The Untold Truth Of Jessie Ware
Jessie Ware is one of those pop stars that is always full of surprises. After releasing her first album "Devotion" in 2012, she wowed critics with her mix of soul and pop. However, as she told Pitchfork, "It's so unattainable to be a singer. I'd watch 'Top of the Pops' and think I could never do that." Of course, Ware proved everyone, including herself, wrong; she went on to release "Tough Love" in 2014 and "Glasshouse" in 2017. She also played at Glastonbury, collaborated with the likes of Nicki Minaj and Ed Sheeran, and picked up a few nominations for the Brit Awards.
With her 2020 album "What's Your Pleasure?," Ware solidified her place as one of her generation's most exciting, unpredictable pop stars. As Pitchfork wrote, "Ware sounds bolder, looser — and frankly, more fun — than she has in a newer-decade," while Rolling Stone commented that the album was "melancholic luxury, like heavy drops of mascara-stained tears." With a popular podcast, a food memoir out on bookstore shelves, and growing family, Ware is proving she has both versatility and staying power. Curious to find out more about the singer? Here is the untold truth of Jessie Ware.
Jessie Ware is married to her high school sweetheart
Unlike some pop stars, Jessie Ware appears to have an uncomplicated, well-balanced love life. As the star told Under The Radar, she first met her husband, Sam Burrows, in primary school; they crossed paths again "at a drum and bass rave." "Neither of us was interested in each other, as we were too busy watching Andy C," she recalled. According to The Guardian, they were 17 years old at the time.
Burrows became a personal trainer, but he doesn't do much working out with Ware. As he told You, "I try not to [train her. She is very stubborn and I demand an element of respect from my clients that I'm not going to get from Jessie." It's probably good they keep the personal and professional parts of their lives separate.
Ware and Burrows seem to have a pretty adorable relationship to this day. For each of Ware's albums, Burrows has given an honest, laid-back, and hilarious review of his favorite tracks. They are seriously adorable!
Jessie Ware got her big break on tour with high school friend Jack Penate
Jessie Ware was 27 years old when her first album was released, which is undeniably a little bit older than most burgeoning pop stars (via Pitchfork). It turns out, she got her late start after working as a backing singer for her friend, Jack Penate. As Ware said on an episode of her podcast Table Manners, "The reason I'm a singer is because Jack asked me to be a backing singer for him and then subsequently I became a singer up from being his backing singer — I moved from the back." Ware went on to explain that the pair had been good friends in high school, with Penate and his mother coming over to Ware's house every Friday night for dinner and later, they toured together. How cute is that!
Ware also spoke about how influential Penate was for her career in an interview with the Evening Standard. "I think Jack definitely had the balls to go and do it, to leave uni and go and do it. He was really inspirational for all of us," she gushed. It sounds like without the help of her friend, Ware may have had a very different career trajectory.
Jessie Ware has a famous podcast with her mom
While Jessie Ware is certainly best-known for her music, her other claim to fame is her podcast, "Table Manners." "Table Manners" is a food-themed podcast that features Jessie and her mother, Lennie Ware, as the hosts of an array of famous guests who chat about their food memories over a home cooked meal. The podcast has been a huge hit largely thanks to the dynamic between Jessie and Lennie. "Each episode feels like eavesdropping at a family dinner party," the BBC wrote. "Jessie and Lennie bicker and tease and resurrect embarrassing memories, but their affection for each other always shines through." As of 2020, the podcast has had over 80 million downloads.
As Jessie tells it, she's a natural podcast host thanks to her trustworthy personality. "People always confide in me very quickly," she explained. "And I'm always quite up for it: I just kind of put my claws into other people and suck the life out of them." It sounds like Jessie has found the perfect side gig to complement her music career.
Jessie Ware doesn't care about fame
In spite of her successful career, Jessie Ware is surprisingly down-to-earth. In fact, as she explained to the Independent, fame is not something she cares much about. Back in 2017, when Ware released "Glasshouse," she felt the pressures of being a celebrity. She was, as she put it, "hyper aware of being 30 and still needing to be on Radio 1. I overcompensated by working too hard and trying to be 'the woman that could tour with the child, but also do promo.'"
Apparently, Ware's management team had been extremely ambitious on her behalf. "This isn't to make me sound like I'm a puppet," she continued, "or that I resent the people that have had such high ambitions for me. But I lead a pretty normal, quite ordinary life. And so this grand [image] was never going to suit me." These days, it seems Ware has accepted that fame is never really going to be her thing.
