Daily Mail 21 June 2013

[Dave]

Great article in the UK's popular tabloid the Daily Mail today! Guaranteed to attract attention and basically accurate! This kind of publicity is definitely good for album sales, even the 'breakdown' angle will attract attention (again).

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2345734/She-classical-starlet-suffered-breakdown-gave-Now-soprano-Hayley-Westenra-chosen-record-lullaby-William-Kates-born.html

She was the classical starlet who suffered a breakdown and almost gave it all up. Now soprano Hayley Westenra has been chosen to record a lullaby for William and Kate's first-born

I'll leave it to others to post more... bedtime here!

Dave

[Martin]

Thanks for the post, Dave. Very interesting and illuminating. I hadn't realised how "dark" the problems were back in 2008/09.

Martin

[Richard]

Here's the article in full:

She was the classical starlet who suffered a breakdown and almost gave it all up. Now soprano Hayley Westenra has been chosen to record a lullaby for William and Kate's first-born

By Nicole Lampert

PUBLISHED: 22:30, 21 June 2013 | UPDATED: 22:53, 21 June 2013

Of all the pinch-me moments Hayley Westenra has experienced in her short but already extremely eventful life, it’s up there with the best: Prince William asking, ‘Sausages or burger?’ as he cooked up a barbecue.

Even more surreal was the fact that his sous chef was the prime minister of New Zealand, who was hosting the intimate outdoor dinner for the heir to the throne after a rugby match they had all attended in 2010.

‘William is down-to-earth whenever I’ve met him, but having him serve me at a barbecue was really bizarre,’ giggles the classical singer. ‘Afterwards we were joking about how we were both going to have to go on a long run to make up for all the desserts we’d eaten. Sometimes I really do have to pinch myself when I think about some of the amazing things I’ve experienced.’



New Zealand-born Hayley was a 14-year-old busker when music bosses fell in love with her unique voice, and by the age of 16 she had a record-breaking £3 million deal with Decca Records.

Her album Pure became the fastest-selling classical debut of all time with sales of more than two million in 2003 – breaking Charlotte Church’s record – and remains the best-selling album of that genre this century. She’s performed in front of presidents and prime ministers and worked with her musical idols, selling four million albums.

Now 26, she’s also been a favourite of the Royal Family for over a decade; after performing three times for The Queen in the space of two weeks she felt obliged to apologise as she felt like a stalker.

And she’s got to know Prince William well through their shared love of rugby as well as music. So when Paul Mealor, who was commissioned to write some new music for William and Kate’s wedding by the couple themselves, decided to create a lullaby dedicated to the royal baby, Hayley was the perfect choice to sing it.



‘I think William will be a wonderful dad,’ she says. ‘I really got to see how compassionate he is when we were both at a memorial for the earthquake in Christchurch.

'I got to introduce him to my family and he instantly wanted to know how they’d been affected by the quake. He’s genuinely interested when you talk to him. He is the real deal; very grounded. It’s refreshing because he could have turned out completely differently.’

Hayley, who's yet to have a child herself, imagined rocking a baby to sleep as she recorded the lullaby, called Sleep On. And her record bosses loved it so much they then suggested she make a whole album of lullabies.

‘The idea took me by surprise as I expected to do an album like this when I was with child myself,’ she giggles. ‘But then I realised I could put some of my favourite tunes on it and record the sort of album I’ve always wanted to do. It’s intimate and close to the microphone, there’s no big orchestra and no reverb.’

Hayley used to struggle with the idea of taking risks with her career. Until it made her ill. Five years ago she had a breakdown and considered giving up singing. Lonely in her large west London flat after she’d told her parents – who’d taken it in turns to chaperone her around the world – that she no longer needed their help, she threw herself into work.

In charge of her own diet for the first time, after seeing what she thought was a chubby picture of herself she was also soon in the throes of an eating disorder and began starving herself and obsessing over every calorie.

Matters came to a head in 2008 when a bout of bronchitis meant she had to abandon a British tour and return home to New Zealand. While there she began gorging on fast food, struggled to leave the house and decided to give up her career. ‘I wanted to run away,’ she recalls.

‘It felt like my life was out of control. So I went on a mission to self-destruct. I became so obsessed with food that controlling my diet took over whole days. The more weight I lost, the more I wanted to lose. I was in a frighteningly dark space and nothing could drag me out of it.’ By this point she was surviving on boiled vegetables, nuts and seeds, and had shrunk to 7st 5lb and was wearing size 4 clothes.

After two months off she was forced to make a decision about her future as she had another tour looming. ‘That whole time was when I started to realise what was important to me in life and singing is still pretty important,’ she says quietly.

‘I love performing and without wanting to sound too hippy-ish, to me it’s a real energy exchange. The audience enjoys my music and they give me a lot of energy back. I’ve always been nervous before I go on stage and almost every time I think, ”Why do I put myself through this?” But once I’m on stage it feels amazing; like magic.’

These days, she says, she’s learned not to take life so seriously. ‘Back then everything was out of balance. I was lonely and focused too much on my career.

'I thought that if I said no to anything it would all be over. Now I’m making albums I want to make. I’ve worked out that my family is more important than my career. I’m a much more balanced person these days.’

Part of the credit for that must go to Arnaud Sabard, who she became close to when he worked as a sound engineer on three of her tours. The Frenchman proposed to her while they were holidaying in New Zealand 18 months ago.

