Singer Lisa Stansfield, 51, opens up about IVF, not having children, when her mum met Prince and #MeToo
Multi-award-winning Stansfield, 51, joins Fabulous for an intimate vinyl shopping session at HMV Oxford Street
WE flick through vinyls with the singer, 51, and chat children, Prince and #MeToo.
Where HMV, Oxford Street, London.
Lisa, you’ve been in the limelight for nearly 40 years – how have you found fame?
My career’s gone up and down, so you see what happens when it all dissipates.
Some days no one will know who I am and others I’ll go home to Ian [Devaney, 52, her record producer husband] and say: “I was really famous today!”
Do you ever write about Ian?
There’s a song called Deeper on my new album, and it’s my love song to Ian. [Our relationship] is a lot deeper now.
We can’t remember the exact date we got together, but it was 30 years ago. We’ve known each other since I was 14.
We were in a band together and had always fancied each other, but were frightened it was going to mess the music up.
But we’re still here and the music’s still happening!
Kylie Minogue has said she won’t have children now because her career has got in the way – do you understand how she feels?
I can relate to that a lot.
I was happy to carry on without children because I was completely immersed in my work and my career.
I only heard the clock ticking in my late 30s, and when my mother Marion died the year I turned 40 it hit me with such a force that we ended up having IVF, which turned out to be unsuccessful.
I take my hat off to anyone who’s been through that.
You’ve said you wouldn’t have made a good mum…
I think I would have been naughty and like a child, saying: “Shall we go and nick some stuff from Boots?”
After the third round of IVF I knew I couldn’t do any more as it was so physically and emotionally exhausting for both of us.
You really have to want it with everything you have. I just didn’t.
Your mum Marion was a big influence in your life wasn’t she?
She didn’t take any s**t. She really fought for me.
She ferried me back and forth and was a real stage mum.
She loved being famous more than I did.
I remember her dodging Prince’s bouncers to shake his hand and said: “Hi, Prince, I’m Lisa’s mum. Ooh, you’ve got small hands like a little boy!”
Then the bouncers took her away.
You were in the running to star in the film Indecent Proposal in 1993 – how did that come about?
I got a call saying [director] Adrian Lyne wanted to meet me because he was making a movie.
I was like: “What?” It was for Demi Moore’s part and I didn’t get it because obviously I wasn’t as famous as her!
But my career would be over now if I’d got it, as being involved in something like that at such an early stage would have sent me a bit crazy.
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You’ve been quite vocal about the #MeToo campaign.
I said women will shag anything to get on in the business, but I also said a lot of men will shag anything as well.
What makes me angry is that it can trivialise people who are really getting raped and abused.
If someone chats you up, he or she isn’t abusing you, but there are always a handful of people who make it worse for everyone else.
Have you experienced sexism in the industry?
Only a little.
I’ve taken my clothes off for videos, but it’s done tastefully.
I’ve never been a twerking kind of girl.
I’ve always relied on my talent.
- Deeper is released on April 6. For details of Lisa’s tour, visit Lisa-stansfield.com.
- Photography: Dave Willis, Matrix