Jessie Ware

Jessie Ware fuses pop with R&B through exceptional poise and refinement. Early guest spots and independent releases during the first half of the 2010s placed the singer/songwriter among British soul and experimental pop figures that stretch from Sade Adu, Lisa Stansfield, and Caron Wheeler across to Tracey Thorn and Róisín Murphy. The promise she first showed on tracks alongside SBTRKT, Sampha, and Joker reached complete realization on Devotion (2012), the Top Ten U.K. Mercury Prize-nominated debut that established her fully. Before the decade closed she delivered two further distinctive albums, Tough Love (2014) and Glasshouse (2017), both succeeding through an emphasis on smoldering ballads rather than supple grooves. She followed those projects with What's Your Pleasure? (2020) and That! Feels Good! (2023), collections filled with floor-fillers grounded in classic disco. Throughout this period Ware continued working frequently as a songwriter and featured vocalist for artists including Bobby Womack, Nicki Minaj, and Kylie Minogue.

Born Jessica Lois Ware and raised in London, she completed a degree in English literature at the University of Sussex. Her professional music path started with supporting vocal work that initially remained part-time while she pursued journalism. Momentum built through contributions to Man Like Me and Jack Peñate, followed by her lead performance on RackNRuin's "Soundclash," where her voice proved strong enough to cut through an urgent breakbeat production. Late 2010 brought the SBTRKT collaboration "Nervous." The next year proved even busier, opening with the sighing duet "Valentine" alongside vocalist/producer Sampha. She then appeared twice on SBTRKT's self-titled album, notably on the garage/broken beat track "Sanctuary" that also featured Sampha. "The Vision," the title song from dubstep producer Joker's 4AD debut, offered her strongest platform to date. After signing with PMR she ended the year with the solo single "Strangest Feeling," produced by the Invisible's Dave Okumu.

Okumu and Julio Bashmore joined Ware for her first 2012 release, the plush sophisti-pop single "Running," her initial U.K. pop-chart entry and the precursor to Devotion that August. The album entered at number five in the U.K., earned a short-listing for the 2012 Mercury Prize, and secured her first two BRIT Awards nominations for British Breakthrough Act and British Female Solo Artist. Following extensive touring and recording she issued the 2014 singles "Tough Love" and the Ed Sheeran-assisted "Say You Love Me," both reaching the Top 40. Tough Love arrived that October with co-writing and production involving a broad team that included Okumu, James Ford, Benny Blanco, Miguel, Nineteen85, Jimmy Napes, and Emile Haynie; the set peaked at number nine. Over the next few years she co-wrote and guested on Nicki Minaj's "The Crying Game," then demonstrated further range with a cover of "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" on We Love Disney and a contribution to the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack. Her third album, Glasshouse, appeared in October 2017. The number seven U.K. hit extended her partnerships with Okumu and Blanco while incorporating Pop Wansel, Ryan Tedder, and Cashmere Cat.

As the 2010s concluded, Ware's additional credits as featured artist and co-writer encompassed recordings with Bobby Womack on "Love Is Gonna Lift You Up," Disclosure on "Confess to Me," Mayer Hawthorne on "Her Favorite Song," HAIM on "Days Gone By," and Ed Sheeran on "New Man." She also advanced her fourth album through the dancefloor-oriented singles "Overtime," "Adore You," and "Mirage (Don't Stop)," the first and last of which preserved her collaboration with James Ford. That momentum shaped most of What's Your Pleasure?, a number three U.K. hit released in June 2020. An expanded edition of the BRIT-nominated album followed in 2021. That same year she appeared on Kylie Minogue's Ford-produced single "Kiss of Life," and in 2022 she previewed her fifth album with "Free Yourself," a track made with contemporary disco specialist Stuart Price. Issued the next April, That! Feels Good! maintained the celebratory tone with Ford and Price sharing production duties. Like its predecessor the album reached number three in the U.K., after which Ware released the 2024 Romy collaboration "Lift Me Up."