Newcastle buskers and The Voice UK winners set to release debut single

A North East female duo, who are known for busking on the streets of Newcastle, are set to release their debut single, following their recent win on The Voice UK. 

Jenna Cole and Olivia Irwin, who were known as Jen & Liv on The Voice UK but are now known as HUNNI, announced via Instagram that their first ever single, will be released on  Friday, April 19 and will be named Heartbeat. 

The duo from Whitley Bay and County Durham competed in the twelfth series of The Voice UK, with each of the four judges (will.i.am, Anne-Marie, Tom Jones and Olly Murs) turning their chair for the girls in their blind audition. 

During their audition, where they performed a rendition of Woman by Doja Cat, presenter Emma Willis took will.i.am’s chair and decided for him whether or not to turn for the duo, in a first-time moment for the show. 

will.i.am backed Emma’s decision, which led to Jen & Liv choosing The Black Eyed Peas artist as their mentor for the show. 

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The pair went on to be crowned the winners of The Voice UK series 12, after successful performances including a cover of I’m Every Woman by Chaka Khan and Break My Soul by Beyonce, which they performed alongside will.i.am. 

As part of their prize for winning, Jen & Liv released their winning single which was the I’m Every Woman cover, and also won £50,000 and a holiday to Mauritius. 

In February 2024, the pair announced that they had signed a record deal with Universal Music Group and had changed their name to HUNNI. 

Now, they are set to release their first ever single, Heartbeat. To announce the brand-new song, HUNNI released a snippet of the track on their official Instagram page, and a further post with a caption that read: “We’re finally releasing ‘Heartbeat’ on Friday! 🥹

“So much love, time and energy has gone into this track. The past year has been such a rollercoaster, working with so many talented collaborators, finding our sound, and discovering HUNNI. We are so proud of ‘Heartbeat’, and we hope you love it as much as we do.

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