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‘I was so self-assured in my early 20s. Then my frontal lobe hit’: Rachel Chinouriri, every pop star’s favourite UK pop star
Rachel Chinouriri reflects on overcoming severe performance anxiety as her career gathers momentum, following a period in which she felt intense pressure to prove herself in the music industry. The Croydon singer-songwriter says early experiences of panic and embarrassment taught her that the worst outcomes she feared rarely happened, helping her become more secure in herself and her work.
Now 27, Chinouriri has won her first award, best new music at the O2 Silver Clef awards, after previous nominations at the Brit Awards and Ivor Novellos. She recently supported Wolf Alice before a crowd of 45,000 in Finsbury Park, adding to support slots with artists including Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Gracie Abrams and Florence + the Machine; the article also notes her childhood experience of racist bullying and later pigeonholing as an artist.
In short
- Rachel Chinouriri describes overcoming early career panic and self-doubt.
- Her candid songwriting has attracted prominent pop and indie artists.
- She recently won her first major music award.
Explained simply
Rachel Chinouriri is a 27-year-old singer-songwriter from Croydon whose career has been shaped by struggles with performance anxiety and self-doubt. She reflects on how she felt intense pressure to prove herself in the music industry in her early twenties, experiencing panic and embarrassment that challenged her confidence.
Chinouriri experienced racist bullying in childhood and has faced being pigeonholed as an artist. These experiences, alongside the pressure she felt to succeed early in her career, created significant obstacles to her development as a musician and led to deep insecurity about her place in the industry.
Today, Chinouriri is building a successful career with industry recognition, including support slots with major artists such as Florence + the Machine, Olivia Rodrigo and Gracie Abrams. Her reflection on overcoming her early anxieties reveals how her perspective on failure and self-doubt has shifted, helping her become more secure in herself and her work.
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