KELLY ROWLAND
Gets personal
At first glance, Kelly Rowland’s life is pretty much perfect. She’s a world-famous singer, has a happy marriage, is mum to a gorgeous 5-yearold boy and she’s best friends with Beyoncé. But, within moments of sitting down with the 38-year-old The Voice Australia coach, it’s clear that she really is just like the rest of us. You see, Rowland has had a bad day. She’s been in Sydney for a week, and while she loves her job on The Voice, she’s missing her son, Titan, like crazy. “I’m a mum,” she tells WHO. “I had a hard time yesterday. Yeah. I had a hard time yesterday and then you pick yourself up and dust yourself off and figure your stuff out.”
Ever the professional, Rowland puts on a brave smile and looks out at the Harbour Bridge. “But I love this city,” she admits. The former Destiny’s Child star says she enjoys spending time in Australia working on The Voice. And we’re lucky to have her because Rowland’s career and life are booming. She’s currently working on a new album – her first in six years – she’s starring in the US drama series American Soul as iconic singer Gladys Knight, and she wants to have another baby.
You’ve been doing a lot of acting recently – are you loving it?
I do love it. I’m looking for more roles now to sink my teeth into because I truly enjoy it and I love being on set and I love the idea of knowing that you’re going to be on set this long. You get to go home. My son likes routine.
Will you ever stop making music to focus on your acting?
I have a lot of music in me. I just want to feel like it’s the best of the best that it can be. I’m extremely hard on myself.
Tell us about the music you’re working on.
I wanted to just completely be obnoxious and just brag about myself, because I’ve never done that on a record and I’m an independent artist. You want the music to speak for itself, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to have a machine to help you push in some money to help you push that s--t out. It’s a real business. You have to be smart. There’s
a reason why I’ve been blessed for so many years; I’m trying to be smart with my money. Now I have a kid to take care of and I have the audacity to want another one.
You want another baby?
I totally want another one. Not right now, though. Not right now. My music is honestly my baby and I have to birth this one because it’s been in the womb for five freaking years. I still have to tell all the stories, I have so many stories. I’m so anxious to tell all these great stories. Because if I’m feeling it, other people feel it.
It sure sounds like making this new record is like giving birth …
It’s a baby. And it’s also time away from my family. I notice when I’m in that zone, Titan is like, “Mum? Mummy? Are you looking at this?” I’m like, “Totally baby, keep drawing.” “I’m not drawing I’m actually playing the drums,” or, “I’m not drawing, I’m trying to jump off something new.” You’ve got to balance all of that. Being a woman, I have so much love and respect for us on a whole other level. We’re exceptional. And in the States, I don’t know about how it is here, but that’s why [men] can’t take – it’s too much power for them. And that’s why they try to take everything away because it’s like, “No, you have babies, you do this, you do that, now you’re running companies?” They’re scared. Do you think women can have it all?
It’s challenging, but you can have it. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.
How is The Voice this season?
A lot of fun. We’ve had a lot of spontaneous moments that have happened on the show. We had to ask the producers at least twice, “Did y’all plan that?” We haven’t planned anything, to the point of where it’s like: that’s weird that just happened. You know what I mean? It’s really cool that things are just happening like that. It does make for great TV. There have been moments where [Boy] George is like, “I just, I need to get up and I need to walk out.”
Oh dear, who’s he fighting with?
Me, usually. Because I go toe-to-toe with him. I’m not scared of George. Guy [Sebastian] is the peacemaker. And Delta [Goodrem] is the peacemaker. George and I raise hell. And it’s perfect, it’s perfect. It’s a very good balance. But you’re friends, right?
I love George. Like, literally, I am asking him for clothing. I love George so much. He probably secretly thinks I’m a stalker because he wore an outfit last year I’m like, “What did you do with that? Is it at the cleaners? Is it at home in your closet? Why can’t I have it? Can I have it? George, will you sign the tag?” He’s like, “What is wrong with you?” I love him and he’s an icon. Is it hard to lose an artist to another coach? Delta has this saying that “Everyone goes to who they’re supposed to go to”. I strongly believe that. Because some artists you’re not able to get through to, and that’s OK.
There’s just nothing better than seeing really high-profile musicians beg for people!
I know. I’ve actually got on my knees before. When you want an artist bad enough …
Do you have a target on your back this year because you won last year?
No-one wants me to win. Especially George. Think about it: this is the third year. George and I have been here for three years now. And I won last year. Delta won the first year. He wants to win so bad he can taste it, I can tell.