‘Beware... fame will bite you on the bum’ HAZEL O’CONNOR ON X FACTOR RISK

POP star Hazel O’Connor has warned wannabes about the perils of fame.

The singer and actress’ career was blighted by court battles over her recording contract.

Hazel, 63, has been hit with another legal blow – after a past foreign deal came back to haunt her.

But despite the setbacks, she is still travelling the world playing her music.

On the eve of her latest tour, Hazel told the Daily Star Sunday that young dreamers should keep their eyes wide open.

In a rare chat, she said: “Fame is so mesmerising.

“You can be very popular and then ever so suddenly not.

“What I would warn people is that you are generally popular because of the corporate machine.

“It’s really just about who has paid the most money for the publicity. I do sympathise with all these young ones that get famous from The X Factor.

“People need to remember that fame can also bite you on the bum.”

Hazel was plucked from obscurity to star in the 1980 film Breaking Glass – the tale of a punk rocker’s rise and fall from fame.

The film’s soundtrack was a hit, but she struggled to find any more chart hits.

By 1982, she was battling three cases in court.

She was fighting to leave her recording contract, challenging a saxophonist over her hit Will You? and in dispute with her former manager.

Hazel said: “It’s an absurd position to be in.

“I was being sued and didn’t have a penny to live on, yet if I went down to the corner shop to buy a pint of milk I’d be mobbed.

“I was really rundown and had nothing to live on.

“It was pretty wrecking. I went a bit loopy for a while.” Now, 36 years later, Hazel is facing another court case. She described its impact as “like PTSD”.

She says a German record company has claimed it owns rights to two albums – Sons and Lovers and Cover Plus – because of a deal with her former label Albion.

The company took legal action after Hazel re-released the albums herself.

She said: “Never once have I been contacted by them before now, never mind with any royalties.

“In my original contract if somebody sells me on, they have to get written permission from me – the artist – and that never happened. It’s never-ending. It felt like post traumatic stress.” Hazel credits her love of music – and karate – for getting her through the hard times.

This week she begins a sevendate tour with The Bluja Project.

From November 12 she will tour her Breaking Glass sessions, with a film screening, Q&A and gig.

The singer, who lives in Revel, France, and near Wicklow, Ireland, counts herself lucky she is still able to perform for her fans.

She even has superfans called “Hazelnuts”.

She said: “I’m selling 500 tickets a go. That’s not bad going.

“At the end of the day I love music. It makes me feel alive and wonderful.”

For tour dates and more info see hazeloconnor.com.