RATED
‘What do you mean it’s your birthday and you didn’t even
say?’ exclaims Rita Ora after we’ve known each other for
a whole 45 minutes. We’re sitting in a pub near London’s
Portobello Road, and she points at a vintage boutique across the
street. ‘Go in there after we’ve done the interview,’ she says, with
the confidence of someone who’s lived in this part of the capital
since she was a baby. ‘It’s the best shop. Get yourself something
nice with my discount. Say I sent you.’
Rita Ora, in case it hasn’t snuck up on you yet, isn’t just the queen
of these west London streets, but of pop music in Britain today. Her
last single,Let You Love Me, was her 13th UK top ten hit, meaning she
has now beaten Shirley Bassey and Petula Clark to be the British solo
female artist with the most top ten hits ever, and they started in the
50s. And then there’s the 1.3 billion streams her songs have enjoyed
on Spotify alone, her acting role in all threeFifty Shades Of Greyfilms,
and her time as a judge on BBC talent showThe Voice. On that
Saturday night viewing staple, Ora was larger than life: funny, bold
and excitable, and it’s understandable that she’s a bit more chilled in
a one-to-one conversation, as we sit in a quiet room with the late
summer sun streaming in. The pub is closed – it’s just us here this
morning. Even so, I’m surprised when this big personality suddenly
admits that it all feels ‘a bit lonely sometimes’.
‘I ask my mum to stay at mine all the time,’ she explains, in
a voice that sounds slightly posher than I had anticipated. (OraShe’s a top ten hit record holder,
takes acting classes with Cara
Delevingne and has sleepovers
with her mum. Sophie Heawood
meets the intriguing Rita Ora
Styled by JAYNE PICKERING Photographs by ELLEN VON UNWERTH