It’s been seven years since the then-13-year-old Courtney Hadwin’s vocal talents stunned the world with a phenomenal ‘America’s Got Talent’ audition. Since then, Courtney has honed her artistic identity, excelled as a songwriter, and experienced a wealth of life experiences which inform her music. Now Courtney is set to fulfill that world-conquering potential as she announces that her debut album ‘Little Miss Jagged’ will be released on 12th September 2025. She launches the record by sharing its lead single ‘You Only Love Me When I Lie’. Listen HERE. Pre-order/pre-save album HERE.
‘Little Miss Jagged’ is a phenomenally confident debut album which fizzes with Courtney’s irrepressible spirit. That famous soul-and-blues powerhouse vocal is even more arresting than before, while the album switches up moods and genre touchpoints from swaggering hard rock to Motown to funk, punk and epic balladeering. Courtney’s voice hits hard with touches of greats such as Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner, but there’s a youthful energy and a contemporary edge that makes her very much her own artist. She collaborated on the majority of the set with the Grammy-winning co-writer/producer Kevin Bowe (Etta James, Joe Cocker) during sessions in Memphis.
Courtney says, “They’re coming-of-age songs, written either when I was going through the worst of times or when I felt on top of the world. I’m both nervous and excited to be putting them out into the world, as this is the most personal I’ve ever been in my songwriting. It’s the story so far.”
After introducing the album with the recent single ‘Spellbound’, Courtney now heightens expectations as she shares the new track ‘You Only Love Me When I Lie’. The extraordinary, soulful blues rocker captures the remarkable versatility of her talents as she rises from a delicate feline purr before yowling like a woman possessed as she lets rip with an array of vitriolic, independently-spirited emotions.
She adds, “‘You Only Love Me When I Lie’ is a bluesy, classic-meets-modern torch ballad with a desperately scorching vocal that invokes the greats from Janis Joplin to Amy Winehouse. This song came from a place of pure frustration and I can’t wait for fans to be able to indulge it word by word!”
The ‘Little Miss Jagged’ album is now available to pre-order / pre-save HERE.
Courtney will preview the release of ‘Little Miss Jagged’ by playing a special London headline show at The Fiddler’s Elbowon May 30th – tickets are available HERE. She shared a taste of her electrifying, full live band intensity with her recent ‘Live At Metropolis’ video series which included full-throttle takes on previous fan favourites ‘Jagged’ and ‘Monsters’.
Music was destined to be Courtney’s future from childhood. While she was captivated by the stunning voices of Janis Joplin, James Brown, Little Richard and Tina Turner, she also loved how their presence and charisma added another layer of star quality to their undeniable talents. That’s something we can see in her now, with the way she throws every bit of attitude and emotion in her wild, unrestrained performances.
‘America’s Got Talent’ put Courtney in the spotlight in the biggest way possible, and her talents were further showcased on ‘America’s Got Talent: The Champions’. The industry tried to shape her as a conventional pop artist, but Courtney never felt comfortable with that direction. Her solution was to go back-to-basics: collaborate with like-minded musicians and explore the topics which would allow her personality and opinions to be as impactful as her voice. That was achieved when she met Kevin Bowe, and she has flourished ever since. ‘Little Miss Jagged’ is the vehement sound of an artist who just can’t be confined or pigeonholed.
