That's Showbiz Baby! is the first solo studio album by the English singer Jade, released on 12 September 2025 by RCA Records. The album is primarily a pop record with elements of disco, electroclash, and synth-pop. For the album, Jade collaborated with several producers, including Cirkut, Lostboy, MNEK, Raye, and Mike Sabath, among others.
The album was supported by the release of seven singles, all of which reached the UK Singles Chart, including the top ten Platinum-certified "Angel of My Dreams", "Midnight Cowboy", "Fantasy", "It Girl", "FUFN (Fuck You for Now)", "Plastic Box", and "Unconditional". That's Showbiz Baby was met with widespread acclaim upon its release from critics, who highlighted Jade's musical journey from Little Mix to solo stardom, praising both its themes and overall production. She commenced on a concert tour in October 2025 to promote the album; it concluded in March 2026. A deluxe edition, subtitled The Encore, was released on 5 December 2025.
Commercially, That's Showbiz Baby! reached number three in the UK, where it earned the highest first-week sales for a debut album in 2025. Additionally, it charted within the top ten in Belgium (Flanders), Ireland, and Scotland, and the top twenty in Australia, Austria, Belgium (Wallonia), Poland, and the Netherlands. In February 2026, the album was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting equivalent sales of 60,000 copies in the country.
Background In 2008 and 2010, Jade auditioned for the fifth and seventh series of The X Factor. During the eighth series in 2011, she auditioned again; during the Bootcamp stage, Jade—who had been performing with a group named Orion—was placed into Little Mix which was formed by the judges. The group continued to progress through the competition and was named as winners during the finale on 11 December 2011. During their time as a group, they sold over 75 million records worldwide, earned six UK platinum-certified albums, and had five UK number one singles. In December 2021, the group announced that following the completion of the Confetti Tour in 2022, they would take a hiatus to pursue solo endeavours. In 2025, she revealed how she was the least enthused about the band's hiatus. "I did anything to avoid sitting with my thoughts. I was so in love with what we stood for and knew there'd be a gap when we left," she told The Fader. Speaking to Rolling Stone UK, Jade later expressed her doubts about being put in a girl group, telling the magazine that she did not see herself as the "conventional girl's girl. I was nerdy and quiet."
In March 2022, Sony Music UK announced Jade had signed with RCA Records for her solo career; she also signed with management company Full Stop for representation. Born Jade Thirlwall, she dropped Thirlwall in her pursuit of a solo career, revealing "[i]t was intentional. I was so used to saying, 'Hi, I'm Jade from Little Mix,' for so long that removing that off the end felt really important for me." She further cited the continued misspelling of her surname as another reason to go by a mononym.
Development and recording
London-based DJ Jodie Harsh revealed she was in the studio with Jade in July 2022, but was unsure if the material—described at the time as "kind of half-finished stuff"—would appear on the singer's solo album. The following month, Jax Jones revealed he had collaborated with Jade, stating, "We finished off the thing that we worked on. I think, for her, it's all about timing. When she's ready she's going to unleash." Sessions with Jones were first reported in December 2021, when it was believed their collaboration would launch Jade's solo career.
By 2023, Jade was reported to have been seen working with Lostboy and Tove Lo. Other contributors included Raye and Jade's long-term boyfriend, Jordan Stephens, the latter of whom she co-wrote a song with after she had a dream about him cheating. Speaking to Harper's Bazaar Australia, Jade revealed she had written "hundreds of songs" for the album. She further expressed to Rolling Stone UK that she had little pressure from her record label to release solo music, revealing that had she felt such pressures she "would've been anxious and have put so much pressure on myself to be as big as [Little Mix] was".
Discussing the album with Vogue, Jade remarked that it feels "a bit like a rebirth, which sounds quite cheesy. But I have found out so many things about myself in this process." She further detailed that she used the three-year process of creating the album as a way of breaking the habit of releasing an album yearly and then going on tour, as done with Little Mix, revealing her belief that it was programming to "crave relevancy". In the article, Jade also hinted at the release of a deluxe edition for the album. Self-identified as a student of pop music, she told Paste that she will "know if an audience just wants the normal [versional, sic] of a song. But in a space like Live Lounge, that's my opportunity to totally rework something and show people my artistry—show people that I'm not just going to do a standard cover or singalong. That's not what I do."
She described the process of creating That's Showbiz Baby as speed dating, revealing, "I think because it was the first record, I was doing a lot of speed dating with producers and writers, finding my people." She further addressed this with RTÉ, stating, "In my head, I was like, 'I've got to release something straight away, everyone's going to forget about me. I've got to ride the wave of Little Mix' – all that stuff that I've been programmed to think as a pop artist."
On 27 November 2025, Jade announced a deluxe edition, subtitled The Encore. It was released digitally on 5 December 2025. Physical editions followed on differing dates.
