Eighties pop legend unrecognisable 35 years after huge hit and losing her voice following operation

EIGHTIES pop legend Sam Brown has released new music 35 years on from her huge hit - and losing her voice following an operation.

The chart topper, and daughter of top 60s guitarist Joe Brown, was a session singer for Pink Floyd, Spandau Ballet and Small Faces before releasing her breakthrough hit Stop! in 1989.

A string of acclaimed studio albums later, in 2005 she started to notice she could no longer sing or hit the notes she used to and two years later a cyst was found on her vocal chords.

Sam, 58, had to abandon a tour and underwent an operation, but it was unsuccessful and she never regained her singing voice.

After the op 16 years ago Sam had to reinvent herself.

She told magazine: "I tried all sorts of things. I’ve worked for my friend who’s a florist, I sanded floors, I did loads of stuff.

"I’m very lucky because I do have a small royalty income, but because I was on my own with two kids, I did get into quite a lot of debt and eventually had to sell my house.

"But, you know, things like that don’t really bother me as long as you can find a way of making it work, it’s fine."

Reflecting on her battle to save her talent, she said: "I’ve had a couple of operations to remove polyps, which I suspect were there because of the problem with the voice, rather than causing it in retrospect.

"I’ve tried all sorts of different things, and none of it has changed [my voice]. It’s been really hard to deal with.

"I think there’s still an underlying sort of depression, which will probably never go away because I’ve been singing my whole life and absolutely love singing. I loved it."

Undeterred, Sam set up a ukulele club which has grown into an online school with classes across the world.

Her new studio album, Number 8, was released in January.