‘I’ve achieved all that I ever wanted to achieve’: Rebecca Ferguson, 35, reveals she is RETIRING from music and will instead focus on ‘nurturing emerging artists’
- The singer, 35, took to Twitter and confirmed she plans on retiring from performing and will instead dedicate her career to help nurture young artists
- She wrote on Twitter: ‘I look forward to concluding my career with my next album a follow on from this album (Heaven pt 2)’
- ‘I am grateful for the career I have had in music, I’ve achieved all that I ever wanted to achieve in music I’m now excited for my next chapter’
- The hitmaker recently joined crowds demanding support for a Bill that ensures artists are ‘fairly paid’ for streams of their music
- Rebecca recently told how she was warned that she could be murdered after telling police she was sexually harassed by a senior figure in the music industry
- She has also demanded a parliamentary inquiry into the music industry and called for greater regulation to protect artists
- The singer found fame as a contestant on The X Factor in 2010 where she finished as runner-up to winner Matt Cardle
Rebecca Ferguson has announced she is retiring from music and her upcoming album, due out next year, will be her last.
The singer, 35, took to Twitter and confirmed she plans on retiring from performing and will instead dedicate her career to help nurture young artists.
According to the Daily Star, she said: ‘My final album will drop next year and will be a combination of songs I have written over the past 10 years.
Career: Rebecca Ferguson has announced she is retiring from music and her upcoming album, due out next year, will be her last
‘After my retirement, I will dedicate my time and energy into helping and nurturing emerging artists and fighting for better treatment.
On Twitter, she wrote: ’10 years today I released my first album Heaven… A young woman telling her story through songs, this album took me around the world and changed my life! I am grateful to all of the people involved! We created a classic album that is still listened to today.
‘I look forward to concluding my career with my next album a follow on from this album (Heaven pt 2)’.
‘I am grateful for the career I have had in music, I’ve achieved all that I ever wanted to achieve in music I’m now excited for my next chapter.’
Rebecca also said that the unfair streaming revenue for artists is damaging the industry and contributed to her decision to leave.
Change: The singer, 35, took to Twitter and confirmed she plans on retiring from performing and will instead dedicate her career to help nurture young artists (pictured on The X Factor in 2010)
She said: ‘Nobody is more important than the creator, without the creators of music there are no independent or major labels! If songwriters are struggling to pay their rent the industry will naturally fail or evolve into something else as the current model is not sustainable.’
The singer found fame as a contestant on The X Factor in 2010 where she finished as runner-up to winner Matt Cardle.
It comes after Rebecca lent her support to a protest in Parliament Square late last month.
She joined crowds demanding support for a Bill that ensures artists are ‘fairly paid’ for streams of their music.
The singer was joined by Sex Pistols founding bassist Glen Matlock and 30 MPs outside Westminster as they highlighted the importance of the Bill, which was presented in parliament on December 3.
Rebecca wrote: ‘I am grateful for the career I have had in music, I’ve achieved all that I ever wanted to achieve in music I’m now excited for my next chapter’
The Bill is backed by the Musicians’ Union and The Ivors Academy for songwriters and composers, and sponsored by Labour MP Kevin Brennan.
It would introduce a right to equitable remuneration for streaming income – where performers have a right to receive a share without reference to their label contracts.
The Bill’s central aim, according to its supporters, is to ‘ensure performers and composers are properly remunerated, by placing the treatment of revenue gained from music streaming services on to a common footing with the treatment of revenue gained from other sources’.
However, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the UK independent and major record labels association, said the Bill ‘completely misunderstands today’s music business’ and would bind the sector in ‘red tape’.
Officially titled the Copyright (Rights And Remuneration Of Musicians) Private Member’s Bill, it comes amid increased awareness of streaming royalties due to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry in the economics of streaming.
The committee’s report previously warned that ‘pitiful returns’ from the current system are impacting the ‘entire creative ecosystem’ and ministers subsequently referred the case of the market dominance of major record labels to the Competition and Markets Authority.
Activism: Rebecca lent her support to a protest in Parliament Square in London last month to ensure artists were ‘fairly paid’ for streams of their music through a new Bill presented in parliament on December 3
Rebecca recently told how she was warned that she could be murdered after telling police she was sexually harassed by a senior figure in the music industry.
The star said it was recently suggested to her by a friend in the industry that she should fear for her life after speaking out earlier this year.
She told The Mail On Sunday: ‘Someone close to someone very important in the industry contacted me and said, “I’ve been worried about you – I thought they were going to kill you”‘.
‘She then asked me if I have people protecting me. She told me that she honestly thought I was going to be killed. I obviously haven’t taken it very well and have reported it to the police.
‘Others have approached me and warned me that I need to be careful for my life because I’m standing up to the awful behaviours that have happened – and still happen – in the music industry,’ she added.
‘This is the second time I’ve been told I was in danger. The police offered to greet me off a flight from Paris because they were so worried about me.’
Singer Rebecca previously she was warned that she could be murdered after telling police she was sexually harassed by a senior figure in the music industry (pictured in 2019)
The Mail On Sunday revealed in May that Rebecca had reported the alleged abuse to the Met Police, sparking speculation that the music industry was facing a wider MeToo scandal.
Rebecca, whose meetings with the then Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden in May resulted in the creative industries agreeing to the need for a regulatory body to ensure better safety, claims she was targeted while working to build her career after coming runner-up on the X Factor in 2010.
Rebecca previously revealed she suffered a miscarriage earlier in her music career, additionally claiming she was ‘forced to work through’ the ordeal, despite ‘pleading to them’ to let her recover.
She wrote on Twitter: ‘You will see more in my documentary… but these people forced me to work through a miscarriage despite me pleading to them that I was too ill to work and needed to rest!
‘They need to be stopped! Exploitation at its absolute worst! modern-day slavery!
Speaking out: Rebecca previously revealed she suffered a miscarriage earlier in her music career, additionally claiming she was ‘forced to work through’ the ordeal, despite ‘pleading to them’ to let her recover
She added: ‘I am all grown up now what you ‘All’ did to that young innocent girl is unforgivable!’
‘For those who say you knew what you were getting into! I almost died promoting music for you all to listen to! I lost a baby whilst promoting music for you all to listen to! Nope definitely did not! ever! In a million years sign up for that! Stop defending abusers!’ [sic]
Rebecca added: ‘Forcing Artists to sign to a management company who they have never met! Is exploitation, giving an artist an accountant and solicitor that is not of their own choosing is exploitation!
‘Taking artists out of ‘circulation’ and refusing to allow them to work because you have had your financial use of them is exploitation! It is modern-day slavery! FACT!
‘I don’t care who your friends are in high places who quite clearly refuse to call you out for your actions in case they are financially disconnected! Get new friends! I am here to tell you you are wrong and what you have done is abuse and exploitation!
‘And the same friends who have given you bad advice and who are currently stroking your ego! Will flee and run a million miles away when my documentary comes out exposing the truth. however, as you taught me through your own ruthlessness that’s showbiz!!
Having her say:Rebecca has called for greater regulation to protect artists from ‘bullying’ agents and managers (pictured in October 2021)
‘And for all of you saying they will bury your story and ruin you because money is power! No, my dears power is power! Truth and receipts and evidence and emails and medical records and police records is POWER!
‘I am all grown up now what you ‘All’ did to that young innocent girl is unforgivable! However, that young girl is now a woman and this woman is going to make sure that you ‘ALL’ never abuse another artist ever again!’ [sic]
Rebecca has also recently demanded a parliamentary inquiry into the music industry and called for greater regulation to protect artists from ‘bullying’ agents and managers.
In April, Rebecca threw her support behind fellow X Factor contestant Katie Waissel after the singer claimed she had been sexually assaulted by a member of the show’s team.
Katie, 35, who also appeared on the programme in 2010 with Rebecca, alleged the incident happened in the US when she met the person to talk about recording work, years after appearing on the show.
Support: Rebecca threw her support behind fellow X Factor star Katie Waissel after the singer claimed she had been sexually assaulted by a member of the show’s team [pictured on the show with Katie [far right] alongside Cher Lloyd [far left] and the girls’ mentor Cheryl]
Rebecca voiced her support for Katie. Addressing her co-star on Twitter, Rebecca wrote: ‘@katiewaissel24 I stand with you and every woman who has the courage to speak out and tell their truth.’
Rebecca also posted a series of quotes that offered information on rape culture and sexual violence.
One of which was a quote from Angelina Jolie, which read: ‘We must send a message across the world that there is no disgrace in being a survivor of sexual violence. The shame is on the aggressor.’
During the interview, Katie claimed she was sexually assaulted by somebody on the X Factor team years after she competed in the talent contest.
Waiving her right to anonymity, Katie said: ‘I can still smell him. I was paralysed with shock. All I could think was, ‘How am I going to leave this room?’
‘I was a victim but I wouldn’t allow myself to recognise just how terrible it had been.’
Claims: Katie, 35, who appeared on the The X Factor in 2010, alleged the incident happened in the US when she met the person to talk about recording work, years after appearing on the show
The publication also claimed the alleged assault happened at a luxury hotel and Katie detailed why she’s not talked about it before.
She said: ‘I’ve never spoken before as I thought I’d be blacklisted and never work again.’
Katie added that she decided not to make a formal complaint at the time as she was pregnant, but that she feels being ‘focused on success’ after the X Factor made her ‘vulnerable’.
The singer said if she could change the past, she would never have appeared on the singing contest in 2010.
A spokesperson for Syco Entertainment said: ‘We were made aware via the media of Katie’s claims in Autumn 2017 and we immediately contacted her and began an investigation.
‘I was a victim’: During the new interview, Katie claimed she was sexually assaulted by somebody on the X Factor team years after she competed in the talent contest [pictured in 2016]
‘We were naturally shocked at the allegations and wanted to do anything we could to help – so we asked her to lodge a complaint with us and detail the allegations for that purpose. In the interim we suspended the accused.
‘Despite a number of requests to Katie asking her to detail the claims to us, she chose not to make a complaint over his behaviour. As a result, and without other evidence to the contrary, we were obliged to accept his denial of the claims.
‘We, of course, remain ready and keen to investigate her claims if she so chooses to detail them to us and even though the alleged perpetrator no longer works for either Syco or Sony Music.’
Other former contestants including Chico Simone and Jedward have also been critical of the programme.
Speaking out: Rebecca has demanded a parliamentary inquiry into the music industry
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