
This tribute is just one more reason (girl power jams aside) to get excited for some new Little Mix jams!