Mum, what are you wearing... and why the shiny bottom?
SHE is one of Scotland’s most successful musical exports, having sold more than 20 million records. But despite hits including For Your Eyes Only and U Got The Look, it seems Sheena Easton has failed to impress her own children. The 57-year-old singer from Bellshill, Lanarkshire, admits her son and daughter are underwhelmed by her success – and even tease her about the lurid outfits she wore in the 1980s. Las Vegas-based Miss Easton once sported shocking pink catsuits and upswept big hair before switching to the sultry, skin-tight outfits she wore for Sugar Walls with her mentor Prince. After four broken marriages, the six-times Grammy nominee in the US raised her adopted son and daughter alone. The Scot refused to tour at the height of her fame, choosing to be a stayat-home mother to Jake and his sister Skylar. After sending them off to school with a packed lunch, she worked eight cabaret shows a week in Nevada to support them.
Now her son is 22 and her daughter is about to turn 21, Miss Easton is to make her London West End debut next year playing diva Dorothy Brock in the musical 42nd Street.
But Miss Easton said her children have never been in awe of her as a star. She added: ‘Every so often my daughter and I will get out some photos and she will say: “Mum, oh my God, what were you wearing? Look at that, your butt, it’s so shiny.”
‘And I say, “Darling, it was called Spandex – may you never, ever have to see it in real life”.’
The singer, who adopted her son at 35 and her daughter at 37, told stagefaves.com: ‘Since they were babies they have understood that mum is going to work, a job.
‘There was no glamour attached to it. I used to say things like, “Mum’s got to go. The boss will fire her if she is late”. For them, my job was a profession and it took this much work.
‘As they got a little bit older it was debunked, demystified. There was no glamour attached to it for them. My son plays guitar, but neither of them has any desire to do anything in showbusiness.’