Jessie Ware has a famous sister, Hannah Ware
Jessie Ware has become a hugely respected pop star — but she's not the only famous Ware out there. Her sister, Hannah Ware, is a well-known actress who got her start on shows like "Boss," "Betrayal," and "The First." She also played Donna in the 2013 Spike Lee film "Oldboy." Hannah's most recent role was in the Netflix series "The One" as Rebecca Webb, a ruthless app developer (via IMDb).
Based on the episode of "Table Manners" that featured Hannah, it seems that the two women still have a pretty close relationship, even though Hannah lives in Los Angeles and Jessie lives in London. Of course, like most sisters, they've also had their conflicts. "Hannah and I are very different," Jessie revealed. "She's always been quite fearless." They added that Hannah had often lived on her own, while Jessie still has to sleep with a nightlight. Plus, Hannah revealed there was a time when she had bashed her sister's head against the bathtub when she got annoyed. "I knocked her second teeth out," she admitted. "I still feel really guilty." Sounds like these sisters have a pretty typical sibling relationship.
Growing up, Jessie Ware was obsessed with these teen heartthrobs
Like most young girls in the early 2000s, Jessie Ware had her fair share of celebrity crushes. As the singer revealed to Under The Radar, she filled her teenage room with posters of her favorite singers and celebrities. "I was obsessed with Leonardo DiCaprio and used to have posters of him on my ceiling, as I'd run out of space on my walls," she confessed. Wow, talk about a crush!
Ware also revealed that she had a Lauryn Hill poster, as well as "plenty of Robbie Williams and [former Manchester United football player] Ryan Giggs." Another crush of Ware's was for NSYNC star Justin Timberlake; as she told On Demand Entertainment at the 2013 Brit Awards, "If J. T.'s here I will die, I love him ... I'm going to run over to him and Frank Ocean, that's who I'm going to run after." It seems that when it comes to stars of the early aughts, Ware is just as big a fangirl as the rest of us!
As a teen, Jessie Ware was in musicals
Even though Jessie Ware has always loved singing, it turns out she didn't always have her sights set on becoming a pop star. As she told Under The Radar, her first love was musical theater — in fact, she's still obsessed! "I really want to be in a musical," she confessed. "When I was in school I was in 'Guys and Dolls' and 'Anything Goes' and I still have this niggling desire to break into song with a choreographed dance at any opportunity."
Ware spoke about her musical theater background in an interview with You, explaining that it was actually how she started singing in the first place. Her music teacher, Mr. MacMillan, had written a musical about outer space; Ware had sung a song called "Way Up Here" in the show, and Mr. MacMillan had the idea to record it. "All the sweet parents, including Sam's, obligingly bought copies, bless them," Ware recalled. We just hope Ware has a chance to try musical theater again one day.
Jessie Ware got political with this track
One of Jessie Ware's most popular tracks from her album "What's Your Pleasure?" was the final song, "Remember Where You Are." The singer released a music video that featured her lookalike, actress Gemma Arterton. As Ware told the BBC, she wrote the song when former President Donald Trump visited London. "Apparently Melania was down the road at the Salvation Army," Ware explained, "and it just felt like really intrusive and aggressive."
Ware composed the track in response to the growing political divide in both the U.S. and the U.K. As Ware revealed, she was inspired by the 1970s musical "Hair" to create a song about love and unity. "There's that sense of togetherness with it, She told OfficialCharts. "For it now to be coming out during a pandemic ... we can see that light at the end of the tunnel, it feels quite poignant to be bringing it out now."
When she was young, Jessie Ware's parents got divorced
Despite Jessie Ware's bubbly, happy personality, she didn't always have an easy time while growing up. As she explained to You, her parents divorced when she was a child. "I was aware that they were going to break up when I was young," she recalled. "They didn't get on well, to be honest."
Although Jessie is still in touch with her father, it was her mother, Lennie Ware, who raised her and her siblings. "I don't know who she did it with three of us," Jessie continued. "She always did a brilliant cooked dinner and she worked full time." It's clear that Jessie's mother has become a massive inspiration for her. She even mentioned her in the song "Sam," with the line, "I hope I'm as brave as my mother."
As for her father, Jessie explained on the podcast "How to Fail," "I didn't speak to my father for years. I felt incredibly loyal to my mother, I felt like I took on the role of being like the dad in the house." While the divorce can't have been easy, Jessie and her family have certainly learned a few lessons from the experience.
