I feel like fame is a massive illusion
REBECCA FERGUSON TELLS MARION McMULLEN SHE HAS PLENTY TO SING ABOUT AFTER BECOMING A MUM AGAIN
MUM’S the word for singer Rebecca Ferguson as she prepares to head out on tour with her new baby son.
“I’ve always taken the kids with me,” says the former X Factor finalist. “I’d normally be trying to do warm-up and I’d have one clinging to my leg or I’ll breast-feeding. It’s stressful, but I do like to involve the kids.
“Carl is 18 now, how mad is that? And Lillie is 20 this year, but they loved coming on tour with me and going places growing up. When it came to them getting jobs, they struggled because they loved the fast pace of being different places on different days and Lillie was saying ‘Mum, that’s what I want to do now because I’m so used to that life’.”
Rebecca is also mum to Arabella and last year she and sports agent husband Johnny Hughes welcomed their first child together – a baby boy born on Valentine’s Day (they have yet to reveal his name).
“It’s busy, busy, busy,” she chuckles, “but you know, if I’m honest, I’m always busy. If it’s not the kids, it’s the house, if it’s not the house, then I’m working. That’s just life. I’m always on the go.”
Rebecca was watched by millions when she sang at the Eurovision Song Contest last year in her home city of Liverpool.
“That was fun,” she says. “I really, really enjoyed that. I liked the atmosphere. It was so lovely and I’d love to do it again, just for the atmosphere alone. Everywhere I turned in the city it was like there was something happening. It was huge.
“It was straight after the baby and I felt ‘oh, is this too soon?’, but it all went well and the audience was amazing, the crowds were lovely, and I enjoyed it so much.”
The positive feedback has led the 37-year-old to get ready hit the road in May and June with her Heaven Part II tour. It follows the release of the album of the same name in December, which came out 12 years to the day since her debut album Heaven was released.
Rebecca has said it will be her final album, but she will continue to release music. “The album was released on a Tuesday, I totally didn’t get the memo that you have to release on a Friday, so I messed up on the charts and stuff, but the critical reviews and audience reviews were amazing and it’s actually been getting a lot of attention in America as well.
“It’s the final album, but not my final music. I’m definitely going to be releasing other music. On Spotify and Apple, you’ll just see random songs getting uploaded. It might be a bit wacky. I might go and make an electronic EP and people will be like ‘what the hell, where did that come from?’ I’m in that place where I’m willing to experiment with music and have a bit of fun.”
Rebecca has recently been campaigning for an improved environment within the music industry and threw her support behind the creation of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) which, in time, will see better practices in the creative industries.
“It’s a tough old game, but that’s why you’ve got to focus on your art and not worry about anything else,” she says.
“I feel like fame is a massive illusion. I watched Snow White with the kids the other day and it’s a bit like the apple being given to you with ‘Oh, go on take a bite, you know you want it’, and actually it’s OK but I think the illusion is better than the reality.
“You’ve got to focus on your family, the people you love, your friends, on having an authentic life. Don’t get lost because you can get really lost in it and it can become an addiction.
“Everyone is looking for validation through fame and I’ve just got to the place where what I want to be is a really good mum, try to organise my house a lot better and just have a nice, lovely peaceful life.
“A lot of people can’t handle fame.
“A lot of people struggle and they turn to drugs... drink... and it’s something that you’ve got to manage very carefully and you’ve got to stay grounded.”
Rebecca has co-written four solo albums and has shared the stage worldwide with incredible names such as Lionel Richie, Andrea Bocelli, Nile Rodgers, and the late Burt Bacharach.
“I’ve been inspired by them,” she says. “Nile Rodgers is a prime example. He does not want to think about anything else but the creation of his music and that is his heart and soul. He’s like ‘God’s put me on earth to make music’, and I feel like that’s the place I’m at now. I don’t want to focus on anything else. I just want to be in my creative bubble, creating music and the rest can figure itself out.”
Rebecca adds: “I have been through so much already this year and when I’m ready, maybe next year, I’ll feel ready to tell my fans about it. I just think for whatever reason I’m quite resilient and I just manage to get on with it.
“Maybe it’s the Scouse girl in me, maybe it’s my nans who were strong Scouse women with gangs of kids. I feel like I’ve managed to bounce back and am able to juggle about 10 million plates.”
She smiles: “When I first started touring, my usual backstage rider used to be a cheese butty and a cup of tea ... that was it. But as the years have gone by I think ‘you know what? I’m actually worth a glass of champagne’”.
■ Rebecca’s Heaven Part II tour starts on May 17. Tickets available now from Ticketmaster
I’m in that place where I’m willing to experiment... and have a bit of fun Rebecca Ferguson