Sam’s struggle: ‘I love singing – losing my voice has destroyed a part of me’

SAM BROWN’S distinctive, powerful vocals were one of the sounds of the 1980s — but the pop star has revealed that she lost her singing voice 15 years ago. Brown, 58, has had two operations and tried everything — psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, speech therapy, acupuncture, Reiki, crystal healing and voice physio — to get it back, to no avail.

The success she tasted with the 1988 hit Stop! and subsequent hits including Kissing Gate is now just a memory, and she is working as a ukulele teacher.

She said: ‘It’s gone. Losing my voice destroyed part of me. There have been a lot of tears over the years.’

The issues started in 2005, when Brown noticed, while performing with Jools Holland, that she was struggling to maintain her pitch. Two years later, things had deteriorated to the point that she had to abandon a tour. A cyst was found on her vocal cords and removed, but still she could not hold a note.

What followed is every vocalist’s worst nightmare — and Brown says she can’t come to terms with the fact that her voice has gone for ever.

The daughter of 60s singer Joe, Sam grew up with stars like Stevie Wonder and Small Faces frontman Steve Marriott dropping in and out of the family home.

She worked with legends including Sir Elton John and George Harrison during her career. Now, she has had to adjust to a new reality, as a music teacher living in Dorset. ‘In the early days, I had a few nights looking at my old videos and clips on YouTube, with a bottle of wine, and it was heartbreaking,’ she recalled.

‘I loved singing more than anything else, apart from my children. Singing defined me. It’s like: “Who am I without my voice?” There is a level of depression constantly under the surface for me, which means I have to work a bit harder, just to enjoy my life.’

She added: ‘I think the issue with my voice was partly, if not largely, emotional. I was working a lot. I split up with my husband. I moved away with my kids and I basically had a breakdown.

‘But I continued to work and sing through it all, channelling everything into my voice. Then eventually my voice said: “No, we’re not doing that any more.” And it gave up.’

Despite all this, Brown is putting out a new album, Number Eight, this month, having spent £6,000 of her savings on recording it. Her vocals have been autotuned on the tracks.

She said: ‘My voice isn’t getting better. It’s getting worse if anything. It’s incredibly difficult for me to hear myself trying to sing a song. It’s painful.

‘For the album, I put my voice into an auto-tune programme and when I tuned it up, it all fell into place. I’m thrilled I’ve been able to overcome the loss of my voice and make an interesting piece of work.’