#solo-career

#solo-career

Born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, Rebecca Lucy Taylor, 39, was in the duo Slow Club. After 10 years, she went solo as Self Esteem and received Mercury prize, NME and Brit nominations for her second album, 2021's Prioritise Pleasure. This year, she won the Ivor Novello Visionary award and released a book and album, both called A Complicated Woman. In March, she stars in David Hare's Teeth 'n' Smiles at the Duke of York's theatre, London. She lives in London with her partner.

"For the majority of being in Sublime, our recording schedule was so busy," he says. "I knew that in order to do a solo career, it takes everything from you if you want to do it right, so that was not on the mind."

Dinah Jane reflects on her journey from a young contestant on The X Factor to a successful solo artist, merging her Tongan heritage with her music.

I think the last straw was when Michael brought his pet llama into the studio. I think Freddie sort of took umbrage to that.

By the time she got to closers 'Like Jennie' (an exercise in self-branding so comprehensive it becomes almost avant garde) and the ravey 'Starlight,' which could have held its own,