Jessie Ware used to be a backing singer for this pop star
We've already mentioned that Jessie Ware got her start as the backing singer of Jack Penate, but that's not the only star she's supported. As she explained to You, Ware also sang backup on Ed Sheeran's album "Divide." While he was collaborating with the pop star, she was also writing her own music. Apparently, Sheeran even helped Ware write her personal lyrics in the song "Sam."
After working together, Sheeran and Ware became good friends; he even appeared on her podcast "Table Manners." As she told The Times, "Ed had four lots of sausages" when he came over for dinner. And, after Pitchfork gave Sheeran a poor review, she told them bluntly in an interview, "That was f***ing rude. That was really mean ... it was bullyish." She went on, "I think he's an incredible songwriter and he's also incredibly generous and really helped me." Wow, Ware is a seriously loyal friend — and it's obvious that she loves Sheeran as both a friend and a musician.
In 2021, Jessie Ware published a food memoir
Jessie Ware has already mastered music and podcasting. Then in 2021, she added published author to her accomplishments. As she explained to Esquire, her book "Omelette" combines food writing with memoir. In other words, it's a journey through her life as seen through the lens of food, kind of like what she manages to glean from her podcast guests.
For fans of Ware, the book is an amazing insight into her childhood and her obsession with clubbing as a teen. "Being given space to find yourself and also realizing what defines you and shapes you and bonds you with people, that's what I find clubbing was really important for me," she recalled.
As Ware wrote for the book's blurb, "Collected here are things I've done, things I've seen, things I've thought, and most importantly, things I've tasted. They're slices of parts of my life. Call them omelettes, if you like. I hope you enjoy them." Sounds like Ware has mastered the art of the memoir now, too!
Jessie Ware has some strange food tastes
Jessie Ware has made a name for herself as a foodie thanks to her podcast "Table Manners" and her 2021 food-focused memoir "Omelette." However, Ware doesn't always have what would be called normal tastes when it comes to recipes. As she told The Herald in 2021, she is a big fan of UHT (or ultra-high-temperature processed) milk. "I just love the sweetness of it," she gushed. "I could probably drink a whole vat of condensed milk if I were allowed." Wow, it's safe to say that that is a pretty unusual drink to enjoy!
Ware also revealed that she hates sweetbreads. "I didn't want to eat them, but they were on this menu, and it was this really exciting restaurant, and I wasn't going to be that person who was like, 'No thank you,'" she explained. She ate them in the end, but said that that was probably the last time. Well, Ware certainly has her own palette — at least she's willing to try just about anything.
In 2018, Jessie Ware almost quit the music industry after Coachella
Even though Jessie Ware has become a critically-acclaimed singer, she didn't always think that she was on the right path. In fact, as she told The Guardian in 2020, she came very close to quitting the music biz altogether after her 2017 album "Glasshouse." Her dip in confidence came at Coachella in 2018. "I clashed [set times] with Cardi B, a phenomenon that year, who was playing on another stage," Ware recalled. Then when she started to play, she had technical issues, plus her songs didn't exactly appeal to the crowd. "You know how the audience at Coachella is, uh, pretty young? I'm up there, 33 years old, singing about motherhood," she continued. "It was just ... tumbleweed." Yikes, that certainly doesn't sound like an encouraging experience.
After the set, Ware's mother simply told her, "Darling. Quit." And apparently, Ware really did consider leaving it all behind. However, as Ware told Esquire, she gave her career one more shot. "I was definitely very prepared to quit," she shared. "I think I needed to try one more time to see whether it was going to work or not." Luckily, Ware's next album "What's Your Pleasure?" was her most successful to date (via Billboard).
Jessie Ware has a growing family, which was an adjustment at first
In addition to Jessie Ware's impressive and varied career, she's also got a pretty busy personal life. She and her husband, Sam Burrows, have two children, a daughter and a son. In 2021, Ware announced that she was expecting a third child on The Graham Norton Show (via Good to Know).
For Ware, motherhood forced her to reassess her goals and her expectations. "I had this very idealistic idea of how I was going to be able to be the best mother and I was also gonna make the best record of my life," she confessed to The Cut. Of course, things were a little different and she had to readjust to "the balance of being kind of a mum and a singer." She added, "I spoke to other mothers and they were like, 'Yeah, welcome to motherhood. It's like guilt and gin.' That's what I've learned about motherhood." We can relate!