Journey The That Trancends Musical Soul

One thing about singer-songwriter Jess Glynne is that her vocals are undeniable, and her music has been able to transcend genres, which is sometimes hard to do. She’s worked with electronic bands like Clean Bandit, hip-hop artists like Macklemore, and R&B singer PARTYNEXTDOOR. This versatility has helped her tremendously and is largely the reason why she has so many Number One hits (she holds the record as the only female solo singer with the most Number One singles on the British charts). However, surprisingly, she shares that she doesn’t “really think about it too much,” adding that she doesn’t write songs to be Number One, but instead, she focuses on writing great music that she loves. On another note, Glynne can’t really listen to too many other artists, either, while focusing on her own music. But she has enjoyed Eminem’s new records and Kanye West’s music. She also likes to listen to H.E.R., an R&B newcomer who also boasts powerhouse vocals. As for general inspirations, she enjoys other neo-soul artists like Musiq Soulchild and Erykah Badu. While she’s been very busy for over three years traveling the world performing all over Europe and in other countries, her to-do list includes this goal: crossing over to the U.S. (Glynne checked Coachella off her bucket list in 2015.)

Regardless, the 29-year-old artist has been making waves in the U.K. for some time now. Back in 2014, she was featured on “Rather Be,” a poppy-electronic tune that gains some depth with her soulful voice (the song won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording). It’s no surprise that Glynne credits Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston as some of her biggest inspirations. She realized she had a voice at age “7-ish,” which is pretty young for anyone to realize the impact of their voice, but she knew her skills would lead her on the right path.