Anna Georgette Gilford[1] (born 12 March 1981), professionally known as Honey G, is an English rapper.[2] She was a contestant on the thirteenth series of The X Factor in 2016.
Honey G | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Anna Georgette Gilford |
| Born | 12 March 1981 Harrow, London, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Rapper/MC |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2016–present |
| Labels | Syco |
Personal life
editHoney G is Jewish and has claimed she has been bullied with antisemitism all her life.[3][4] She attended Dr Challoner's High School before going on to Salford University and graduated with an upper second-class degree in music in 2004. In July 2017, she came out as a lesbian.[5]
Career
edit2016: The X Factor
editIn 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)" 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 due to visa issues.[6] Osbourne later picked Honey G to advance after her performance of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise". 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, branded such by judge Nicole Scherzinger.[7] Isabel Mohan of The Telegraph gave her the title of "the biggest joke in X Factor history."[8]
She performed at The X Factor Final at Wembley Arena as a guest performer where she officially announced that she had signed a record deal with Cowell's record label, Syco Music,[9] and would be releasing her debut single, "The Honey G Show", on 23 December. The single received little promotion[10] and reached number 149 on the UK Singles Chart.[11]
| The X Factor performances and results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Show | Song choice | Theme | Result |
| Auditions | "Work It" – Missy Elliott | — | Through to bootcamp |
| Bootcamp | "Creep" – TLC | Through to six-chair challenge | |
| Six-chair challenge | "WTF (Where They From)" – Missy Elliott feat. Pharrell Williams | Eliminated, put through to judges' houses as Ivy-Grace Paredes replacement | |
| Judges' houses | "Gangsta's Paradise" – Coolio feat. L.V. | Through to live shows | |
| Live show 1 | "California Love" - 2Pac feat. Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman | Express Yourself | Safe (4th) |
| Live show 2 | "Mo Money Mo Problems" – The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy & Mase | Motown | Safe (4th) |
| Live show 3 | "Ice Ice Baby"/"Under Pressure" – Vanilla Ice/ Queen feat. David Bowie | Divas & Legends | Safe (5th) |
| Live show 4 | "Men in Black" – Will Smith feat. Coko | Fright Night | Safe (6th) |
| Live show 5 | "Jump" – Kris Kross | Girlband vs Boyband | Safe (5th) |
| Live show 6 | "Stayin' Alive" – Bee Gees/N-Trance | Disco | Safe (5th) |
| Live show 7 | "It's Like That"/ "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" – Run–D.M.C./ Will Smith | Movies | Bottom two (6th) |
| "Get Ur Freak On"/ "Work It" – Missy Elliott | Sing-off | Safe (majority vote) | |
| Quarter-Final | "U Can't Touch This"/"Super Freak" – MC Hammer/Rick James | Louis Loves | Bottom two (5th) |
| "Push It"/ "Black Beatles" – Salt-N-Pepa/Rae Sremmurd feat. Gucci Mane | Contestant's Choice | ||
| "California Love" – 2Pac feat. Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman | Sing-off | Eliminated (fifth place) | |
| Final (guest performer) | "Men In Black"/"Ice Ice Baby"/"Jump"/"The Honey G Show" — Will Smith feat. Coko/Vanilla Ice/Kris Kross/Honey G | — | N/A |
Post-X Factor career
editThis section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (March 2023) |
Since parting company with Syco Music in 2017, Honey G has self-published music videos on her own Vevo page, and worked as an estate agent.[12]
In 2022, she appeared on series seven of Celebrity Coach Trip.[13]
References
edit- ^ Joe Anderton (5 October 2016). "X Factor: Honey G's real life CV is proper impressive". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
- ^ "X Factor's Honey G: from her day job to what's under those glasses – here's everything you need to know". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^ "Honey G: 'I've spent my whole life fighting anti-Semitism'". Jewish News. 23 November 2016. Archived from the original on 29 October 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^ "X Factor's Honey G accuses critics of anti-semitism". NME. 24 November 2016. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- ^ "X Factor star Honey G comes out as gay". PinkNews. 26 July 2017. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- ^ Jefferies, Mark (25 September 2016). "X Factor's Honey G makes dramatic RETURN at judges houses after being kicked out". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^ "X Factor's Nicole: 'Honey G is a novelty act'". Digital Spy. 7 October 2016. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^ Mohan, Isabel (1 November 2016). "Honey G is the biggest joke in X Factor history – no wonder she makes Simon Cowell uncomfortable". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
- ^ Draper, James (11 December 2016). "Fan fury after X Factor reject Honey G promotes single on semi-final – just 24 hours BEFORE winner is announced". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 13 November 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^ "Controversial X Factor rapper Honey G says her first single 'was not promoted enough'". The Irish News. 25 January 2017. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
- ^ Jones, Alan (30 December 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Little Mix return to albums summit". Music Week. Intent Media. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "Honey G dropped from estate agent job". Female First. 20 December 2018. Archived from the original on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ Moss, Molly (11 January 2022). "Celebrity Coach Trip 2022 line-up: Meet the cast of the brand new series". Radio Times. London. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.