Jessie Ware has opened up about the insecurities that came with having her first child, revealing how she turned to hypnotherapy after a negative review from The Guardian. The London singer, who is touring her third album Glasshouse with her one-year-old daughter, admitted to feeling anxious on stage and struggling with impostor syndrome.
“I think I’ve not been able to enjoy myself onstage because I’m a control freak, anxious and thinking about 6,000 things at once,” she said. Her fears prompted her to seek hypnotherapy, after a Guardian review described her recent London concert as “caught between candour and blandness”. She confessed the review “rang a bit too true”.
Ware, who co-wrote the song Sam with Ed Sheeran, said having a baby has made her “fiercely ambitious”. She was determined to prove “to all the males in music, that make you think having a baby is a weakness, that I can do it”. However, she broke down in tears backstage in Paris, feeling the pressure of balancing career and parenthood.
The singer also discussed her relationship with her father, former Panorama journalist John Ware, who left when she was nine. She said the song Sam isn’t really about him, but about her on the cusp of motherhood. Ware studied journalism herself, which she believes was a way of trying to be close to him despite their issues.
Ware’s career began as a hobby, providing backing vocals for friend Jack Peñate before collaborating with SBTRKT. She reflected on her journey, saying she wanted to prove she could succeed after having a child.
