Iwanttoshow women it is OK age to do what
Lisa Stansfield on why she’s happy to fly the flag for older ladies and on her lasting relationship and strong creative partnership with husband Ian
when she won the TV singing competition Search for a Star.
But we are pleased to report that the 51-year-old singer is completely unaffected by her star status.
When we speak on the phone, she is warm, friendly and open, sharing stories from her travails in the music business in a broad Manc accent, liberally peppered with the f-word.
She said: “Even after 30 years, I still feel like, ‘Oh God, they’re going to find out.’ Like I’m pretending, somehow.”
Thankfully, Lisa is still delighting her fans with new music and is about to release her eighth album, Deeper, next month.
As always, Lisa co-wrote the album with her husband of 20 years, Ian Devaney, who has been a steady support both professionally and personally throughout her career.
Theirs is a rare love story in the fickle world of showbusiness.
When asked the secret to their lasting relationship, Lisa said: “We starting going out at 22 but were friends for a long time before that.
“We are in love with each other, respect each other and watch each other’s back.
“It’s still as strong and as exciting but it’s different – much stronger and much deeper.
“Of course, we have our share of rows like any other couple – we’d be completely weird if we didn’t.
“But we are as thick as thieves, allies in everything – when we’re naughty and when we’re good.
“The longest we’ve ever been apart is two weeks in 30 years. “If I had to be away from him for months at a time I’d find it absolutely awful.”
It’s perhaps her strong relationship with Ian and her close family – she is one of three sisters – which has kept her feet planted firmly on the ground.
She was the biggest British female solo pop star of the 90s – her debut album sold five million copies, she sang with George Michael at Wembley Stadium and cracked America too.
Her songs featured in the soundtracks of two of the biggest movies of the decade – The Bodyguard and Indecent Proposal (the sometime actress was also invited to screen-test for the latter but that’s another story).
But while Lisa’s career has been wildly successful, she has endured personal heartbreak over the years.
In 2007, she was left devastated when her beloved mum Marion died in her sleep.
It sparked a desperate need in Lisa to become a mum herself but she was unable to have children. She said: “When mum died, it made me think about what I really wanted. I was completely obsessed with having a baby.
“We went through three rounds of IVF – it was completely demoralising. You’re just being prodded and poked.
“It’s so unnatural to inject yourself. I just thought after the third one, ‘I can’t do this any more.’”
Instead, Lisa found an outlet for her maternal side by being a proud aunt to her five nieces.
“It’s all girls in my family – my dad’s sick of it,” she said.
“My nieces grew up with me being famous – but I’m just Auntie Lisa to them.
“One of my nieces is at uni studying theatre and film – she’s an unbelievable clever clogs, she doesn’t want to be on my side of the fence, though. She’s a brilliant writer.”
Times are changing for women with the recent #MeToo and Hollywood’s Time’s Up campaigns highlighting endemic sexual harassment in all reaches of society.
It’s not surprising that Lisa experienced unwanted sexual advances during her rise to fame.
She said: “When I was very young, I joined a modelling school.
“The boss put his hand on my leg and I slapped him.
“That’s advice I’d give any woman – they’ll soon get the message.
“If someone is paying your wages, it doesn’t mean they can feel you up and treat you like a prostitute.”
Her tough streak was obviously developed at an early age and Lisa says growing older has only made her more determined to do things her own way.
She said: “To be a woman of my age and fly the flag for older women is nice. I want to show other women that it’s OK at this age to do whatever the f*** they like.
“You don’t have to conform – I think that’s ridiculous. You have a right to be a human being.
“When you get to a certain age as a woman, you think, ‘Am I just going to get forgotten now?’
When you start feeling like that, you’ve gotta go for it.”
She exudes this attitude in the video for new single Billionaire where she appears wearing a slither of a dress over her incredible toned body.
Lisa, who plays Edinburgh on her 52nd birthday next month, said: “Everything changes for the better as you get older.
“It’s actually good for your health because you have to look after yourself.
“I used to smoke 40 fags a day but I gave up seven years ago and now I love exercising, though I don’t knacker myself out.”
As well as the faithful fanbase who have grown up with her music, Lisa says she’s been surprised by