Composition
That's Showbiz Baby! is described as a pop music record, while several reviewers noted the influence of electroclash and synth-pop as well. Musically, the album is inspired by the sounds from Jade's childhood, with artists and bands including Cascada, Madonna, Diana Ross, Scooter, and the Spice Girls. "Angel of My Dreams" deals with the "double-edged sword" that is fame. It interpolates Sandie Shaw's "Puppet on a String"; the lyrics serve as a double entendre, referencing Simon Cowell and his companies Syco Music/Syco Entertainment. ("Selling my soul to a psycho"). Second track "It Girl" is an "anthem that similarly opens with an operatic lament" in a techno-inspired sound; like the predecessor, it features another reference to Cowell ("It's a no from me"), as well as contractual clauses within the music industry ("Clause in the contract, contract gone"). Musically, the song incorporates elements of pop, in addition to electronica, electroclash, and dance-pop. The next song is "FUFN (Fuck You for Now)", which details the messy results of a drunken fight, as well as the burnout of working hard in the entertainment industry.
Fourth track, "Plastic Box", was written about Stephens and what she described as her own "toxic energy" towards him in the beginning of their relationship; with its synth-pop production, the song echoes the "electropop solitude" recognised with the artist Robyn. With "Midnight Cowboy", it is an experimental pop and electronica production, featuring club influence, in which Jade references former British Vogue editor Edward Enninful, owning one's on sexuality, and the non-binary community. The song also incorporates a spoken-word introduction by Rwandan-Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa. Conceptually, "Fantasy" showcases Jade's love of disco music, while exploring funk, and drawing inspiration from Studio 54. Lyrically, the song speaks of exploring your own sexual desires alongside a partner one feels safe exploring them with, as well as other subjects, such as femininity and being sex-positive. Jade cited Donna Summer as vocal inspiration for the song. Official Charts' George Griffiths compared the song to that of Mariah Carey, Chic, Raye, and Nile Rogers, with its 70s funk and 80s post-disco sound. In a review for Dork, Abigail Firth noted resemblance to Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia (2020) and Jessie Ware's What's Your Pleasure? (2020), as well as the influence of SG Lewis, Lo, Kylie Minogue, Rogers, and Ross.
"Unconditional" explores the ambitions of the album itself, as well as her mother's battle with various illnesses, including lupus, with a "disco driven" sound, that is reminiscent of Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys, and Giorgio Moroder. "Self Saboteur", the eighth track and one of the first songs written for the album, was written around the concept of running away when love begins to feel scary in a new relationship. On "Lip Service", the contemporary R&B and tropical house-influenced song has Jade singing about oral sex; the song was written after label executives felt another song about anal sex was cut due to it being found "too much, too far". Both of the latter songs are described as "shimmering synth-led cuts" by DIY.
The album's tenth track, "Headache", deals with Jade's self-confessed behaviour when she is premenstrual. "Natural at Disaster" is a Chappell Roan-inspired pop ballad, which features "contemplative percussion and vocal yearning". Paste suggested the lyrical content could be about her former Little Mix groupmate Jesy Nelson. "Glitch" sees Jade experimenting with "futuristic R&B" and hyperpop, while the lyrics explore her insecurities about anxiety-induced eye twitches. Vocally, she users her upper register. The thirteenth track, "Before You Break My Heart", interpolates the Supremes "Stop! In the Name of Love". Its production is described as "chunky disco", and examples the heritage of girl groups. The song also features a sample recording of Jade's younger self singing the chorus. The slower-paced "Silent Disco" closes the album, dealing with the subject of inner peace and navigating the accomplishment of release with a bruised and delicate strength that isolates; it also features "lyrical intimacy amid gauzy synths".
Artwork and title That's Showbiz Baby! takes its title from the lyrics of "It Girl" after fans commented on how much it sounded like an album title. "The album wasn't originally called that, it was called something else, which I don't wanna say in case I use it again. The fans steered me in the that's showbiz baby direction," Jade told Ladygunn. She further made an example of the album's cover to a scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), explaining that she wanted to "show this idea that there are multiple versions of myself, and then there's the bigger Jade who's the one in control." Several artwork variants were made available on Jade's official store in various different formats. Text on That's Showbiz Baby! is displayed in blue, while text on The Encore is displayed in red. The deluxe edition The Encore was described as the "grand finale" for the album.
Promotion and release Live performance and tour
In connection to the album's announcement on 14 May 2025, Jade revealed a concert tour, with dates in the United Kingdom and Ireland, commencing on 8 October 2025. Concerts in North America and Europe were announced on 23 September 2025. She performed at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend on 25 May 2025, where she debuted "Plastic Box". One week later, Jade performed at the 2025 edition of Mighty Hoopla. She opened Capital's Summertime Ball on 15 June 2025.