Anna Georgette Gilford (born 12 March 1981), professionally known as Honey G, is an English

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

. She was a contestant on the thirteenth series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' in 2016.

Personal life

Honey G is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and has claimed she has been bullied with

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

all her life. She attended Dr Challenors High School for girls before going on to

Salford University , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

and graduated with an upper second-class degree in music in 2004. In July 2017, she

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as a lesbian.

Career

2016: ''The X Factor''

In her first audition, she sang " Work It" by Missy Elliott, which earned her three yes votes. At the six-chair challenge, she sang "

WTF (Where They From) "WTF (Where They From)" is a song by American rapper Missy Elliott, featuring fellow American rapper Pharrell Williams. Produced by the latter, it was released in 2015 as Elliott's first single and first music video, since 2008's "Shake Your Po ...

" by Missy Elliott and Pharrell Williams, and was eliminated by mentor Sharon Osbourne; however, Osbourne brought her back as a replacement for Ivy Grace Paredes, who was unable to travel to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

due to visa issues. Osbourne later picked Honey G to advance after her performance of Coolio's "

Gangsta's Paradise "Gangsta's Paradise" is a single by American rapper Coolio. Interpolating Stevie Wonder's 1976 song "Pastime Paradise", and featuring American singer L.V., the single was released on August 1, 1995. Certified Platinum in October, the song wa ...

". She ended up in the bottom two for the first time against Ryan Lawrie on week 7. Cowell, Osbourne and Walsh voted to save her. However voting statistics revealed that Lawrie received more votes than Honey G meaning if Walsh sent the result to deadlock, Lawrie would've advanced to the quarter-final and Honey G would've been eliminated. Honey G was in the bottom two in the quarter-final against 5 After Midnight. After the sing-off, only Osbourne voted to send Honey G through to the semi-final, and was the eighth contestant eliminated. During her time in the competition, Honey G faced criticism for being a

novelty act "Novelty Act" is a short story by Philip K. Dick. It involves a dystopian future in which the characters' lives are based on entertaining the First Lady of the United States with "novelty acts." Many of the ideas developed in the story were r ...

, branded such by judge

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

. Isabel Mohan of ''The Telegraph'' gave her the title of "the biggest joke in ''X Factor'' history." She performed at ''The X Factor'' Final at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-s ...

as a guest performer where she officially announced that she had signed a record deal with Cowell's record label,

Syco Music Syco Music is a defunct division of Syco Entertainment founded by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. Originally founded as S Records, the label launched while Cowell was still employed by BMG, the label oversaw music relea ...

, and would be releasing her debut single, "The Honey G Show", on 23 December. The single received little promotion and reached number 149 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Post-''X Factor'' career

Since parting company with Syco Music in 2017, Honey G has self-published music videos on her own

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

page, and worked as an estate agent. In 2022 she appeared on series seven of ''

Celebrity Coach Trip ''Coach Trip'' is a British reality game show originally broadcast on Channel 4 from 7 March 2005 to 30 June 2006. The programme returned after a three-year break, from 25 May 2009 to 9 March 2012. In early 2013, the show went into hiatus agai ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:G, Honey Living people 1981 births 21st-century British rappers English women rappers Lesbian Jews English lesbian musicians LGBT people from London LGBT rappers Rappers from London Musicians from Harrow, London Alumni of the University of Salford Syco Music artists The X Factor (British TV series) contestants Jewish rappers 21st-century English women musicians 20th-century English LGBT people 21st-century English LGBT people 21st-century women rappers