‘We went for a walk and then he pulled out a little picnic and pink champagne,’ she smiles. ‘I hadn’t been expecting it at all and it took me a few minutes to say yes.’

Thanks to Arnaud, Hayley’s discovered a love of good food and wine, while when she’s out with her girlfriends she likes to let her hair down with espresso martinis. The logistics of trying to sort out a wedding when guests will be coming from New Zealand, France and the UK, have proved so challenging that the couple still haven’t set a date.

But for Hayley, things couldn’t be more perfect. ‘Every day I wake up and I’m happy,’ she says. ‘And I know that’s the best thing of all.’

Hayley’s album, Hushabye, is out now on Decca. Every child born on the same day as the royal baby can claim a free copy, see www.hayleywestenra.com/baby for details.

Richard

[Elliot Kane]

That's a really nice article. I just hope the DM STAY supportive. They are a great newspaper for fans of any artist they like, but a dreadful one for artists they take against.

[Sing]

I've just seen this article it's in the magazine that comes with the paper, called the Weekend magazine I think it's a pretty good article I wish it gave more information about the songs that are on the CD though it might give people more incentive to buy it if they know exactly what songs are on it besides Sleep On but still a good article they could have been a lot more negative than that the DM seem to like a lot of negativity at the moment but they're not the only ones.

I don't like many of the comments that people have posted though, that's not surprising either really, but I do sort of agree with some that maybe the main photo wasn't the best they could have chosen for promoting an album of lullabies IMO but it's not Hayley's fault as some people have implied.

Sing

[Bamafan]

Jun 22, 2013 12:43:34 GMT Elliot Kane said:

That's a really nice article. I just hope the DM STAY supportive. They are a great newspaper for fans of any artist they like, but a dreadful one for artists they take against.

Yeah, I can't help but think of KJ.

However, let's be glad that the DM is on Hayley's side at the moment.

-Taylor i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

[Elliot Kane]

Jun 22, 2013 13:23:50 GMT Bamafan said:

Jun 22, 2013 12:43:34 GMT Elliot Kane said:

That's a really nice article. I just hope the DM STAY supportive. They are a great newspaper for fans of any artist they like, but a dreadful one for artists they take against.

Yeah, I can't help but think of KJ.

However, let's be glad that the DM is on Hayley's side at the moment.

-Taylor i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Yes, very good point!

Shouldn't be worrying without cause

[Libby]

Jun 22, 2013 13:09:14 GMT Sing said:

I've just seen this article it's in the magazine that comes with the paper, called the Weekend magazine I think it's a pretty good article I wish it gave more information about the songs that are on the CD though it might give people more incentive to buy it if they know exactly what songs are on it besides Sleep On but still a good article they could have been a lot more negative than that the DM seem to like a lot of negativity at the moment but they're not the only ones.

I don't like many of the comments that people have posted though, that's not surprising either really, but I do sort of agree with some that maybe the main photo wasn't the best they could have chosen for promoting an album of lullabies IMO but it's not Hayley's fault as some people have implied.

Sing

Who ever said any of it was Hayley's "fault"?

I think the photo is fine. It's the videos I don't like.

[Sing]

Some of the comments to this article to me sounded like some people are of the opinion that this photo from Paradiso is inappropriate for promoting an album of lullabies and I read one that basically said she needs to cover up and that she's using for want of a better word provocative photos to promote herself and that it's her 'fault' that photo was chosen which I think is nonsense tbh the photo is fine but perhaps they could have chosen one from Hushabye not that it matters either way but the comment annoyed me a bit that's all.

[comet]

somnambulist


now there's a word. (in the comments section)

Somebody walking with earphones in, while listening to Hushabye

[stevemacdonald]

This reference to her "breakdown" is a little unnecessary, and conjures up a much worse picture than what really happened which was more of a temporary burn out mixed with career misgivings. I have read every word of every article and every quote regarding that tearful episode so I know how important it was; but still, the last thing I would characterise it as is a breakdown.

[Joe]

I enjoyed the article but I also think there was no need to mention Hayley's "breakdown", and that Hayley's crash diet brought her down to 96 lbs.

Hayley battled back just as fast ... and her strength in doing so made me love and support her even more.

[Libby]

Jun 23, 2013 10:24:36 GMT Sing said:

Some of the comments to this article to me sounded like some people are of the opinion that this photo from Paradiso is inappropriate for promoting an album of lullabies and I read one that basically said she needs to cover up and that she's using for want of a better word provocative photos to promote herself and that it's her 'fault' that photo was chosen which I think is nonsense tbh the photo is fine but perhaps they could have chosen one from Hushabye not that it matters either way but the comment annoyed me a bit that's all.

Ah, okay. I was thinking you meant someone here had said that, and I certainly didn't remember anyone saying that here.

[martindn]

Just seen this. Yes a good article, so well done Daily Mail. Let's just hope they don't turn on Hayley like they did on poor Katherine.
I didn't think the picture was very relevant though. What have scooters and Rome got to do with Hushabye. But then I suppose the DM is always looking to publish photos of attractive young women showing their legs...

Martin D

[mlb]

Hayley has to be one of the most inoffensive artistis in the UK. Even if the DM wanted to, I don't think they could criticize her...it would be like kicking a lamb. Lol. As for the semi-negative comments... That's par for the course over there.