It often takes a lifetime for an adopted person to track down their biological family. And not every reunion is successful.
But four years after KT Tunstall met two sisters she didn’t know she had, it’s still a very happy relationship.
Despite living in Los Angeles and not being able to return to Scotland as much as she’d like because of the pandemic, KT, 47, will be reunited with them next week when she plays dates in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
She said: “They’ll be coming to one of the Scottish shows, I can’t wait to see them, I wish we had more time.”
Born in Edinburgh, KT was put up for adoption at 18 months and raised by David and Rosemarie Tunstall in St Andrews. They adopted her brother Joe and had biological son, Dan.
Two decades ago, she found her biological mother, Carol-Ann, but despite trying to find her biological father was never able to track him down.
In 2019, she became the first celebrity to appear on Long Lost Family where Nicky Campbell revealed her biological father, John, had died in 2002 but she had two half-sisters Siobhan and Lesley-Anne who, not knowing the connection, had bought tickets to see KT in Dunfermline.
When they did meet, they were blown away by how alike they looked and since meeting on TV, their bond has grown.
KT said: “I absolutely love them and their families. There’s a real similarity in our personalities – we’re all warm and full of fun, but resilient and feisty at the same time.”
In 2015, KT sold everything she owned and moved to California, initially living in Venice Beach and, since 2020, in Topanga Canyon with her dogs.
Of course, she still misses Scotland.
She said: “I miss the ruggedness of it and I do like that feeling when you know every bend in the road – I have a pretty terrible sense of direction, so I enjoy the ease of being somewhere really familiar.”
She also misses Scots delicacies.
While on tour, KT admitted: “I always try and keep my eye out for black pudding but it’s never as good.
“And if I want a sugar fix, it would be tablet every time.”
She also likes to get back to see her mum, Rosemarie.
She added: “I came back in late summer 2021 to see my mum for her birthday and finally recorded the vocals for the new album, Nut (which was released last year), although the majority of it was done remotely with us all in different places which, in the end, was a really interesting way of making the album.”
While finding her half-sisters has enriched her life, KT has also had to come to terms with going deaf in her left ear as she was recording and releasing her 2018 album Wax.
She had tinnitus and some top-end hearing loss for 10 years when she woke on a tour bus, took out her ear plugs and everything “sounded super tinny”.
While not biologically related, her younger brother Dan, was born deaf and got a cochlear implant aged 23.
She said: “I struggled most after developing tinnitus 10 years ago.
“I then lost my left ear hearing completely on tour in 2018.
“I was back in the saddle about three months after I went deaf – I got used to it quickly.
“I took a step back in 2020 as my schedule was looking too crazy and I had to move forward a little slower to take care of my good ear.”
KT was forced to pull out of a major headline tour and a support slot with Hall & Oates, making the difficult decision to protect herself from further damage.
Now back on tour, all is well.
She said: “Thankfully I’m a bit older and wiser and able to be very grateful I can still do what I love – in mono! – and decide to not let it hold me back.
“I have a CROS aid which can transfer sound from my left side to my right ear if I need it but that’s only necessary in very loud social situations.”
Next year will be the 20th anniversary of her debut album Eye to the Telescope, which includes Suddenly I See and Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.
KT has big plans.
“I have a whole elongated knees-up planned!” she laughed.
“We want to do a proper ‘birthday’ gig for when it was released in the UK and then a string of really special gigs to celebrate the 20th Anniversary.”
Of course, her big breakout moment was in 2004 when she performed Black Horse and the Cherry Tree on Later… with Jools Holland when rapper Nas pulled out and she was given 24 hours’ notice.
Then aged 29, her guitar and loop peddle performance blew away the more established acts watching like the Cure and Anita Baker.
She said: “I’d been playing with the loop pedal in coffee shops for about six months, so it didn’t feel particularly special to me.
“But it was early days of YouTube and I guess I had an early viral moment.”
After playing Scotland, KT will continue to tour and hopefully see her first musical, Saving Grace, in London’s West End. Based on Craig Ferguson’s 2000 film, KT wrote the music and hopes to release the soundtrack.
But she doesn’t see herself acting in a musical anytime soon.
She said: “Part of what I love about touring is constantly travelling – I think I’d go a bit doolally performing in the same place every day.”
Success may have come to KT later in life but here she is still making hit albums and selling out shows around the world.
She said: “I’ve worked my a*** off getting as good as I can at what I do, and touring the world many times over, which I’ve loved and feel deeply grateful for.
“With the vast amount of music out there, I am amazed at the staying power of my big singles and for all the support of my new music, especially the younger generations getting into it all – that’s really lovely to see.”
KT plays Aberdeen Music Hall on Tuesday, Edinburgh Usher Hall on Wednesday and Glasgow Armadillo on Friday. Tickets: www.kttunstall.com/
