Bounce Magazine 76

FEBRUARY 2019 FEBRUARY | ISSUE 2019 #75 | ISSUE | KATHERINE #76 JENKINS
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE TRACK
AND WHY?
I love to sing the song from The Greatest
Showman called ‘Never Enough’ because
it’s such an amazing and well-loved song.
There’s also a very different interpretation
of Stormzy’s ‘Blinded by your grace’. My
daughter actually has a tiny little speaking
part at the end of that song and it always
makes me a bit teary when I hear her speak
on the track.
IS IT CORRECT THAT YOU WROTE A SONG
FOR YOUR SON ON THE ALBUM - XANDER’S
SONG? THAT MUST HAVE BEEN REALLY
SPECIAL TO RECORD.
It’s true - I actually didn’t intend to write
a song for Xander. The album was nearly
finished, I was upstairs in his bedroom feeding
him and he’d fallen asleep in my arms and
I basically wrote a prayer for his life, like a
lullaby prayer with the same things that any
mum wishes for their child. I played it for my
producer and he said ‘we have to include this
in the album’ so we managed to fit it in. He’s
(Xander) probably going to kill me when he’s
18 and think it’s the most embarrassing thing
ever, but for me it’s nice to be able to show
him that at the time of making this album he
was there with me.
HAS BECOMING A MUM CHANGED YOUR
OUTLOOK ON MUSIC AT ALL?
Yes definitely - I think it’s made me more
emotional. It’s made me see the meaning of
songs in a different way and it’s made me
think about the future and sharing the music
with them one day, so I think it’s affected my
song choices.
WHAT IS AN AVERAGE DAY LIKE FOR YOU?
There is no average day in my life! There
hasn’t been an average day in about 15 years
(laughs) and there’s no pattern. I do so many
different things from one day to the next.
Whether it’s rehearsals or touring, or a day
of promoting an album with interviews like
this, through to presenting Songs Of Praise,
or days of being mummy and taking my
daughter to school or to swimming lessons.
So there’s no routine but that’s probably why
I love it so much and never get bored.
HOW DID IT FEEL TO BE AWARDED AN
OBE?
Very surprised! I didn’t imagine I’d receive
one at such a young age. It was a real shock
when I received the letter but so special
because it was given to me for services to
music and charity and the charity aspect
was to do with my work with macmillan but
mostly I think for my work with the military
which is something I’m really proud of.
YOUR UK TOUR STARTS IN APRIL AND
STOPS BY US IN IPSWICH, WHAT CAN
FANS EXPECT?
It’s going to be some of the songs from the
new album as well as some of the favourites
from all the other albums. I have a full
orchestra with me because I strongly believe
when people are spending the money to
come to a concert I want to give them the
best live experience possible. There are cuts
in all sorts of music, but I feel strongly that
we should bring with us a full orchestra with
live musicians. I’ll have a wonderful special
guest, my conductor Anthony Inglis who
has been with me from the beginning, and
they’ll be lots of frock changes and lots of
fun! For me, it’s about singing the songs
and connecting with people, but
I also like to chat between the
songs and it’s more of an evening
with me because there’s a lot of
interaction.
DO YOU ENJOY TOURING?
I love touring - it’s my favourite
part of everything. I love being
in the studio because you can
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