‘I had given up on love’, Rita Ora opens up on struggles of being single
Singer Rita Ora has admitted it was difficult to watch her friends get married and have babies while she was still single, and she has poured out her feelings in her new album.
The 32-year-old singer and actress tied the knot with Hollywood director Taika Waititi, 47, last year.
Rita, who counts Scots DJ Calvin Harris, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and American rapper Asap Rocky as former flames, told The Sun newspaper how she was “lonely and had given up on love” before falling for New Zealand-born Taika.
She revealed waiting to find true love was difficult as her friends moved on without her.
On her new track ‘Waiting For You’, Rita sings: “I’d had enough, given up, watched all my friends get married — lonely under the chandelier.
“Always kept up my guard, wasn’t ready for love. . . just a beat in my heart with no use.”
She told The Sun: “It wasn’t metaphorically. This is literally how I felt. A couple of my friends had been like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m pregnant’ or ‘Oh gosh, I’m getting married’. Life is happening and everyone is getting older and I felt like it was something that is very relatable. People think, ‘Oh well, what about me?’ I thought it was a vulnerable and insightful position for me.”
She further mentioned: “I think it connects us — especially girls and women and the social pressure we feel we have to reach. I wanted to be blunt and honest. I knew that if I wanted to do this then I really had to do this — not like half-heartedly. It took a lot of guts. I am really proud that I have done it. I was writing the things I was going through at the same time. I was actually getting married then writing about it. I was living through it. It is an album diary.”
The ‘Lonely Together’ singer has landed a bumper new record deal with BMG that allows her to own her masters.
She’s also expanded her acting portfolio, with roles in ‘Fifty Shades’ and ‘Pokemon’ movies.