I also believe you’re an activist. You’ve always been clear about who you were and are. You created your own distinct identiity of being authentically outside of the box. Therefore, as you evolve into a different place, coming to the end of a very successful career, who is Alexander O’Neal going to reinvent himself into? I’m still trying to get my head around this farewell tour. I’ve been performing for a very long time. However, after all these years there are some things I now want to do. First and foremost, I want to spend more time around my family and grandchildren. Finding a bit of normality in a life that hasn’t had any normality. There’s was no white picket fence because you don’t get a chance to experience normality because you’re working all the time.
Photo Credit: Photo By Ed Araquel
Also I want to try my hand at something totally different from music. To be able to create my own shoe line and make shoes. I want to make shoes with my hands first, and be good at it. I want to understand the industry I’m about to go into, because it’s like anything else, in order to make your way in an industry that is already established and be successful, in or to make your mark you’ve got to punch your way in and through. To have an Alexander O’Neal shoe range is intriguing and exciting to me.
What do you feel has been the reason for your longevity in the industry? I believe it’s because of what God intended for me to be and do, it was obviously something that was ordained for me. When I was younger, I went to college and I wanted to be a football player, but I ended up quitting college. Then I went to another college and quit that too. In the end I realised that college wasn’t for me at the time. It isn’t for everybody. This therefore motivated me because I realised I was never a good quitter and so almost 50 years later, after getting my first record deal, I realised that because I never quit, that is what has been the reason for my longevity. As a result, and what has encouraged me are my fans, especially my British fans who have been stellar and so supportive and have given me so much love. A lot of my fans in America know the success I have enjoyed this side of the water. So, my fans have definitely encouraged me and have given so much back to me in return, that it’s phenomenal, and that is also part of the reason for my longevity in this industry.
TURNINGPOINT: MUSIC & LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE
You were born in Mississippi, and I read about some of the experiences you had, we know what Mississippi was known for. Do you think being born in that environment at that time and having the experiences you did fired you up to never give up, to push beyond the ordinary? I think there were a lot of different things that contributed to who I am now. One was growing up without a father. He drowned in the Mississippi river, working for the Government, when my mother was 6 months pregnant with me. So I grew up with some psychological challenges around that. 7
LEGACY BUILDERS
