Jessie J has explained why she wore “an over-sized tracksuit” to the Royal Variety Performance on Wednesday night.
The Price Tag singer explained to her Instagram followers that she wore the baggy black outfit in honour of “one of her closest friends”, Dave, aka Lasty, who served as her security before he died by suicide almost seven years ago.
She shared that the back of her top featured the message, “Do you have a hoodie? Lasty,” so he was with her when she sang I’ll Never Know Why, a personal song about his death.
“After every show he would say ‘you got a hoodie?’ And we would take a walk. For my mental health and his too. To get some fresh air and just talk the day over. Man I miss those walks and talks,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories.
“So I didn’t wear a gown or a tight fancy dress. I wore an over sized tracksuit in honour of him with ‘you got a hoodie’ Lasty, embroidered on the back. And I love you on the hood (sic).”
The 37-year-old added that she also wore the outfit to represent anyone sitting at home “feeling lost and alone” in their sweatpants.
“I feel you I see you I love you we want you here,” she wrote. “I also pray this song can remind those who feel like no one cares or loves them that we do.”
Earlier that evening, Jessie shared a special moment with Catherine, Princess of Wales, who attended the show at London’s Royal Albert Hall with her husband Prince William.
The singer and royal exchanged a hug in a moment of recognition of their shared experiences with cancer.
“Mum to mum, who has just recently gone through cancer, I just wanted to give her a hug,” Jessie told reporters afterwards. “We acknowledged that it’s something that is not easy to go through, especially in the public eye.”
Catherine is in remission from an unspecified type of cancer, while Jessie is due to undergo a second operation as part of her battle with breast cancer.
