Perrie Edwards: In front of 85,000 people, I thought, ‘Am I nuts?’

For Perrie Edwards, life after pop sensations Little Mix means experimenting and learning you can’t please everyone, writes Jonathon Moran.

Former Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards is hoping young son Axel keeps his love of travelling – that way she can come to Australia sooner rather than later.

“It is not easy but I think he’d love it,” Edwards told Insider.

“I struck lucky with this one because one, he loves singing, and two, he loves being on the aeroplane and travelling and going somewhere new. It’s worked out perfectly for me. He loves it.”

Edwards gave birth to son Axel in August 2021 and this year returns to music as a solo artist.

She spoke to Insider via Zoom from her London home. She sits in what looks like a Big Brother-style chair in her loungeroom, her hair pulled back, light, natural-looking makeup and wearing a white halter-neck top as it is summer in the UK.

Whenever Edwards does get here, it will be her first visit as a solo artist.

British singer Perrie Edwards.

She and Little Mix went their separate ways in 2022 after more than a decade together.

Advocating female empowerment and body positivity, they were likened to the Spice Girls of their generation.

The pop quartet of Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall and Jesy Nelson sold millions of albums globally and had hits from Wings to Shout Out To My Ex, Black Magic, Hair and Woman Like Me.

Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson and Jade Thirlwall of British girl group Little Mix in Sydney in 2019. Picture: Justin Lloyd

It was a whirlwind 10 years of shows, flights, studios and hotels.

“Pure jet lag and delirium keeping us going really,” she said.

“But we do love it … you lot have good craic as well, you have really good banter. It was a lot of fun.”

Little Mix last toured here in December 2019 to support their fifth studio album, LM5.

Australia was one of the first big markets to support the group outside of the UK, where they rose to fame on then juggernaut reality singing show, The X Factor.

One Direction came through the pop ranks around the same time and were also formed as part of the show.

“Honestly, I love Australia. I love it,” she said, adding that solo shows make her feel a combination of sick and excited.

Edwards has so far released two solo singles – Forget About Us and Tears.

She recently performed her solo music at the Summertime Ball in the UK. Sabrina Carpenter, Benson Boone, David Guetta, Meghan Trainor and Shaboozey were also on the all-star line-up.

“I was nervous but I got through it. For me to debut as a solo artist at Wembley Stadium in front of 85,000 people, I thought, ‘Am I nuts?’,” she said.

“I was panicking, I was seriously terrified. Backstage, I was nervous and anxious but then I stepped out on the stage, it was what I love, it was what I feel like I was born to do.

“Now that is out of the way, I’m just excited now because it makes me so happy.”

Perrie Edwards is not taking her success, and fans, for granted. Picture: Alex Kibble

Edwards would be taking her success, and fans, for granted if she didn’t get nervous.

“I think if I didn’t get nervous, then I wouldn’t care,” she explained.

“ And then if I didn’t care, then it wouldn’t be good so I think because I’m so passionate and I’m so eager to do well, and I want to sound good when I’m singing, and I want to look good when I’m dancing, I don’t want to mess anything up.

“I’ve put so much pressure on myself, but it’s because I care so much … which is healthy-ish, I think.”

Speaking to Edwards and having known her since the early days of Little Mix, there is a sense of freedom to her. She is unencumbered, very relaxed.

You can see it too in the video clips for Forget About Us, in which she sports little to no makeup, showing off her natural freckles.

This is likely a combination of many factors – motherhood has changed her perspective and she is having fun exploring life as a singer by herself.

“I think it is quite freeing. Coming from the band, there’s two ways to look at things,” she said.

“I’m so blessed to have the platform that I had with the girls because we had 12 years of success. We did so well. We broke records. We had the best time and it’s almost like going out as a solo artist and already having that platform with fans and people who know you is incredible because I feel very grateful for that.

“But with that comes expectation and with expectation comes, ‘Oh shit, am I, am I letting people down? Is it what they expected of me? Am I doing what they wanted to hear from me because they already know me?’

“It is a tricky situation to be in, but I just kind of went into it thinking, you can’t please everyone because I am a people pleaser. And when I feel like people are not happy with what I’m doing, or they’re not impressed, it eats away at me and it really affects me.

“But I think I keep looking at the success we have in the band. And I’m like, Perrie, you did that and you earned that and you worked so hard for that.

“Now you can enjoy and have fun and do things that make you feel happy. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, try something else. This is the fun stage. I’m experimenting, I’m finding who I am as a solo artist. So I’ve just tried to not put too much pressure on myself.”

Perrie Edwards is yet to release a date but a solo album will most likely arrive later this year.

Edwards, who is engaged to English professional footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, continued: “I just know I love to sing. It is literally in my DNA. It’s what I do every single second of every single day. If I’m not singing, I’m humming, and if I am not humming, I am doing something in my head, it is constant. That’s why I just feel lucky enough to be able to do this because I love it so much.”

Edwards is yet to release a date but a solo album will most likely arrive later this year.

There is a track called Goodbye My Friend dedicated to her former bandmates. They are yet to hear it though.

“It is kind of like a little love song to them,” she said.

“I am waiting for the right moment because I know what they are like, they are going to cry, so I want to see them in person.”

More broadly of the album, she said: “It is very honest. It’s very real. I’ve written about things that really matter to me, that I’m going through … my anxiety, friendships that I’ve lost that I don’t have anymore, heartbreak, where I am at now in my life, how loved up I am, how incredible Alex makes me feel, I’ve written about Axel, I’ve literally written about so much and I just hope that they (people) can relate to it in some way.”

Perrie Edwards’ Tears is available to stream now