As Vanessa Amorosi celebrates her new chart-topping single, she talks to Lucie Morris-Marr about her dark struggle for self-esteem.
They are strong statements, but Vanessa Amorosi says it’s time to speak the truth. In a candid show of openness, the singer has revealed the personal misery which came as the direct result of being catapulted to fame as a teenager.
She may have wowed the world at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics with her incredible vocal ability, and sold 1.6 million albums, but she says growing up in the public eye left her constantly doubting herself and her looks.
Speaking of the raw lyrics in her current hit song, which make clear how she spent years “hating” herself, Vanessa tells Woman’s Day it’s only now, aged 28, she has the confidence to talk about her darker moments.
“When you are a kid, people want you to grow up so soon. I had to grow up real quick, but unfortunately my brain was still a child – and that is what created most of my strife I think.”
But Vanessa says writing her current number one song, defiantly titled This Is Who I Am, helped her express the sadness she kept hidden for so many years. Lines in the powerful Pink-style song include, “I spent years hating me, longing to be friends”, and “I don’t care if I’m fat”.
Vanessa was set on the path to stardom by former managers Mark Holden and Jack Strom, signing a recording contract at just 16, and she says those lyrics describe the “difficult times” she had coping with life in the sometimes harsh spotlight…
