I do believe music can help people feel a little less lonely
SINGER GREGORY PORTER OPENS UP TO MARION MCMULLEN ABOUT LOSING HIS BROTHER TO COVID AND SEEING HIS SONGS IN A NEW LIGHT
WHEN Gregory Porter reached his 50th birthday last month the hardest moment for him was not hearing his late brother’s voice on the telephone wishing him all the best.
“Celebrating my 50th birthday without him felt so strange,” says Gregory. “He would always call me on my birthday and we would talk. The idea of him not making it to his 50th birthday – he was one year older than me – just feels so strange. We were there for every aspect, every moment of our lives and we lost him quite early in the pandemic.”
Lloyd died in New York of complications arising from Covid-19. “People have lost people all over the world and are dealing with their grief. My brother wasn’t being punished, he was just unlucky,” says Gregory. “I do believe music helps people express their emotions, share the suffering. It helps people feel a little less lonely. I know my music has been played at births, marriages and deaths. Important moments in people’s lives.”
The two-time Grammy Award winner is returning to the UK next year for his rescheduled tour dates and says he does his best writing when he is on the road.
“I’ve held back some of the emotions of the year we’ve been through because I want to sit and process it all before I write about it – make something for my brother,” he says.
“I’ve already starting writing personal songs for me and my family. They are not something for public consumption, but I am singing of my mother (who died when he was 21) and my brother. I’m also looking at songs I’ve done before like Liquid Spirit, in a new light, with new meaning. My story is his. We grew up together and for all of those songs he was there too.
“I was on stage in Germany when the pandemic restrictions started. There was a little chatter before the show about maybe there would have to be some cancellations here or there, something like that. By the time I got off stage, the whole tour was cancelled and I was told I needed to fly back home. The seriousness of it all we didn’t really know about then. My company flew to France first to do a TV show.”
He adds: “Like many people, we’ve assessed what is important and it’s made me realise the importance of music. Music means so much to me and all this has given me a new re-focus.”
Social media lets people say what they feel the moment they feel it and Gregory launched and hosted his own podcast called The Hang during lockdown, playing host to a range of celebrity guests and this year he released cooking series The Porterhouse with Gregory Porter, which saw him sharing recipes inspired by his local community, culinary experiences on tour and his own family cooking traditions.
The American singer is hoping to do more of both. He laughs: “Being at home with my family that kept me really busy, but in a way it also gave me time to do the other things I am interested in – connecting with other artists and my history with food and making food. I was a chef.”
A seasoned performer, Gregory has sung many times for the Queen and performed Amazing Grace at the Royal Albert Hall in London at the 70th Anniversary VE Day celebrations. He’s also appeared at the iconic Pyramid stage at Glastonbury and was the first celebrity to sing on Cbeebies Bedtime Stories.
“I recently did my first big shows at the Royal Albert Hall and it was quite emotional,” he admits. “It was such a beautiful experience being back. My first performance at the Royal Albert Hall was 10 years ago when I was the opening act for Van Morrison. It was just surreal to come back and have that memory of 10 years ago.”
Gregory’s new album Still Rising is out now and is a collection of favourite tracks, new arrangements and new music as well as duets with people like Paloma Faith, Moby, Jamie Cullum, Ella Fitzgerald and Jeff Goldblum. His young son Demyan can also be heard singing on the album.
“I’m trying to encourage him in his music, but not push him,” says the proud dad. “I want it to be something that he wants to do.”
Gregory continues: “This is my music up until now, but it’s not a Greatest Hits. They often come at the end of someone’s career,and I still feel new and young in mine. I have much more to say.
“There is always something in an artist’s career that people don’t know about. I wanted to bring it to their attention.
“The album title echoes my last one, All Rise, because I am reiterating something evident in my music and the new songs here – this upward-looking optimism about life and love. It’s an unfinished story for me, both musically and personally. And I’m still learning how to do this. Still rising.”
Gregory Porter’s new album
Still Rising is out now and his UK tour starts on May 7. Visit gregoryporter.com. For tickets see the venues or ticketline.co.uk and 0844 888 9991.