‘They’d polished the stage like an ice rink’

Singer Paul Young, 68, on walking away from superstardom, coping with loss and the pitfalls of on-stage acrobatics

BEST of TIMES

Born in Luton in 1956, Paul Young found moderate success with the Q-Tips in the 1970s before hitting the big time as a solo artist in the 1980s with the massive 1983 album No Parlez, the first of three number one albums. He topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, sang on the Band Aid single in 1984 and at Live Aid in 1985. Since the mid-1990s he has performed with Los Pacaminos and had three children with his first wife, Stacey, a model, who died of brain cancer in 2018. Young lives in Bedfordshire with his fiancé Lorna.

BEST CHILDHOOD MEMORY?

Most of my childhood memories growing up in Bedfordshire were good, because I was always given a lot of freedom and trust, and the world just seemed a safer place then. When I was 12, I’d get the bus fare and go down to the swimming baths with my friends. If it was a nice day, we’d walk the five or six miles home, which didn’t seem to matter, often via the local woods, where we’d get up to the crazy things that kids do, like falling in the duck pond. The Small Faces song “Itchycoo Park” very much reminds me of those days. It just felt so carefree.

BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE?

I would say my kids being born but I’ve had three so I couldn’t pick one, so probably getting to number one in America with “Every Time You Go Away”. The first time I got to number one in the UK with “Wherever I Lay My Hat” was so shocking I couldn’t process it, but the second time round was different.

BEST MOMENT OF ‘PINCH ME’ POP STARDOM?

I can pinpoint the exact moment: it suddenly became massive, reached a pinnacle and then dropped very quickly. I’d gone from having no security guards, to having one normal security guard, then a military security guard, then two military security guards, one to be with me 24/7 and the other to plan ahead – how to get in and out of venues without being mobbed. A few months on, I couldn’t leave my hotel room as people were stalking the corridors. That’s when I thought, “Right, I didn’t sign up for this. I don’t like this any more.”

BEST MOMENT ON STAGE?

I had a run of six shows at Wembley Arena. It was a ridiculous schedule – five shows with one day off in the middle – then because demand was so high, we added an extra date on the day off. At this point I was totally on my game, and knew the stage really well, so I took some ridiculous chances… climbing the PA stack, running across the row of bass speakers, knee-sliding across the stage. (I don’t do that any more, by the way.)

BEST FRIEND IN THE BUSINESS?

One of my oldest friends is Tony from the Q-Tips days. He was the trumpet player and I’ve known him since kindergarten. From the Band Aid days, I know Midge Ure the best. He’s a very wise man and I can always call him up – we got on like a house on fire when we toured America together in 2018. I’m close to Tony Hadley too, although we don’t see each other that much – but when we do meet up we’ve got loads in common.

BEST CHARACTERISTIC?

I would say 99 per cent of the time I’m pretty calm. I don’t get flustered about things. I’m fairly organised and I’m dependable. I’m always there for people and I think my kids would call me pretty solid.

BEST DECISION?

When I decided to get out of the music business for a while. After that period where it all went from being incredibly intense to going downhill, I just said to my manager that I needed some time out. I’d started making wrong decisions musically, too. On the third album the Americans were constantly complaining that they couldn’t characterise me – which had actually been one of my strengths – so I kept it stylistically similar for the whole album, which wasn’t

Young at heart: Paul’s knee-sliding days are over