Pop singer Jessie J took to Instagram August 1 to share a bit of her musical theatre origins. The “Bang Bang” Grammy nominee posted a video of her singing “On My Own” from Les Misérables, without rehearsing first, saying “I just sat down and pressed play and record and sang this for the first in over 20 years.”
The London-born performer indeed got her start in musical theatre. She attended Colin's Performing Arts School and was cast in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Whistle Down the Wind at 11 years old. She then joined the National Youth Music Theatre, and when she was 15, was named best pop singer on the TV show Britain's Brilliant Prodigies. In 2011, she won the Critic’s Choice at the BRIT Awards, and later Grammy-nomianted alongside Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj for “Bang Bang.”
In 2016, Jessie J sang the opening song “Grease Is the Word” for Fox’s live presentation of Grease.
Hear her sing Eponine’s ballad in the video below:
