Jamie Miller has long been a household name in Cardiff, but now he’s found fame elsewhere after making it big and chasing his dreams in the United States.
After appearing on The Voice in 2017 and reaching the final, the Pontprennau-born singer worked with Paloma Faith and Jennifer Hudson.
But Jamie wasn’t always in the limelight, he initially pursued his passion in secret as he felt it was labeled an ‘uncool’ thing to do.
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“Coming from Cardiff there’s not a huge opportunity to do music and stuff,” Jamie said.
“So at school I was a little afraid of that. But in elementary school I always wanted to be the main character in all the plays. Then when I went to high school, it wasn’t just wasn’t the coolest thing to do.
“In Cardiff there’s a completely different mentality. I wasn’t the smartest kid in school so I didn’t have an amazing job to fall back on. I ended up working at a center calls for two years and then I went to The Voice and the rest of her story really.”
Placing 3rd in the reality singing competition and mentored by the iconic Jennifer Hudson, Jamie was quickly signed to Atlantic Records after being noticed by CEO Craig Kallman.
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day,” Jamie recalled.
“I feel like that was one of the times I was like, ‘wow, dreams can come true’. I was just stunned.
“For me, it was never like I just wanted to quit a TV show and be famous. It was more that I wanted to quit a TV show and keep trying to achieve my ambitions. I just [wanted] to be a singer. And I hope that resonated.”
Growing up in Cardiff, Jamie always had the support of friends and family. Turning to them for financial support as he pursued his dreams. The young singer is now floating among music industry icons, receiving support and compliments from Sam Smith, P!nk and Kelly Clarkson.
“Being from such a small place like Cardiff, you’re almost in the mindset of ‘do I deserve to be here? ‘” Jamie added.
“Even when I run into these celebrities and they give me a compliment, I’m like ‘do you realize I’m from Pontprennau?’
“The songwriters I work with are amazing and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting people like Sam Smith, Kelly Clarkson and P!nk who have been huge supporters of my work from the start. It’s just been a crazy race, it was mental.”
Navigating the music industry is notoriously difficult. With thousands of people trying to make a name for themselves, it’s important to take whatever help you can get along the way. And for Jamie, help came with some great advice from the one and only Jenifer Hudson.
“[She] gave me the best advice anyone ever gave me. She said to me: ‘no one will believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself’.
“And I know it sounds cliché, but I feel like in this industry you have to hear something like that. Because it’s so unforgiving and there are so many people who are going to tell you no .So sometimes you just have to fight for what you believe in.”
This year Jamie released a new single “I Lost Myself Loving You”, a moving ballad that exposes her experience of falling in love with a boy who was in a committed relationship. The first song in which the young singer addressed his bisexuality, after his public coming out in March 2021 via social networks.
“I actually fell in love with someone in 2020. And for the first time, it wasn’t a girl. And I was kind of shocked that someone could come into my life and do that.
“And I found out they were in a committed relationship. And I kind of got lost. As cliché as it sounds, they became my morning, afternoon, night routine. And I kept getting so wrapped up in doing this happy person that I lost sight of my own happiness.
“And I feel like for me, I don’t want the audience to fall in love with a version of me. It’s not real. I have to tell people about the backstory, because if I can help a person there, then I’m real.
“I’m not just a record label version of Jamie. I’m just Jamie. So yeah, I felt like that’s why this is the most important song to me to date. “
(Picture: handout)
Since coming out, Jamie has received support from the LGBT+ community around the world and has made it her mission to make the process easier for young people to come to terms with themselves.
“I’ve had so much support from everyone and especially the LGBT+ community, they’re amazing but this is all new to me,” Jamie added.
“I didn’t want to do all these interviews and take responsibility, it was more just that I wanted to do it to normalize. Hopefully there will be a day when people don’t have to go out anymore.
“I hope there will be a day when people don’t have to feel the need to be so pressured into telling their families they love boys and girls or they just love boys .”
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