British singer’s bittersweet week
Rita Ora on deadly London fire, paying for her tour and Boy Band
Boy Band Thursday, ABC
For British singer Rita Ora, the past week was both emotional and exciting.
Ora is one of the 50 artists singing Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water, a charity music single to help the victims of the fire at Grenfell Tower in London that killed at least 79 people earlier this month.
The song was released a day before Ora’s new show, Boy Band, premièred and she dropped the video for her new single, Your Song, co-written by Ed Sheeran.
The 26-year-old, who grew up near Grenfell Tower, said she cried while recording her vocals for the song.
“It’s an amazing thing that we’re doing,” Ora said. “It’s a very touchy subject for me because that’s my neighbourhood ... I played in that block and my friends who grew up in that block who still lived in that block that we still can’t find. It’s a tragedy. It was hard for me to even sing it.”
The song is produced by Simon Cowell and includes vocals by Robbie Williams, Jessie J and Liam Payne.
Ora’s week got busier with the video release of Your Song, her debut single on Atlantic Records (a full album, her first in U.S., is planned for the fall). Her 2012 debut album, Ora, was a success internationally but it wasn’t released in the U.S. Despite that, she toured U.S. cities but had to pay for it herself.
“My team at the time thought it wasn’t a good idea and it would be a waste of time. I thought differently because my online presence grew really dramatically ... And so the team … they’re like, ‘Well we’re not helping you, we can’t do it. We’re not going to put money into it.’ I said, ‘Well fine! I’ll put my own money into it.’ And so I did,” said Ora, who was previously signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation and Columbia Records.
“And I phoned up Iggy (Azalea). … She came on the road. It was so, like, small tour bus. I think we, at one point, shared one microphone. … And you know what? Every single show was sold out.”
Ora said she will tour properly when her album — expected to feature 2 Chainz, Charli XCX, production duo Stargate and hit songwriter Julia Michaels — is released in November.
In between music, the fashionforward entertainer has been flexing her hosting chops. After hosting America’s Next Top Model last year, she will host the new show Boy Band, which airs Thursday nights on ABC. The show also features mega-producer Timbaland, Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls’ Emma Bunton.
“I think hosting is one of the funnest things I’ve done so far. I love talking and you really kind of communicate with the viewers at home, which is my fave,” said Ora, who has also appeared on the U.K. versions of The Voice and The X Factor.
“(Boy Band is) a good gig ’cause I don’t have to be the one to deliver the bad news.”