When Courtney Hadwin first stunned the world at age 13 with her electrifying audition on America’s Got Talent, she never imagined she’d still be trying to escape that defining moment more than eight years later.
“It’s been hard, I’m not gonna lie,” Hadwin shares candidly. “I’m always so grateful for the opportunity that show gave me and the people who’ve found my music because of it. But it’s one of those things where I constantly feel like I have to prove I’m not just the girl from that TV show.”
Now 21, and just days past her birthday — which she celebrated in Benidorm, Spain — Hadwin reflects on the strange journey from teen TV talent to a young adult trying to carve out an authentic place in the music industry. While turning 21 in America is often seen as a milestone of maturity, Hadwin’s coming-of-age has been anything but typical.
Since her viral AGT debut in 2018, where she brought the house down with a show-stopping rendition of Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle,” Hadwin has been battling the expectations that come with early fame. Her audition remains one of the most-viewed in the show’s history, cementing her as a standout act but also, in some ways, boxing her into a version of herself that no longer fits.
A native of Durham, UK, Hadwin never gravitated toward the glossy appeal of modern pop stars. Her heart belonged to soul legends like James Brown and Tina Turner. She recalls a black-and-white video of Brown performing “I Got You (I Feel Good)” as a turning point. “I kept watching more videos and discovering new people just by scrolling the side of YouTube,” she remembers. “That’s when I really knew this was something I wanted to do in the future.”
Despite her breakout success, Hadwin’s path has been far from smooth. After AGT, she signed a record deal, but instead of finding her voice, she felt lost in pop writing sessions. “I was put into big writing camps with songwriters and producers who didn’t necessarily know my sound,” she says. “I’d go into sessions and basically just be given songs I couldn’t relate to at all. It was pure Ariana Grande pop, which just wasn’t me at all.”
By the time she turned 16, the label had folded — leaving Hadwin in a more uncertain place than before the show. “I wouldn’t go back and change anything,” she admits. “But some days, it just makes everything harder — I feel like I have to prove myself that little bit more every single day.”
Everything began to change when Hadwin met producer Kevin Bowe, whose résumé includes work with legends like Etta James and Joe Cocker. “He really got me,” she says. “I feel like that’s when the music started to actually matter to me, songwriting-wise.”
Together, Hadwin and Bowe began working on what would become her debut album, Little Miss Jagged, due for release on September 15. “I’ve never written this personally before,” she says. “And I’ve got Kevin, my producer, to thank for that. He really helped me get to a place where I could write so vulnerably.”
Hadwin describes how songwriting evolved from an obligation into a vital outlet. “At the start, I completely hated writing, I’m not going to lie,” she laughs. “My main priority was just being on stage. I love performing. I’m an entertainer. I love being in front of people and really feeling the music. That’s always been something I’ve loved.”
“But songwriting was kind of thrown at me. It was one of those things I had to learn to love, and now it’s something I can’t live without. It’s become the only way I can properly express myself. I’m not very good at talking about my feelings, so songwriting has become that outlet for me.”
The title of the album, Little Miss Jagged, speaks volumes. “Jagged — rough around the edges, not perfect,” she explains. “I’ve always said I’m kind of like Marmite: you either love me or you hate me. It’s always been like that. And that title just fits the songs completely.”
One track in particular, “You Only Love Me When I Lie,” captures the pressure of being frozen in time as that 13-year-old on stage. “After AGT, everything hit me at once. Social media was a huge part of growing up, and a lot of people just wanted me to stay that 13-year-old girl. They didn’t want me to change. Even now, I’ll post something online, and people still think I’m that innocent little girl from AGT and that’s all I’ll ever be to them.”
“I was having one of those days where I felt like, ‘I’m more than this,’ and it was really frustrating. So again, I messaged Kevin and said, ‘I need to write about this.’ That song probably has the rawest version of me in it. It’s very rooted in how I started in soul and blues. It’s the most soulful song on the album.”
Bringing her love of timeless soul and blues into the modern era wasn’t always easy. “It’s been a matter of creating music that doesn’t sound too old,” she says, referencing her deep admiration for artists like Etta James, Aretha Franklin, and James Brown. “I could go and write a song, and at first it just wouldn’t work. It was a struggle to make it relatable to the century we’re in.”
With Bowe’s guidance, Hadwin learned how to blend the soul of yesterday with the sound of today. “I’ve enjoyed every second of it.”
Little Miss Jagged is more than a debut — it’s a full-circle moment. “I’ve kind of been writing this album since I was about 15,” she says. “I feel like I grew up with the album — every single song has been a part of my life. The whole album feels like one big diary entry that I’m finally letting people hear.”
For Courtney Hadwin, Little Miss Jagged is a coming-of-age soundtrack — a declaration that she’s no longer a girl on a TV show, but a young woman with a voice all her own.
