REBECCA FERGUSON

BY DANIEL MAY

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to chat with me this morning. How are you doing today?

I’m doing good, just getting on with things. The baby had me up early and I’ve had a few interviews this morning, I’ve got a bit of mummy tiredness but all’s good.

13 years since X Factor and 12 years since your debut album. Did you think back then you would garner the success you have now? What was the big plan when you thought, right I’m gonna enter X factor?

To be honest there was no plan when I entered it, I didn’t think I’d even get through. I was just happy that I got through to the show, then when I was on the show I wanted to get to the final three because I knew then I’d have some kind of career. It tends to be the final 3 that do okay generally and somehow make some type of living, so I always wanted to get to the end. I was lucky that I did, I always said back then whenever anyone asked me about being successful, “I’m not quite there yet, give it 10 years and I’m still around in 10 years I’d class that as a success.” I’m just grateful really that I’ve managed to hold a career this long and all that. I did step away a little bit but my fans have been loyal and stuck with me. I just feel really grateful that I’ve managed to have any type of career, really.

You’ve discussed your sort of difficult start in life and becoming a young mum and your determination for a better life for you and your children, you became a legal secretary to be a better role model to your kids. What do your kids think of you now that you’re this successful international recording artist?

I think I think they are proud of me, but it’s kind of like another world. At home, I’m just mum, I can’t describe it, we have such an everyday home life that like, it’s more like mum where’s my this is, where’s my that and like. They don’t tell me really they’re proud but then they write it in like Mother’s Day\ Birthday \ Christmas Cards to me. I’ve been very blessed they are good children; they’ve travelled the world of me on tour and that’s a lot of fun. They still have an everyday life in that mummy goes to work if I’ve got like a TV appearance, what I’ve got a show to do. I’ll say I’m off to wherever and I’ll be back later, and the reply can be Mum can you bring in those favourite jellies that I like on the way back or that ice cream I like. Sometimes I’ll say I’ll not be back until after 12 o’clock at night and I get but can you stop off at the garage and get me some Maltesers, please? That’s my life, it keeps me grounded.

You’ve duetted and recorded with some huge names from the industry. Christina Aguilera on the X Factor, Nile Rogers, Lionel, Richie and even Paul McCartney which I’m extremely jealous of. Over the years who has been the greatest experience to record with? Is there anyone you’ve not recorded yet or recorded with yet that you would love to and why? We’ll put this out to them, obviously to try to make it happen.

Oh my god, I literally adore Cher, she’s one of the reasons why I sing and it’s funny when you say some of those names and the penny drops and you get the, “Oh my god I sung with them” feeling. Working with every artist is a different thing, each one of them they have got a different unique thing that makes them the superstars they are. In terms of just general warmth and just the most gorgeous, beautiful person, Lionel Richie he’s just so warm, lovely and humble like just unbelievable. In terms of me just being fascinated by the way the brain works musically would be Nile Rodgers because just listening to how he makes music and what inspires him to make music, I found that amazing to watch in this studio. Then he got Andrea Bocelli, I had never heard anything like it listening to the voice next to me, it’s like 10 times anything that you can even hear on the record in person his voice is so powerful. Christine Aguilera is the same….her voice it’s just when it comes out it’s just the weirdest thing because it’s incredible like, what the hell has just come out your mouth? With all of them, they’ve all got something special, it was really good getting to work with them all. To record with any of the greats! I’m really into all the old great old school, singers and performers but unfortunately, a lot of them aren’t alive anymore. I’d actually maybe just do something a bit abstract, maybe with someone in rock music, I’ve always loved listening to and watching the Kings of Leon. I’d like to challenge myself, work with people who aren’t the same genre of music, really, and just see what we would come up with.

I know you touched on this briefly when I asked about who you’d love to record with and there have been a lot of comparisons over the years between you and the late great Billie Holiday and you even recorded an entire album of interpretations of her songs. What is it about Billie Holiday that inspires you? With Billie Holiday, she had a terrible life and she was very honest about why she was singing, she was singing to get by. She was like, I’ve got this voice and I need to pay the bills to live. I think with Billie when you’re there singing her songs, it’s the emotion, really. You can feel the pain in her voice really and that’s what I found when I was singing Billie’s songs, it’s how she connects to the song. What I think about when I think about Billy is the pain that she went through and all the suffering and how she translated that through song and that ability to convey emotion. I find it sad that she didn’t get a happy ending, I’d love her to have found some peace but it didn’t appear like she did.

It’s no secret you were treated terribly by certain people within the industry and you’ve been very vocal and fought such a good fight for you, and other artists despite everything that was being thrown at you. Where did that strength come from? You know what I think when you’ve been treated terribly for so long and you’ve lived in fear for so long you finally, just get to a point where you’re like, well I’m already afraid, I’m already feeling awful I may as well speak out because I am not going to feel worse in this journey. In the end, I just thought there was only fight or flight left and I just chose to fight. I got tired of holding people’s secrets, really tired of having the weight of all the secrets that I was holding. I did feel like when I gave evidence to the DCMS Committee last month and I gave all the names, I gave all I had to give like email evidence, I submitted them with crime reference numbers and things like that, once I had done that it was the biggest weight just lifted off me. I felt so free and I just found peace because I finally faced my fear.

You’ve been behind the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) How is everything going with that and what is the big aim with it all?

