Maisie Peters looks back at her original aspirations in Reading 2026: From the small stage of BBC Introducing to The O2headline in 2027

Three years ago, Maisie Peters performed a surprise performance at the Reading Festival on a stage that has gone into history - the BBC Introducing - which happened to be the day her debut album was released. On August 29 this year, she stood on the main stage, which was renamed The Grid, and gave a "megamix" performance spanning her personal music career. She is the owner of the third album "Florescence".

"It feels like it happened yesterday, and it feels like a million years ago," she recalled of the BBC Introducing show. "It was a very special show because that was the day my first album was released. So to be back here now with my third album and stand on the main stage, it feels full circle and cool." She also mentioned the other performers at the same venue that day, including Raye, Jade and Slayyyter: "There are so many cool artists today, and I'm honored to be here."

"Florescence" was released in May this year. NME gave a four-star review describing the album as recording Peters' "blooming" process. She herself said that these three albums, especially the second and third, were deliberately written records of her life: "I really wanted to accurately record my life at that time during the year and a half that I wrote each album. When I was making "Florescence", my state was much more stable than before." She mentioned that this was the first time in four years that she really stayed at home, no longer touring and traveling. "I felt that kind of calmness and stability first before I was able to make this album. I think this can be heard in the music."

"Florescence" is also Peters' first album to invite other singers to collaborate, including "Kingmaker" with Julia Michaels and "If You Let Me" with Marcus Mumford. She explained that the first two albums did not allow much time for collaboration: "Like many artists, you will hope that your demo album will be purely your own thing. "The Good Witch" was done very quickly, and I hardly remember anything other than rushing to complete the mixing and delivery. With "Florescence", for the first time, I had more time, so I had space to think about different possibilities, and I also had the opportunity to create in the same room with people who I usually wouldn't meet because of schedules."

Julia Michaels is one of Peters' musical idols who grew up listening to music. She mentioned that she once bought a ticket to see Michaels as the opening guest, "Sorry, Niall Horan! Of course I saw his performance, but I have always liked Julia, ever since I was very young." She said that the way she makes music would not be what it is now if she had not heard and known Julia Michaels. After writing "Kingmaker", Michaels sent a message saying that he liked the song very much, "If you want me to sing on it, I'd be happy to." Peters's reply was: "Julia, don't hang up the phone yet, just go into the studio."

In June of this year, Peters also fulfilled another wish - to bring "Florescence" to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. "I'm a very long-time country music fan and have watched countless YouTube videos of Opry performances," she said. "It was really cool to be able to stand on that stage and jump into that circle. House The band is very good. They have learned all my songs. When you go to the live duet, all the musicians will already know how to play your songs. This feeling is unreal. ""Florescence" itself was produced in Nashville. She laughed and said, "If you told me when I first went to Nashville to make this album, I would be singing "You Then Me Now" at the Opry one day. I would be scared."

Peters' next milestone is to appear as a headliner at The O2 in London for the first time in 2027. When asked if this was her bucket list moment, she hesitated: "It probably doesn't count, because when I was 16 years old and making the bucket list, I probably didn't even think about putting it in." She smiled and said, "It would be crazy, but I really can't imagine it now. I will really start preparing in three or four months. Ask me again, I will start to 'imagine' soon."

As for what special arrangements there will be for the show, Peters gave a hint: "I will probably be on horseback. There should be a lot of horses, real horses. We might as well just remove the stage, replace them all with horses, and then let the horses fly into the air, just like in Ariana Grande's concert."