After stepping away from live music because of a rare hearing condition, Sonna Rele is back on stage and making people take notice.  Sonna received an incredible three-chair turn for her performance of Mariah Carey’s ‘My All’ on The Voice UK, ultimately choosing to join Team Will.i.am. Now she is through to the next round, and we could not be happier for her.

There is something about The Voice UK that still gets us every time. A singer walks onto the stage, the coaches have their backs turned and nobody knows what is going to happen. Will anyone press their button? Will the singer make it through? So, when Sonna Rele stepped onto that famous stage and began singing Mariah Carey’s My All, we were watching with everything crossed.

We have featured Sonna before and already knew what an incredible voice she has, but this was different. Seeing one chair turn, followed by another and then another, was genuinely exciting. She received a standing ovation, Kelly Rowland recognised her straight away and suddenly everyone was talking about Sonna Rele.

Of course, Sonna has been known and loved for years. She sang Strong for Disney’s live-action Cinderella, has worked with Ne-Yo, performed at Wembley Stadium and built an audience of millions online. Yet her appearance on The Voice still felt like a proper comeback because it followed a period when a rare hearing condition had forced her to step away from performing. Here she was, back on a national stage, taking on an incredibly difficult Mariah Carey song and reminding everyone exactly what she can do.

Sonna chose to join Team will.i.am and is now through to the next round. She has not won the competition, and there is still a journey ahead, but we will definitely be cheering her on as it continues.

A New Chapter

There is a lot happening in Sonna’s world at the moment. Alongside The Voice, Sonna is developing a series of songs centred around healing, including “I Am”, and has taken on a judging role with Britain’s Next Superstar. When we spoke to her, however, she did not seem particularly caught up in the fuss of it all. Instead, she kept coming back to something much simpler: being present and enjoying the moment.

Her new single is very much part of that. Sonna describes I Am as an affirmation song about healing, self-love and learning to embrace who you are. “I feel like we’re all on a healing journey. We all need a bit of love, light and positivity in this kind of world that we’re trying to navigate.”

Sonna’s experience with her hearing led her to explore sound and frequencies and their relationship with the brain. That experience has subsequently influenced the music she creates, with healing, self-love and positive affirmation becoming an important part of her work. 

It is a personal message because Sonna has been through some incredibly difficult health challenges. Sonna was diagnosed with Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence (SSCD), a rare inner-ear condition which caused her hearing to become extraordinarily amplified. She could hear sounds around ten times louder than normal, including internal sounds such as her heartbeat and eye movements, as well as sounds through walls.  

After facing the possibility of brain surgery and having to step away from performing, Sonna spent around three months working with sound and frequencies. She experienced a significant improvement in her hearing, which ultimately enabled her to return to live performance.

The experience has also changed her approach to music. “I feel like my sound has definitely evolved. I’ve become a little bit more selective with the things that I sing, the lyrics that I listen to, the music that I listen to.” She wants her music and the people around her to feel positive, and it does not come across as something she simply thinks she ought to say. It feels like where she is in her life now.

Where It All Began

Sonna’s relationship with music started when she was very young. She remembers singing at a school concert when she was around seven and jokes that she was not even sure she was supposed to be at the high school where the performance took place. She was nervous at first, but when the audience applauded, something changed. “That gave me the confidence,” she says. She remembers thinking, “Maybe I can skip everything else and just do music.”

That little girl could not have known where singing would eventually take her. There would be Disney, Wembley Stadium, millions of followers and, years later, all four coaching teams turning for her on The Voice UK. There would also be the opportunity to work with Ne-Yo, an experience Sonna still talks about with genuine excitement. “Oh my God, I learned so much!”

What impressed her most was not only his talent, but how humble he was. He showed her that it was possible to navigate what she calls the “crazy world” of the music industry without losing yourself along the way.

When we asked what she might have done differently during the early part of her career, Sonna did not talk about a missed opportunity or a bad decision. “I think I would have had more fun,” she says. She spent too much time wondering whether she was doing the right thing instead of enjoying what was actually happening. “You’re never going to have this moment again because this moment is the now.”

