Jessie J, VMAs: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Jessie J aka Jessica Elle Cornish was born in England, but is making quite a name for herself in America.

At the 2014 VMAs, she will be the ceremony’s opening act, singing her hit “Bang Bang.”

Here’s what you need to know about the rising star.

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1. She Known in the U.S. For Singing ‘Domino’

This 2008 anthem definitely solidified her recognition in the United States.

She dished to MTV about the chart topper:

People have heard ‘Domino’ and said ‘it’s nothing like you.’ But I’m like well the album’s really eclectic anyway, and I never go into the studio and say ‘I wanna do another song that’s like “Price Tag” or another song like “Do It Like A Dude”,’ I listened to a lot of Whitney and Prince… and we kinda just wanted to write a song that’s timeless, that’s fun and uplifting.

In 2012, Will Loomis filed a lawsuit against the singer, saying “Domino” was a copyright infringement of his song “Bright Red Chords”

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2. She Said Her Bisexuality Was a Phase

In 2011, she told The Independent, “Yes, I’ve dated girls and I’ve dated boys – get over it.”

She then told the Mirror, “For me, it was a phase. But I’m not saying bisexuality is a phase for everybody.”

The songstress continued, “I feel that if I continue my career not speaking on it, I almost feel more of a liar than if I didn’t. I just want to be honest, and it’s really not a big deal. Who cares?”

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3. She Left Britain for America

Born in Essex, England she attended the same school as Adele, Amy Winehouse, and Leona Lewis.

She told the Daily Mail:

Home is where the heart is and my heart is with my family so I’ll always be coming back here. But America, at present, is where the work is. I’ll just pack a big bag and fly a lot. In America they see me as a singer whereas here I feel that people don’t appreciate my voice.

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4. She Has a Heart Condition & Her Fans Are Called ‘Heartbeats’

As a child she began having heart problems, and she penned an article about it.

For the Daily Mail, she wrote:

For a lot of my childhood I was on beta-blockers (drugs which try to help your heart get into a proper rhythm). But the side effects meant I had low blood pressure. I remember collapsing a lot and having seizures. I was a sickly, skinny girl who had a slight green tinge to her skin because of the drugs and who was always in and out of hospital.

Her fans have taken her condition to a new level, and lovingly named themselves in honor of her heart.

In 2011, the singer told MTV:

They’re amazing, and they’re the only reason I’m here at the VMAs and people know who I am. They support me and buy my albums and singles, and they stand outside hotels, and they come to shows, and they get tattoos of my lyrics and they cut their hair like me. You have to love your fans. That’s why I call them my Heartbeats, because without them I wouldn’t be here.

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5. She’s Compared to Miley & Katy

In 2013, she shaved her head for the charity Comic Relief and started getting compared to Miley Cyrus.

She told Digital Spy:

You know what? I have to see it as naive and lazy comparisons. My face has been the same since I was born, but as soon as I had a bob, my music sounded like Katy Perry’s. Now I’ve got short blonde hair, my music all of a sudden sounds like Miley’s and Pink’s. It’s young people a lot of the time, because they’re very obsessed with one person.

Jessie has also been compared to pop queen Katy Perry. In fact, she even opened for Perry during her California Dreams tour.

Vulture even went so far with the comparison as to say:

“Domino,” which reportedly will be Jessie J’s next single, is straight Katy Perry magic: the plucky guitar riff, cheerful “let’s bone” lyrics, a soaring chorus, and plenty of room for Jessie to wail on the high notes. It’s so KP, actually, that we wonder why Perry didn’t include it on Teenage Dream; surely she had first dibs, and no one was begging for her thoughts on alien sex, anyway.

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