It’s going well, a lot of people have really hard on it. They’ve asked me to be a director for it and I think I probably will because before CIISA we had nothing like that. Creative industries like Music, modelling, gaming and musical theatre actually never had anyone we could go to when we felt things were wrong or when we were being treated badly. It’s good that we’ve got a place now that we can go to, it’s not perfect yet because everything takes time, we’ve got to iron out the kinks, it’s gonna take a few years for it to bed in and for us to learn what works what doesn’t work. But at least there’s something now and at least there’s consequences to bad behaviour \ management. They’ll not just be able to go around bullying etc. and getting away with things that have been going on in the industry for so so long. I’m just happy that I kicked it all off and that it happened and right now it’s going to at least keep a couple of people safe and I hope it keeps everyone safe eventually but it definitely needed it to happen.

I think it’s such a phenomenal thing to have as part of your legacy, to be honest, you kind of kicked that all into action. Now that you are part of the cause and effect for future artists, what advice would you give to budding singer-songwriters trying to break into the industry today?

My advice would be, as artists we just want to sing all the time every day in our lives. But I would say take at least one day in the week to just study the business, to really know the business inside and out, read up on everything in terms of your royalties, on legal and even work out what everybody’s role is because when you do enter the industry you don’t want to be in unsure about anything. You want to know everything so that you’re well informed and you’re able to make informed decisions at that, just really get to know what it’s all about.

Heaven part two, You’ve said it’ll be your last album before you retire from the music industry. Two questions from that, does that mean no tour for the fans and what does retirement look like for Rebecca Ferguson?

There will definitely be a tour and I will still perform. It just means that I’m not on the hamster wheel anymore and it’s basically me choosing a life with music that is on my terms where I’m not feeling like I’m having to live up to anything, or anyone’s view of me. I could still make music and upload it to Spotify or iTunes or whatever but I’m doing it on my teams. So really, it’s about me finding a better relationship with music. This is the first album I’ve ever released independently, I’ve learnt a lot but now that I’ve learnt a lot, I kind of know what it is I need to do realising the only person that needs to run the ship is me. In the past I just had all these people involved probably too many, I think now that I’ve released this album and it all depends on me I know I can do it on my own obviously, I’ve got the help of my husband who works in PR, and I’m sure that helps. I’ve got to have fun with it all, but ultimately I just think it’s about my fans and their relationship with my music that works for me, the old way I was made music just wasn’t for me.

I’ve been lucky enough to get to listen to the entire album your song, “I Have a Dream” is so full of positive messages and encouragement. When I listened to it I can just hear you performing it live backed up by a full gospel choir. What inspired the song because it’s just beautiful?

I Have a Dream is inspired by the fact there’s a lot going on in the world and it’s very really sad, there’s a lot of division and a lot of people because of ideology or whatever it is are unable to accept people for who they are. I Have a Dream is about saying we were all human, ultimately humanity wins, like we’re all not that dissimilar. We all want to be loved, we all want to be accepted. We all want to be able to live a nice peaceful life. We’ve all got fears and hopes and, and that’s basically what I have a dream is about. It’s a kind of a call to say, come on, with all the same, really, deep down amongst all our differences. We’re all just human. I have a dream is about unity, really and coming together. And remember what we’re all about really? And ultimately, it’s as it says in my first album “nothings real but love,” isn’t it? Especially now with everything going on in the world, I think we really need it, like come on like don’t kill each other you know.

“Found my voice” in my opinion as you giving the world a vocal master class and showing what you can really do. Again paired with absolutely beautiful lyrics, I think that’s one of the reasons why I’ve been such a fan over the years, is your ability to put those lyrics together. Can you tell the readers a bit about “Found my voice?”

To be honest, it’s it’s pretty much about the title. It’s about just not caring really and just being totally free speaking. It probably came as a surprise to some people as well, because they’ve had this perception of me and I just finally, just started to express what I feel really openly, whether it be politically or views on the music industry, or whatever it is. It’s just about saying, no, this is me and this is my opinion, and you don’t have to like him, that’s perfectly fine, but I’m gonna express it. The song is about me not no longer suppressing or feeling like I need to fit in or feel like I need to fall in line with anything and just being free to express myself.

This is going to be in our Christmas edition what does Rebecca Ferguson do over the festive period, what are your plans?

We love Christmas in our house. I like to let Mariah Carey lead and I follow very shortly after, I’ll wait until she puts her tree up, and then I put the tree up. I feel like if Mariah’s done it, then I can follow because she tends to lead everyone with the tree and everything. I love Christmas and I love getting the tree up early and people are like, “Rebecca it’s only just been bonfire night” and my response is I don’t care. The tree is up, I get the Christmas villages out, and I am a bit obsessed if I’m honest with all the decorations and stuff, they just brighten my day. There’ll be loads of decorations, I tend to do a big dinner and have a big party on boxing day. So yeah, there’s lots of lots of celebrations in my house.

Do you have a Christmas message for our readers and your fans?

Just to have a beautiful time, to try and forgive, to try and love and try not to get distracted by the craziness that’s going on in the world and enjoy some time with your family, friends and those you love.

You can pre-order your copy of Heaven Part II album on CD and Vinyl via www. rebeccafergusonmusic.com or if you are outside the UK it is also available on Amazon. It will also be available on all the usual streaming platforms.