Pop icon Sheena Easton, 66, reveals why she stepped away from fame

Sheena Easton was one of the defining pop voices of the 1980s. The Scottish singer, now 66, shot to fame with hits like “Morning Train (Nine to Five),” “Strut,” and “Sugar Walls,” and became closely associated with music legend Prince, who she collaborated with on the hit single “U Got The Look”. Once among the decade’s biggest hitmakers, Sheena has since stepped back from the limelight. In a candid new interview with The New York Times, she reflected on why she’s chosen a quieter, more private life – and why she hasn’t released an album in 25 years. “I’m not being shoved in people’s faces anymore, which means I can lead a very normal life 99 percent of the time,” she said.

The songstress, 66, released nine studio albums in the 1980s, and in 1981, she made James Bond history with the theme song “For Your Eyes Only”, and remains the only solo artist to ever appear singing in a Bond title sequence. The track helped her score the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1982. 

“What got me through the craziness of those years was that my instinct was always to go towards normal things, to stay as grounded as possible,” she said. “I felt like, this is all a wonderful fantasy, but I don’t ever want to start believing it’s real.”

By the early 1990s, Sheena felt ready to focus on family, later adopting a son and a daughter. She explained that her performance schedule suited motherhood perfectly, noting that she “did eight shows a week for two and a half years straight,” and it worked well because “the kids would go to bed, and that’s when I would go to work.”

© Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Eventually, though, she realised she needed to take a step back. “But there came a point where I thought, I need to change my life. At the risk of a horrible cliché, that’s when I got off the merry-go-round. I didn’t want to be in my 50s and 60s looking back thinking all I’ve ever done was make records, get on a tour bus, do a bunch of TV – rinse and repeat. I wanted something more,” she continued.

© Ron Galella Collection via Getty

© NBCUniversal via Getty Images

“I’m open to different creative things,” she added. “What I’m not open to is the craziness, the almost compulsory nature of what you have to do to be a pop star. I did that once. I don’t need to do it again.”