British actress and county-pop singer Twinnie Lee-Moore has just released her most significant project to date, a 22-song album called Something We Used To Say.
I first met Twinnie at CMT’s Next Women of Country class of 2024. Since then, I have followed her socials and been completely mesmerized by her career.
I was thrilled to get the opportunity to interview her recently.
Twinnie hails from York, England. Her father was a Romani gypsy, and her mother was a “gorger,” which is a non-traveler. She has been singing and dancing for as long as she can remember and got her first job on the stage at age four.
Her parents separated, and Twinnie left home at age 15 to study dance and drama. Her first adult job was with Brian May from Queen in a musical theater show called. “We Were Rocky.”
While doing her musical theater, Twinnie would write. First, it was poetry, and then it turned into songs.
She explained, “There's a lot of synergy, I feel, between what attracted me to Nashville and how I got brought up. I was brought up with a lot of community and brilliant storytellers. It was all about family.”
Her career started in theater, where she starred as Velma in the musical Chicago on London’s West End. She kept doing acting gigs as she built her resume.
British superstar Yungblud’s manager also became Twinnie’s manager initially. But it was the famed songwriter, Jon Green, who first took Twinnie to Nashville.
She stated, “I was so lucky because I met people like Lucy Silvers and John Osborne and busbee.”
People like songwriters Dave and Annie Barnes took her in and became her first friends in Nashville.
Having a British Romani-gypsy background doesn’t quite fit the mold of a Nashville singer-songwriter, but growing up on stage has made Twinnie the artist she is today. She refuses to choose either acting or songwriting/singing but insists that she was created to do both.
“My question to you would be, why can’t I be both? We live in a day when women can have children and careers. I’ve always done music, but opportunities in my career as a backing dancer with Pharrell, Robin Thicke, and Justin Timberlake came first, and I’m not going to turn those down. I don’t want ever to have to choose,” she stated emphatically.
One of my favorite songs of Twinnie’s is the autobiographical “Hollywood Gypsy” which was released in April of 2020. The music video features clips of childhood growing up all over the place. It is an anthem that celebrates the woman she has become.
In 2021, Twinnie, a prolific songwriter, put out her album Hollywood Gypsy which included the smash hits “Chasing,” “I Love You, Now Change,” and “Better When I’m Drunk.”
But the mega-hit “Welcome To The Club” firmly planted her flag on the pop-country landscape. The song is about not feeling like you fit in. The words If you feel like life's a bit/ Heavy on your heart and you're sick of it/ And the world makes you feel/ Like you're lost and you don't belong, you're not the only one prove that even when you are beautiful and teeming with loads of talent, there are still moments when self-down creeps in. The relatable tune has had well over 3 million spins.
Fortunately, the community feel of Nashville has become her second home. But as she was focused on her burgeoning career, her boyfriend of ten years (who she thought was the one) unexpectedly broke up with her.
She recalled, “He dumped me via email and blocked me on everything. I was like, ‘I know I'm psycho, but I'm not that psycho.’”
Nothing spurs a songwriting tsunami like a bad breakup, and that is precisely what happened to Twinnie.
She wrote her first murder ballad, “Just Like Earle.” As in, "Just like (the Chick’s) Earl, you had to die.”
Twinnie then wrote one of her favorite songs ever, the stunning “The Way I Loved You.” She included her ex's old voicemail at the beginning of the song. “He’s forever attached to me in a song now,” she accepted.
Before releasing her massive (22 songs) breakup and now getting over him album Something We Used to Say, in 2023, Twinnie gave us the EP Blue Hour (After Dark), which included the songs “Lonely Long” and “Sad Boy.” In early 2024, the EP Blue Hour (Before the Dawn) contained the tunes “Girl In Your Songs,” “Take a Break,” and “The Greatest Love Story,” which gave us a preview of what was to come.
The last song Twinnie released before gifting us with Something We Used to Say was “Hypothetically,” proving she has moved on when considering what may be with another guy. The song and the record confirm that Twinnie’s “Sad Girl Era” is over.
In a candid message to her fans, Twinnie stated, “Growing up as a gypsy, I realized the value and importance of community and how one can thrive in that environment. It makes perfect sense to me how I ended up in Nashville, as that's what the city has built on. No one is exempt from pain or suffering, and in 2022, I endured a lot of it, from a 10-year relationship abruptly ending to saying goodbye to my family to move countries to chase a crazy dream. It felt like my whole world was spinning out of control. And I'll be honest, I've never felt more alone, terrified, and excited at the prospect of new beginnings. They say your new life will cost you your old one, so it requires me to be braver than I've ever been. This record is a chapter in my life that I'm now closing. It's grieving a life I said goodbye to while celebrating the new one I carved out for myself.”
Last year, in November of 2023, Twinnie made her Opry debut. In October of 2024, she made history by being the first British country-pop singer to perform the American National Anthem at Geodis Park in Nashville.
The actress/singer/songwriter confessed, “I have never been so scared in my life.” But I can attest that she slayed it, now raising the bar for American country crooners who also sing the “Star Spangled Banner.”
On the day she released Something We Used to Say, she also released the music video for “Girl in Your Songs.” The joy she exudes in the devil-may-care tune truly makes me happy.
Just like the album has stitched back all the broken pieces of Twinnie’s life, she hopes it will inspire you to trust the process and embrace everything that makes you, you. If you haven’t heard of her until today, you can never go back because once Twinnie and her music become part of your life, it will never be the same.
Twinnie dreams of becoming the first British country-pop singer to have an American number-one hit. With her drive, insight, and talent, I have no doubt her dream will be achieved.
Follow Twinnie on her website, Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube, and all streaming platforms.
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Bethany Bowman is a freelance entertainment writer. You can follow her blog, Facebook, Instagram, and X.
Something We Used to Say: TrackList
- Lonely Long
- Hypothetically
- Take a Break
- Just like Earle
- Something We Used to Say
- Girl in Your Song
- Sad Boy
- Paying Interest
- The Way I Love You
- The Greatest Love Story
- Dance With Somebody Else
- Blue Hour
- Crazy Ex
- Bad Man
- London
- Rewrite
- Miss You
- Write You Out
- Fall In Love
- Anybody Else
- Audience
- Last Song