It is something many of us will relate to. We can become so busy worrying about what comes next that we forget to enjoy where we are. Sonna’s mum has a very good way of putting it: “Get out of your head and into your heart.”

Music, Mum and Family

Sonna’s mum has always been a big part of her musical journey. When they work together in the studio, Sonna says it feels exactly like being at home. There may be microphones, recording equipment and music to finish, but they are still simply mother and daughter. Sonna laughs as she remembers asking her mum to do another take, only to be reminded that they had dinner to get to.

Family is incredibly important to Sonna and is also a big part of her Indian identity. No matter what she achieves or how many people know her name, she is happy to remind everyone, “I’m still someone’s daughter!”

She is proud of the different cultures, people and experiences that have shaped her. “I’ve created my own identity through different influences, so I guess that’s what’s made me, me.” Her mum remains her “rock”, and after everything they have been through together, watching her daughter receive a three-chair turn on The Voice must have been incredibly special.

Two Flags at Wembley

Another important moment in Sonna’s career came when she performed at Wembley Stadium. Standing in front of a huge crowd, she held both the British and Indian flags, bringing two important parts of her identity together. Someone captured a photograph of the moment, creating an image she could look back on as a representation of who she is.

For Sonna, it was not just about her own achievement. She wants other people to see that barriers can be broken and that difficult experiences do not have to decide what happens next. “I’d like people to feel inspired and also know that you can break barriers, and you can overcome adversities through anything that you want to pursue.”

Her audition on The Voice carried the same message. Viewers saw a brilliant singer delivering a demanding Mariah Carey song, but behind that performance was a woman who had faced the possibility that she might not be able to perform live again. That is what made seeing those chairs turn feel so special.

From Contestant to Judge

Although she is now part of a television competition, Sonna does not particularly enjoy the idea of artists being pushed against one another. “I don’t feel like creativity should be competitive,” she says. She is more interested in competing with herself and becoming better than the artist she was the year before.

While Sonna is being coached on The Voice, she is also experiencing the other side of the process through her judging role on Britain’s Next Superstar. She accepted the role because she wants to give aspiring artists the sort of advice she would have valued herself. “The music industry is not an easy one.”

She will be looking for confidence, quality, creativity and something that makes an artist stand out. Sonna admits she can be brutally honest, but she does not believe honesty needs to be cruel. “I’m not a Simon Cowell!” If something is not working, she would rather explain how the artist could improve than simply tell them she did not like it.

What Comes Next?

There is still plenty Sonna would love to do. A world tour is high on the list, beginning in the UK before taking her music to India, America and Uganda, where her father grew up. She would also love to perform in Los Angeles and dreams of one day collaborating with Mariah Carey, which feels particularly fitting after her performance of My All on The Voice.

For now, however, Sonna is trying to enjoy what is happening. Her single I Am is about healing and accepting yourself, The Voice is allowing her to share her talent with a much bigger audience, and Britain’s Next Superstar gives her an opportunity to help other artists begin their own journeys.

Four coaching teams have turned, Sonna has chosen Team will.i.am and she is through to the next round. We cannot wait to see what happens next.

A Little More Sonna

Sonna describes herself as “goofy, quirky and introspective”, which sums her up rather well. She chooses trainers over heels and a vintage find over a designer handbag. Her favourite perfume is Chanel, her lipstick is Fenty and her comfort food is oatmeal porridge. Her handbag always contains luxury chewing gum and far too many earring backs.

Her ultimate karaoke song would be Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You, although she says she has never actually been allowed to do karaoke. The song she sings when nobody is listening is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, which is also the song she wishes she had written.

Then there is the time she walked onto a stage in Birmingham and confidently shouted, “What’s up, Manchester?” The Birmingham audience was understandably unimpressed, so Sonna sang one very long note until she won them back.

It worked.

Perhaps that story sums her up perfectly. Things do not always go to plan, and sometimes you might even forget which city you are in, but you can laugh, keep going and carry on singing.

As her mum says, get out of your head and into your heart.

Credits:

Creative Direction and Styling: @anishavasanicreates

Photography and Videography: @omj.studio

Outfits & Jewellery: @bombae.kaurture

Hair & Make Up: @jasdhillonmakeup