And she says she loves performing by herself: "I feel free again. It reminds me of why I wanted to get into this business in the first place."
Mutya added to V line-up - May 8 2007
Former Sugababe Mutya Buena is among the latest acts to be added to the line-up for this year’s V Festival.
The 21-year-old will make her festival solo debut at the event which will take place in Chelmsford and Staffordshire over the weekend of August 18 and 19.
NME reports that DJ and producer Mark Ronson has also been added to the bill, as have Larrikin Love, Lena Rez, Seth Lakeman, Captain, Chungking and Jesse Malin.
The Killers, Foo Fighters, Snow Patrol, Kanye West and Kasabian are headlining the event at Hylands Park and Weston Park.
Mutya left the Sugababes in December 2005 and her debut album, Real Girl, is released on May 14. She will also appear at T4 On The Beach in Weston Super Mare in July.
Last month Mark Ronson reached No 2 in the singles chart with his cover of The Smiths’ song Stop Me, with album Version reaching the same position.
Mutya: My song’s too raunchy for my dad - April 11 2007
Every daddy’s girl wants to make their father proud - but Mutya Buena has said she’s worried the song she recorded with Amy Winehouse risks really shocking hers.
The ex-Sugababe worked with the Brit award winner on B Boy Baby for her new album Real Girl and said she hopes her dad doesn’t listen to the lyrics.
The track, a sexy tribute to a hip-hop loving boyfriend, was recorded with US jazz-hip hop producer Salaam Remi using music from The Ronettes’s classic Be My Baby.
"Thankfully, my dad listens more to the music than the words!" she said of the risque lyrics.
And the singer explains that she wanted to cover more controversial subject matter than she had with the Sugababes - and the darkest song on the album is the one she likes the most.
"It’s about drugs," she says of Strung Out. "It’s sung from the perspective of a friend standing there watching someone kill themselves. It’s a wake-up call. I’m no saint, and I try not to judge, but I know right from wrong.
"I have to listen to this song about four times before I listen to the rest, I love it so much. I put a lot of emotion into singing it."
Mutya ’scared’ to meet George Michael - April 10 2007
Mutya Buena has revealed that she was completely star-struck by George Michael.
The ex-Sugababe - seen as the tough, outspoken member of the group - duetted with George on the single This Is Not Real Love and said she was overwhelmed to meet her mum’s favourite pop star.
"I was scared because of things I’d seen or read," she revealed, "but we just ended up talking about Big Brother, funny conversations about normal things."
And she quickly found that the pair had something in common - a north London school.
"We went to the same school, Kingsbury High, and had the same music teacher... Keith Moon of The Who and Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones went there, too," she said.
"He completely made me feel like I was part of his family. It taught me a big lesson about not judging people until you know them properly. I’d love to work with him again."
The 24-year-old added that she didn’t find it at all difficult singing a song about heterosexual love with a gay man.
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In 2000 the trio, now called Sugababes, released their first single to widespread acclaim. Overload reached the British Top Ten and earned the girls their first Brit nomination. However theie debut album, One Touch, failed to reach the levels of popularity expected and with Siobhan leaving the band amid rumours of in-fighting the group were dropped by their label despite hiring ex Atomic Kitten Heidi Range as their newest member.
However with a second album already part recorded the group found new representation in the shape of Island Records. The first single from Angels With Dirty Faces, Freak Like Me, was released in 2002 and fast became the breakthrough single of the year establishing Sugababes as the UK’s top pop act in one easy step. They continued their success with further singles including Round Round and Stronger and soon after with a new album, Three, which produced stand out single Hole in the Head.
Taller in More Ways followed in 2005 along with single Push The Button. However during promotion for the next single, Ugly, Mutya was conspicuously absent and in December 2005 it was announced that she was to leave the band although was to remain ’best of friends’ with Heidi and Keisha.
Immediately after splitting from Sugababes Mutya began working on solo material, collaborating with George Michael, Groove Armada and MC Viper among others. Her duet with Michael was released soon after but the lack of a video promo was blamed for a poor chart positioning. Signed to Island Records Mutya has recorded an album which reportedly includes collaborations with Pharrell and Justin Timberlake and her debut single, Real Girl, is set to be released in June 2007.
Currently living in London, Mutya has one daughter, Tahlia Maya with boyfriend Jay.
October 2007