Rebecca Lucy Taylor's praise for parents in Rotherham star's success
REBECCA Lucy Taylor has paid a loving tribute to her Rotherham parents and revealed there may be a role for her dad in her next album.
The singer, songwriter and actor also disclosed that her mum and dad backed her decision not to go to university after leaving Wales High School, in favour of a risky career in showbiz.
The Anston-born star, who turns 40 in October, has become one of Britain’s most acclaimed modern pop artists, transforming from indie musician to Mercury Prize-nominated solo star celebrated for fearless lyrics, theatrical performances and empowering feminist anthems.
And much of that success is down to her parents, she said on Adam Buxton's podcast, released this month.
"My Dad was in a band when he met my mum. Mum and Dad are really quiet people, they both love music," she told Buxton.
Rebecca, known on stage as Self Esteem, said she had started playing in a band at the age of 16.
She didn't take a place at University because she wanted to go on tour, which was supported by her father.
That "was really amazing. A lot of parents really wouldn't have supported that at all."
There must have been some "hairy years," though, because she went through a decade with little success in an "unregulated and unsafe" music industry environment.
Her dad, who had worked in the Health and Safety office at a steelworks, had a love of music as a keyboard player.
"My Dad used to drive us a bit at the start, he drove me to Glasgow once, and back in the same night. What a legend. He is so sweet. Thank God it paid off 20 years later."
She described her parents as calm people, rather than her "over the top" persona.
Her mother had worked as a secretary at a solicitor's and then for the police.
Rebecca's own artistic DNA may have come from a generation before, she said: "Mum is so calm and quiet.
"My grandad was a bit of a personality in the village, he owned a shoe shop and was the Dame in a panto every year. He had some showbusiness in him and that's where I got it!"
As for her father: "My dream is to have him play on a record, which I think I am going to do on the next one."
Taylor first found success as one half of indie duo Slow Club before reinventing herself as a solo act.
Her acclaimed albums and outspoken performances on confidence, relationships and women’s experiences have earned widespread praise across the music industry.