Anne-Marie has opened up about her struggle with anxiety and how it almost prompted her to quit her music career.
The 33-year-old Rockabye singer has been in the spotlight since she released her debut single in 2015 and has gone on to enjoy 11 top 20 hits and three top three albums.
But the star says being catapulted into the public consciousness took a toll on her confidence and she once considered hanging up her microphone for good.
Opening up to Metro.co.uk, the former The Voice judge said, “I’d always struggled a lot with anxiety and people looking at me which is kind of strange in this industry because people are going to look at your face, then lockdown happened.
“I think it was either gonna make me say, ‘You know what, I can’t handle this. I’m not gonna do it anymore’ or it was gonna make me realise that I need to do it. Luckily, it did the latter and spurred me on to keep doing it because music just makes me happy.”
Anne-Marie has been able to call on other music superstars for advice, including Ed Sheeran who she toured with in 2017.
She credits the Lego House singer for giving her a top tip, recalling, “I remember that he said to keep in contact with your parents because when you’re on the road, you can get lost in it. I always keep that in my mind.”