'you sacrifice yourself'

Rita Ora reveals she had a ‘meltdown’ aged 25 after legal battle with Jay-Z and was hospitalised after blacking out on a photo shoot

Olivia Waring

Published: 18:22, 26 Oct 2017
Updated: 9:53, 28 Oct 2017

RITA Ora has spoken out about the "meltdown" she had last year following her court battle with Jay-Z's Roc Nation label that left her unable to make an album for five years.

The 26-year-old pop star also recalled the time she was stretchered off a photo shoot due to exhaustion, as well as moaning about the fact her film roles, ad deals and gigs are ultimately not as "fulfilling" as recording.

The singer, whose only album Ora came out in 2012, went to war with Roc Nation in 2015 - claiming she'd been neglected and demanding to be released from her contract.

They countered with a $2.3m lawsuit saying she hadn't produced enough albums and the resulting legal wrangling meant she hasn't been able to make any more.

While former The Voice judge Rita previously described the label split as a "musical detox", the real story is far less rosy.

Asked how she felt after the court clash, Rita told : “I lost a lot of confidence in myself. I thought: ‘What am I going to do?’

“It felt like the worst thing. But it was the only decision I could make.

"My appreciation and respect for them hasn’t changed at all," she added, referring to Jay-Z's label, which has Rihanna and Willow Smith on its roster.

Explaining why she sought to escape Roc Nation, Rita said: "I wanted a change of spirit, I wanted a fresh start.”

“They [understood that]! And that’s why it was an easy separation.

"It could have been bad, but it was very respectful. It was one of the easiest separations ever.”

But she added: “I can’t go into crazy political details obviously, for … reasons. But it was easy. Amazing.”

Rita, whose second album is finally being rolled out next March, says she had a meltdown in 2016 about her inability to produce new music, despite making millions from ad deals and a role in the Fifty Shades franchise.

DAN'S ON THE MONEY Rita Ora channels her inner Danniella Westbrook with this outfit

But she's always been an overachiever, and recalls a time in 2013 when she was stretchered off a photo shoot in Miami due to exhaustion.

She said: “There were helicopters and stuff. It was really bad. It was pure exhaustion, which I didn’t know was a real thing.

"But I just blacked out. I woke up in hospital and everyone was like: ‘Right, you need to chill.’

"You sacrifice a lot of yourself, and your mental health, and your physical self, to be everywhere at the same time. I guess it’s the life you choose, isn’t it? But I’m living the dream.”

When reminded that she made £3m in 2016 alone through non-musical enterprises, she added: “But is it fulfilling for me? That’s the question...

“We’re in 2017. You can do more than one thing... I’ve chosen to become a 360-degree artist. In this generation we’re in, and there’s a new breed of us – 360-degree artists are able to do multiple things.”

After showing she can judge on The X Factor and The Voice UK as well as acting in blockbusters, it's clear she can do multiple things - but she wears Burberry best of all.