Jamelia released her debut album, Drama, in 2000 - and the name couldn't have been more apt.
The BRIT Award-nominated star has battled some controversies and heartbreaks in the years since she burst on to the scene with her single So High, before landing a top three hit with Superstar, which went platinum.
Her other hits including See it in a Boy's Eyes, Money and Thank You won her four MOBOs as well as modelling contracts with the likes of BMW, Jaguar, Pretty Polly and Reebok.
At the height of her fame, Jamelia had her own line of perfumes and hair products, performed for Nelson Mandela twice and was a regular on the catwalk for Naomi Campbell's annual Fashion for Relief show.
She starred on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015, surviving to week nine, and has also starred in BBC soap Doctors and on Richard Osman's House of Games.
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And as well as her jam-packed work calendar, she's a mother of three - daughters Teja, 20, Tiani, 16, and True, four, who she called a "miracle baby".
Teja's father is Jamelia's music manager ex Terry Wallen, who she says inspired her cutting break up song Thank You, and Tiani's dad is the singer's ex-husband Darren Byfield, a footballer-turned-manager who Jamelia was married to for a year in 2008.
True's father is Jamelia's mysterious husband whose identity she hasn't revealed.
Towards the end of the 2000s, Birmingham-born Jamelia slowly moved away from music into TV, becoming a judge on Move It Like Michael Jackson in 2009 and fronting powerful documentaries including The House That Made Me and Shame About Single Mums.
She landed a regular slot on Loose Women but wasn't invited back in 2017 after a backlash against her comments about plus-sized clothes.
Outrage ensued when the star said she didn't think it was responsible for shops to stock clothes in larger sizes, claiming that it helped "facilitate people living an unhealthy lifestyle."
She explained: "In the same way I don't believe that a size zero should be available - it's not a healthy size for an average woman to be. I don't believe they [high street stores] should be providing clothes for below that range or above that range.
"Yes, have specialist shops, but you should feel uncomfortable if you are unhealthy... to be available in every High Street store, I don't think that's right."
Speaking out about her departure from the show, Jamelia told the Birmingham Mail she hadn't been "formerly sacked" but said she doubted she would be returning.
"The show is going in a different direction at the moment and I don’t seem to be a part of that narrative," she said.
Despite the uproar, Jamelia has stood by her comments, insisting she didn't say anything different to what was being said by the rest of the panel and stating she felt the backlash was directed at her because of the colour of her skin.
She told Heart Online: "I'm not going to beat around the bush, I think when you are black and you are in the public eye and you are being vocal and speaking out on issues - you are not ordinarily allowed to have certain conversations.
"[But] it's very important to be bold and brave, in particular as a mother of daughters, I want to teach them that they have to say what they think even if it affects them adversely.
"I don't mind that it's affected me financially, because emotionally I feel as though I'm living in my truth."
In 2019, Jamelia sparked another controversy when she suggested people over the age of 75 should be stripped of their right to vote, and shouldn't have been allowed a say in the Brexit referendum.
"I just don't think it's fair that you have a vote when you're not going to experience the consequences of that vote," she said on The Jeremy Vine Show.
"And you've had 50-60 years of voting," she added.
Her comments led to accusations she was being "ageist" and "disrespectful", but Jamelia didn't comment further on the matter.
Meanwhile, after splitting from Walsall Wood manager Darren, Jamelia stayed single while devoting herself to raising her daughters.
However, as they both approached university age and Jamelia faced an empty nest, she began dating again - and fell in love.
Jamelia has never shared the identity of the mystery man who stole her heart in 2017, but they "ran away" and got married within months and Jamelia fell pregnant just weeks later.
However, their happiness turned to panic when the star's waters broke at 23 weeks and doctors warned she could deliver at any moment.
She was confined to complete bed rest and managed to get to 36 weeks when daughter True arrived happy and healthy as the Beast from the East battered the country.
"I didn't know your waters could break and you can still carry the baby," she told Hello! magazine.
"There are so many problems that come along with that happening. It was a really scary time for all of us.
"They keep calling my daughter a miracle baby. Going through something like that really opens your eyes."
In 2021, Jamelia, who turned 41 on Tuesday, landed a role on a major soap as it was announced she would guest star in a Hollyoaks special.
She played Walter's family friend Sharon Bailey, Pearl's daughter, in an episode featuring an all Black cast as part of Channel 4's Black to Front Project which highlighted Black talent both in front of and behind the camera.
"Filming Hollyoaks has been the most fantastic experience," said Jamelia.
"I've felt like I've been around family, I've felt so comfortable and so joyous. It's just been amazing. I can't believe this is supposed to be work."
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