Born in Lewisham, London, in 1974, Louise Redknapp is a singer, presenter and actor. Her career began in 1992, as a member of one of the UK’s most successful R&B groups, Eternal. In 1995, she left the band and launched her solo career – scoring hits with Arms Around the World, 2 Faced and Naked. She has since fronted documentaries hosted TV shows and performed in Grease in the West End. She has two sons with her former husband, Jamie Redknapp. Her greatest hits collection, which includes five new tracks and reimagined classics, is out now.
The day of this shoot was crazy. I turned up in New York to work with Mario Sorrenti, one of the world’s most famous fashion photographers, and I was looking forward to this big glamorous set with an amazing outfit.
When I walked in he said: “You know what, I want to shoot you like this … ” My hair got tied in a simple knot, the makeup artist put some black eyeliner on me and I was given the hairdresser’s baggy black jumper. I was styled in this waifish, almost “heroin chic” type of way. It was the most undone I’d ever looked and I remember thinking: “Oh right, is that it?” While it wasn’t what I expected, the shots looked modern and forward-thinking and it was a departure from the polished photos I’d done previously with Eternal.
We used it for the cover of my first solo single, Light of My Life. It was a great image to forge a new identity with after leaving Eternal, especially as launching as a solo artist was nerve-racking and I wanted to get it right. Being in Eternal was tough - we were away a lot, living in hotel rooms, and we were all quite different. The four of us would often do our own thing while we were away, and there were only so many nights I could exist alone. In the end I thought: “I don’t want this. I feel isolated.” So I left. Which was a brave move – some may say a stupid move, when you consider I was in a multimillion-selling group. But nothing is more important than your health and happiness. My mum backed me on that. She said: “This isn’t working. You need to come home.”
I came from a single parent family, and my brothers and I grew up modestly. There was no white picket fence. We didn’t have loads, but my mum would always say we were lucky. She taught me at an early age to be humble and that nothing comes easily. You have to work hard and be a believer.
I definitely applied this to my time at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts stage school. I got a scholarship and loved every minute of every day. I’d jump out of bed, and run out the house to get a train, two tubes and a bus. I didn’t care how long it took, I just wanted to learn and perform.
One night, the direction of my life changed. I was walking down Tottenham Court Road past a club with my friends and the bouncers said: “Girls, are you not coming in tonight?” I thought: “We’re 15, but if you’re going to invite us in, we’re not going to tell you that!” When we got inside, we were amazed – Pete Tong was DJing, so we went straight to the dancefloor. We had so much fun we didn’t even buy a drink. It was there that Denis Ingoldsby, who was head of First Avenue Records, introduced himself and gave me his card. He asked if I could sing. I said: “Yes, of course, I go to stage school!”
When I got home I showed my mum Denis’s card, and told her what had happened. She said: “Right, first of all why were you in a club? You are never going out again. And second, don’t be so ridiculous! You don’t know who this man is.” The next day, I set off for school, slipping the card into the sleeve of my bus pass so I could ring it from a pay phone. A few weeks later, he was standing in my kitchen with my mum, listening to me sing Stevie Wonder’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours). That was the song that got me into Eternal.
When I made the decision to leave Eternal, I wondered: “What on earth is going to happen to me?” Being a solo artist was never my plan, but [as part of Eternal] I had a five-album deal with EMI and the label wanted me to honour that. Light of My Life was a ballad which was unusual for a pop star in the 90s, but you could take those kinds of risks back then: I was so shielded from other people’s opinions, whereas now, I’m constantly exposed to everyone’s thoughts online. You have to work hard not to second guess every decision.
The next single, Naked, was another step in a new direction. When I watch the video back now, I see that it was pretty minxy, especially as I had always been such a tomboy. I loved my fashion, but I didn’t wear a lot of makeup or fake lashes and always left my hair pretty natural. It wasn’t like me to be overtly sexual, but I did it because I loved the video’s dance routines.
When FHM voted me the Sexiest Woman [… of the Decade in 2004] it was crazy but I took it all with a pinch of salt. Getting rated for how you look is bizarre, and it wouldn’t happen now in a magazine. Thankfully, those lists never impacted my life, which is good because it could have turned me into an awful human if I’d believed it. I was pretty realistic about the reasons why I had won: people knew who I was. They could relate to me, as I was just like them, and I got to take pictures with some of the industry’s most accomplished photographers who made me look a certain way. Strip all of that off and I was quite clearly not the sexiest woman in the world. My mum would say: “You really are not!”
I do wonder if topping those lists, and my general experiences in the music industry, made it harder for me to claw my identity back after becoming a mother. Being a parent is so special and I wouldn’t change it for the world, but naturally my focus became loving and caring for my child. After a while, I started to wonder where I fitted in outside of that role, and who I was meant to be. I wasn’t sure what would come next professionally.
I wish I hadn’t worried so much. Over the last six years, I’ve rediscovered myself. I’ve finally been able to make the type of music that I’ve always wanted to, and I have confidence in who I am. What you see is what you get. I’m not somebody who is in your face, but those who know me know I have a filthy sense of humour and I love tequila. I’ve always been determined and my devotion to hard work has only increased over the years. It has to. You have to keep proving yourself. You have to fight forward.
Now I have a type of fearlessness. And not just with writing songs – any opportunity that comes my way, whether it’s music or the West End, I give it a go. The worst that can happen is that it doesn’t work. Then I’ll just pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again.
