The 52-year-old pop star – who rose to prominence in the late 80s – got back to writing amid the first COVID-19 lockdown, when her husband was busy shopping.
Betty – whose real name is Alison Clarkson – said: “A few years ago I suddenly realized I was going to be 50 and deep down I always wanted to do another Betty Boo record. .
“As you turn 50 you also start to feel invisible and I didn’t want that to happen. If it’s OK for Mick Jagger or Rick Astley to continue, why not me?”
The ‘Doin’ the Do’ singer thinks she’s now ‘seen the record [she] should have done when [she] was 25″.
Gallery: His Bad Habits Led Him To This…Happy Birthday Ed Sheeran! What the pop superstar’s life is like in his 30s (BANG Showbiz)
Good day Ed!
As we say Happy 31st Birthday to Ed Sheeran, let’s take a look at his life so far… From homeless busker to multimillionaire, he shot to fame in 2011 and became a Grammy winner, a BRIT winner and record holder – what a difference a decade makes! He is now married to his childhood sweetheart Cherry Seaborn and they have a daughter together, Lyra. Find out how turning 30 changed him as an artist and as a man…
He feels “reborn”
Ed’s latest album ‘Equals’ – which was released in October and is the fourth installment in his Symbol series – reflects the joy of his life as his view of the world has changed due to personal events. He said: “There are so many things that have happened in my life and I feel, not in an evangelical way, but I feel very reborn in my thirties, my view of the world is different. “I think seeing my mate dying and realizing that tomorrow isn’t promised and every day is actually a real joy to be here, because i spent a lot of time moping about things in my twenties and finding reasons to be upset. so this record kind of reflects that.
He is finally able to answer the questions of his 20 years…
The ‘Shvers’ singer spent his 20s questioning the value of his music and himself as an artist, now he feels like he has those answers in his 30s. He said: “I spent much of my 20s asking myself questions – Who am I? Why am I here? Why am I doing this? If I’m a singer, what am I adding to the world? “So it’s so many questions, and I turned 30 and I feel like some of those questions started to have answers. But they started to have answers through two very massive parts of my life, including one, my daughter being born, which is new life, and one my friend Michael (Gudinski) dying, which is death. “And both hit me in a way where you appreciate tomorrow more because of each other.”
He accepted that young fans have moved on to new pop acts
Ed, who was catapulted to fame at 20, has accepted that his music no longer appeals to young people as he gets older. He said: “I’ve probably passed an age where I don’t think I’m going to reclaim my youth. I’m entering my thirties and it’s not like 16-year-olds are going to identify with me the next time I’m releasing an album.”
Party less
The ‘Shape of You’ hitmaker admits he’s fallen into some rock ‘n’ roll stereotypes when it comes to partying, especially when on tour for his ‘X Tour’. He said, “I would stay up and drink all night. The buses parked under the arenas and I slept on the bus all day, then I woke up and went out, put on a show, drank, took the bus back. I haven’t seen sunlight for about four months. “At first it’s all fun and games. It’s all rock and roll and then it starts to get sad. It was probably the lowest I’ve been and kind of ballooned in weight.
The birth of his daughter helped him get back into music…
Sheeran, surprisingly, suffered a loss of confidence after his mammoth two-year “Divide Tour” which included 260 shows. After getting off the road, Ed hasn’t touched a guitar in months, but becoming a dad got him out of his creative slump. He said, “I actually didn’t touch the guitar for months after my tour ended, ‘I had a kind of crisis of confidence like, I wanted to not work, but then I said to myself: ‘Work is my hobby.’ So I had to find different things that I had as hobbies, so that wasn’t all [music.] So I haven’t touched a guitar for ages.” Revealing how Lyra’s birth helped him, he added, “It wasn’t until Lyra was born that he was able to start singing again . “I was brought up on traditional Irish folk music and being able to sing traditional songs to her was really, really sweet.”
Cherry made it healthier
Ed couldn’t be happier since getting married in 2018 to Cherry Seaborn. His wife – who played hockey at a high level – is in good shape and that inspired Ed to lose weight and eat better. He said: “She exercises a lot so I went for a run with her, she doesn’t drink much so I wasn’t drinking. I think everything has changed things.”
Having a baby has made him more disciplined…
Since becoming a father, Ed has had to adjust his schedule to a 9 to 5 life to have time to be both a father and a musician. He said: “I’m very structured with my day now…usually if I was in the studio I was just working until it was done.” I feel like with a kid, you need a structured work day. You can’t work until two in the morning.”
He is in love with his shape…
The ketchup lover had to drastically adapt his lifestyle when he found out his wife was pregnant with Lyra. He said: ‘I mean Cherry told me she was pregnant and then life kind of changed in terms of work and health and what I was putting in my body whether it was food or alcohol. “I started exercising a little more, my routine got a little healthier and dad and not like a 24 year old guy on tour. It feels good.”
His life experiences inspired his new songs
Ed says the family life really appealed to him and grounded him as a person. These experiences all inspired songs on his latest LP. He said: “My life has changed a lot over the past few years – I got married, I became a father, I went through loss and I think about those things over the course of the album.”
Fatherhood is the most rewarding and stimulating experience
Ed says being Lyra’s dad offers a new experience every day. For him, fatherhood is the most rewarding thing he has ever done, despite the challenges. He said: “It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I think there are so many different facets and shapes, there are tough days; there are amazing, easy days.”
11/11 SLIDES
When asked if she had started writing music again, she told the Observer newspaper: “Yeah, in the supermarket parking lot during the first lockdown.
“My husband was shopping and I parked facing a wall, playing songs, so no one would see me singing! It was great to enjoy it again because I had times when I wasn’t listening not even music through the years, it made me too sad.
“Now I think I made the record I should have made when I was 25.”
Betty quit her pop career in the late 90s.
The singer admitted that she didn’t have the energy and enthusiasm she needed at the time, following the death of her parents.
She said: “My mum got very sick and then she died and then my aunt died ten months after my mum. My dad had died before that.
“To be a pop star you have to go all out all the time and I just melted. I didn’t want to be that other person anymore. I went into survival mode to take care of my grandma and my family. .
“But I didn’t feel like I missed anything, because when I started my solo career, I had taken control of everything – I was writing my music, I was producing it, I had the freedom to look like whatever I wanted.”
