Emeli Sande talks ahead of Birmingham gig

She’s bringing her Long Live The Angels tour to the Second City, fresh from the release of her new song, Starlight.

Emeli has had a spectacular summer, which has included a slew of shows, including a spectacular performance at Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park.

The downbeat singer has enjoyed a whirlwind decade. Her first top ten single dropped in 2009, Diamond Rings, with rapper Chipmunk. And she followed that a year later with Never Be Your Woman, with Wiley.

Within two years she’d received the BRIT Award for Critics’ Choice and had enjoyed two number one singles in the UK and Ireland: Read All About It, with Professor Green, and Beneath Your Beautiful, with Labrinth.

Emeli’s debut album followed – Our Version Of Events – and swept all before it. It spent ten successive weeks at number one and sold more than a million copies, becoming the best-seller for 2012.

She featured at the opening and closing ceremonies of the London Olympics and won two Brit Awards in 2013, for Best British Female Solo Artist and British Album of the Year.

Long Live The Angels followed in 2016, earning Emeli a number two hit and bringing her a fourth Brit Award, for Best British Female Solo Artist. To cap it all, she was appointed an MBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours List for her services to music.

And yet her success has come at a high price. She suffered from exhaustion and underwent a painful divorce, following a year-long marriage to marine biologist Adam Gouraguine. The singer also had to learn to say ‘no’ to the opportunities that came her way before she could re-emerge.

Even now, Emeli finds it strange when she reflects on the life she leads and the many things that have happened. A natural introvert, rather than an extrovert, her success has pushed her a long way outside her comfort zone.

Her breakthrough year, in 2012, remains utterly remarkable. Before her album came out, she wrote with Alicia Keys, who became like a big sister. Alicia frequently told Emeli to schedule personal time. But because Emeli wasn’t that busy, she didn’t imagine the advice applied to her.

But now, looking back, she understands what Alicia was trying to tell her. “Even if it feels weird scheduling it in, you have to make sure you do nothing. It’s so important that your family and the people you love have your attention, and you’re still involved in real life.”

Emeli has found that when a label gets involved and they want to push your music even to a bigger audience, you have to start keeping up with their pace. Unless you’re feeling very healthy – mind, body, and soul – you can’t get on that racetrack. “You have to be so strong, and your personal life has to just be on the back burner. And for me, that was the part I didn’t really like.”

Not that Emeli has regrets. Though she felt very tired, the worst part was that she wasn’t able to progress as an artist. She was 22, 23 when it all started and those crucial years of getting to know herself were missed.

She began to take inspiration from such greats as Nina Simone, Janis Joplin, and Joni Mitchell because of the depth of their lyrics. She realised they’d really been in love and they’d really experienced things.

“I wanted to do more than [make] something that was selling, I really wanted to make art. I wanted to get very deep. You know, I’d left medical school to do this. I’ve given up a career that would’ve been really special to me to do this, so I’ve got to do it properly.”

Emeli was bitterly disappointed when her marriage came crashing in – because of the pressures of fame. Her husband had been supportive of her and had been on tour with her too. He’d kept her grounded but she knew it wasn’t fair on him. She was so dedicated to my career and there wasn’t a compromise.

“It got to a point where I felt like it wasn’t cool of me to expect someone to not live where they want to live; to not be able to fully make themselves stable and pursue a dream that they want. We made it work for as long as we could,” she says.

Emeli still has many dreams. She has already put her name forward to sing the next Bond song. She’s requested details of the story ahead of its 2019 release, so that she can write something for it, following in the footsteps of fellow Brits Sam Smith and Adele, who both wrote chart-topping Bond tracks. She may have to beat Beyoncé to win that gig, however, as the American superstar is the front runner for it.

She continues to live out her dreams and mix with some of the world’s most famous people. Earlier this year, she went to Necker Island to meet Richard Branson and the Virgin boss wrote: “It was an absolute honour hearing her play and great to get to know her a little as she relaxed on the island too.

“She said recently she wants to empower people, inspire positive change and make them feel like nothing is impossible – a mission we both have in common. It came as no surprise that she was awarded an MBE for her services to music and I give her my heartfelt congratulations and can’t wait to hear her perform again soon.”