Jamie Miller has long been a well known name around Cardiff, but now he's found fame elsewhere after making it big and chasing his dreams over in the US.
After appearing on The Voice back in 2017 and making it all the way to the final, the Pontprennau born singer has worked with the likes of Paloma Faith and Jennifer Hudson.
But Jamie hasn't always been in the limelight, he initially persued his passion in secret as he felt it was labelled an 'uncool' thing to do.
To read more Cardiff news visit our Cardiff homepage here
"Coming from Cardiff, there's not a huge opportunity to do music and other stuff," Jamie said.
"So in school I kind of shied away from it. But in primary school, I always wanted to be the main character in all the plays. Then when I went into high school it just wasn't the coolest thing to do.
"In Cardiff there's this whole different mentality. I wasn't the smartest kid in school so I didn't have an amazing job to fall back on. I ended up working in a call centre for two years and then I went on The Voice and the rest his history really."
Placing 3rd in the reality singing competition and being mentored by the iconic Jennifer Hudson, Jamie was quickly signed to Atlantic Records after being noticed by the CEO Craig Kallman.
"I don't think I'll ever forget that day," Jamie recalled.
"I feel like that was one of the moments where I was like, 'wow, dreams can come true'. I was just mind boggled.
"For me, it was never as if I wanted to just get off a TV show and be famous. It was more I wanted to get off a TV show and continue trying to fulfil my ambitions. I just [wanted] to be a singer. And hopefully that resonated."
Growing up in Cardiff, Jamie always had the support of his friends and family. Turning to them for support financially whilst he was chasing his dreams. The young singer now floats amongst icons in the music industry, receiving support and compliments from the likes of Sam Smith, P!nk and Kelly Clarkson.
"Being from such a small place like Cardiff, you're almost in the mindset of 'do I deserve to be here?'", Jamie added.
"Even when I'm bumping into these celebrities and they're giving me a compliment, I'm like 'you do realise I'm from Pontprennau?'.
"The song-writers I work with are incredible and I've had the pleasure of people like Sam Smith, Kelly Clarkson and P!nk who've been huge supporters of my work from the get go. It's just been a wild ride, It's been mental."
Navigating the music industry is notoriously hard. With thousands of people trying to make a name for themselves, it's important to take the help you can get along the way. And for Jamie, help came with some sound advice from the one and only Jenifer Hudson.
"[She] gave me the best advice I've ever been given. She said to me, 'no one's going to believe in you if you don't believe in yourself'.
"And I know that sounds cliché, but I feel like in this industry, you need to hear something like that. Because it's so cutthroat and there's so many people that are going to give you a no. So sometimes you've just got to fight for what you believe in."
This year, Jamie released a new single 'I Lost Myself In Loving You', an emotional ballad that lays out bare his experience for falling for a boy who was in a committed relationship. The first song in which the young singer addressed his bisexuality, after coming out publicly in March 2021 via social media.
"I actually fell for someone in 2020. And for the first time, it wasn't a girl. And I was kind of shocked by it that someone could just come into my life and do that.
"And I found out they were in a committed relationship. And I've kind of just like lost myself. As cliché as it sounds, they became my morning, my afternoon my night routine. And I just kept getting so consumed by making this person happy that I lost sight of my own happiness.
"And I feel like for me, I don't want the public to fall in love with a version of me. That's not real. I need to tell people about the backstory, because if I can help one person out there then I'm being real.
"I'm not just being a record label version of Jamie. I'm just being Jamie. So yeah, I felt like that's why it's the most important song to date to me."
Since coming out, Jamie has received support from the LGBT+ community all around the world, and is on a mission to make the process easier for young people coming to terms with themselves.
"I've had I've had so much support by everyone and especially in the LGBT+ community, they're incredible but it's all new to me", Jamie added.
"I didn't want to do all these interviews and take on a responsibility, it was more so I just wanted to do it to normalise it. I hope there's a day where people don't have to come out anymore.
"I hope there's a day that people don't have to feel the need to have so much pressure with telling their family that they're into guys and girls or they're just into guys."
Get more stories from CardiffOnline straight into your inbox by signing up to our newsletter here
