UPDATE: Here is PART TWO!
On Karl Lagerfeld calling Brit star Adele “too fat”…
That’s horrible. That’s ridiculous, that’s just the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.
I don’t like it when anybody says anything bad about anyone — I don’t like it.
Adele’s a great talent and how much she weighs has nothing to do with it.
The thing for Adele to remember is at the end of the day, whether you rise or fall, it has so much to do with how you sustain yourself and keep your integrity and your inner strength.
It is all about who you surround yourself with — friends and people who really do care about you, and care about your well-being beyond being a superstar. That’s the most important thing.
On the death of Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse…
I, probably like everybody else, was hit by this shocking sense of disbelief – especially with Whitney Houston.
It had not been a secret, the struggles Amy had been through — both brilliant, brilliant artists and obviously both huge losses.
But when these things happen, I’m always shocked by the first thing you say — ‘It’s such a loss’ — which doesn’t quite cover it.
Then you reflect and you think, ‘How did it happen? How did the people around them allow it to happen?’
We’ve lost so many great artists that way when you think about it. So history just kind of repeats itself over and over.
One thing I was struck by with Whitney Houston is I remember she sort of came out as a singer around the same time I did.
I remember looking at her singing and hearing people talk about her, and just thinking, ‘Oh my God. She’s such a beautiful woman and my God, what an incredible voice. I wish I could sing like that.’
I just remember being extremely envious of her and also touched by her innocence.
I was watching a documentary about Serge Gainsbourg, the French songwriter, and there’s a famous talk show he did that happened a while back when Whitney was just starting.
It was funny, because I’d just watched it the week before she died, where he was making a kind of play for her on national television and he was basically saying in French that he wanted to ‘f’ her — and the look of shock on her face…
I mean, she was so innocent and so young, and so cute, and really she blushed.
And I was thinking, ‘We are all innocent at one stage in our life. It’s just interesting, the paths our lives take.’
I was struck by that — how well she started and where she ended up and the tragedy of it.
On M.I.A flicking a middle finger during the Super Bowl performance…
Well, you know, the thing is we were in NFL territory.
We were in the sacred ground of football and I think that it’s a very important and well-viewed event.
It was accepted and understood by everyone performing that we would be — what’s the word I’m looking for — politically correct.
I think the NFL were more worried about me than anything else, thinking that I was going to do something crazy or provocative. And I really had no intention of doing something shocking.
I was working too hard in putting the show together to think about how I was going to do something to piss people off.
They fought hard for me to get me more rehearsal time, and to give me what I wanted creatively for the show.
I felt like I owed them to give them back what they wanted.
So on that level, I was upset because I knew that I got some people into trouble that really went forward for me.
And I don’t wanna do that — I don’t want anybody to get in trouble at my expense because they worked so hard to give me what I wanted, so there’s that side of it.
On the other hand, I didn’t know M.I.A did it, and everybody was outraged about it so I viewed the footage and I kind of almost missed it.
And I was like, ‘Oh, okay’. It didn’t seem like that big a deal at the end of the day, so there’s two sides to the story.
You know, that’s her thing, it’s pretty punk rock and actually, in the bigger picture of things, much crazier things have happened.
On her next tour…
Oh God, I hope somebody is going to give the middle finger at my show. It probably won’t be me because I’ve done it too many times.
I hope I have some ideas. The creative well is dry but I just started rehearsals last week and mostly I have been focusing on music.
I do have ideas and I have a lot of work ahead of me. I’m incredibly anxiety-ridden about it.
On retiring from the music industry…
I guess I love doing what I do. I have a voice, I have opinions, I have things I wanna say.
I love music, I love telling stories. So I guess as long as I feel that way I’ll keep doing what I’m doing.
—
Original post: PART ONE
In an exclusive interview with Gordon Smart for “The Sun”, Madonna confessed she feels her “head is going to explode” from the stress of being a single mum after her divorce from Guy Ritchie.
Here is part one!
On parenting skills…
I’m not going to lie — it’s hard work having four kids and doing all the work I do.
Everybody has something to say about the way I live my life.
At the end of the day I’m doing my best. If people don’t like it, then that’s really their problem.
On divorce…
Sometimes I cope with it very well, sometimes it’s a struggle.
On the MDNA song “I Don’t Give A”…
It’s about the life of a single mother.
It’s a challenge juggling everything — multi-tasking is my middle name. I try to express that.
On being back in the recording studio…
It was amazing. I like it — I like the intimacy of a recording studio and song-writing.
I’m using a different part of my brain when I work on music versus than when I’m directing a film.
There’s a billion more people (on set) and I don’t have that visceral outlet of being able to sing, scream and jump around.
It was very different. I love doing both but it was nice to get to the simplicity of song-writing after three years of writing a script, directing, editing and talking about my film.
To sit down and play my guitar and sing a song — I almost cried.
On being a role model…
I hope I’m a role model. I hope I give other girls a voice, women a voice, other women someone to look up to and admire. I keep rolling with the punches and trying to have integrity.
And I hope I inspire women and give them strength to deal with life no matter what comes their way.
On protecting her younger kids from some of MDNA’s more adult tracks…
Every time I get in the car the radio is on. It’s quite shocking that my five and six-year-old children know the words to every single song on the radio.
They haven’t heard my entire album, they definitely haven’t heard Gang Bang.
I doubt that will ever get played on the radio.”
On Lourdes…
Yes, [Lourdes] is my background singer [on the track Superstar]. She just came over to the studio that day. Then I said, ‘Oh, can you sing this part?’ and she agreed to.
She has a very good voice. She’s quite shy about it and won’t admit it. Lots of people are knocking on my door to meet her about everything, movies and what-not.
But she’s not really interested in any of it. She just wants to go to school. She says to me, ‘Mum, I just want to be a normal kid. I’m not ready for any of that’.
I respect that, and if she ever wants to work with me on any level I welcome it.
But otherwise I leave her to her homework and school.
On fame…
We just try to have as normal a life as possible.
My life with them at home is really just about schoolwork and health and the after-school lessons just like everybody else.
Most of them go to a French school. My French is not very impressive, but it’s good enough. Everyone in my house speaks perfect French but me.
I’m getting better at understanding when they’re not talking about their homework.
I’m now picking up things and saying, ‘What did you say?’. I know the necessary swear words, so they have to be careful.
On the album title MDNA…
It’s an anagram of my name. I don’t really think about controversy — I think about irony.
Source: The Sun
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