Last summer, Paloma Faith was performing in Copenhagen when she turned around to find Prince sitting behind her onstage. 'Suddenly the crowd went absolutely mental. I looked round and saw that Prince had pulled up a chair onstage and was sitting there bopping his head to the music,' she recalls.
The Hackney-born singer, who turns 27 on July 21, is not your everyday pop star. With her dyed ginger hair and a shirt she bought in the men's section, she fuses her background in dance, theatre and singing in burlesque clubs. Her debut album, Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?, sold half a million copies.
Faith has been open about her difficult relationships, once being punched while defending a friend. 'I said, “If you are going to hit anyone, it’s going to be me”, and he did. Then he freaked out and ran away,' she explains. She is not in touch with her father but prefers not to elaborate.
The singer also recalls meeting Amy Winehouse briefly and denies ever performing burlesque – she just sang in those clubs. After performing with Chaka Khan, she burst into tears. 'I felt exposed next to such greatness,' she says.
Looking ahead, Faith hopes to have a big house and children, with or without a partner. She says she is not scared of rejection, having experienced it plenty, and wants to avoid waiting for 'The One'.
