Vanessa Amorosi has said her refusal to mime on stage came at the expense of her music career in Europe.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, the 40-year-old singer revealed she always insisted on performing live.
‘Going through Europe, there were so many shows back then that were mimed and I refused to do it, it was a nightmare for them and I was the difficult singer who wanted to sing live,’ she said.
Live in concert: Vanessa Amorosi said her refusal to mime onstage came at the expense of her music career in Europe
‘It’s not so common now; people are expected to sing live or there’s a weird vibe.’
Elsewhere in the interview, Vanessa spoke about how she also refused to conform to the image expectations put upon her by the music industry.
‘Back when I started, it was about the image and what you looked like and in the Shine video, I wore a 20 cent pair of pants. I refused to take them off,’ she said.
Sing it: In an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, the 40-year-old singer revealed she always insisted on performing live. Pictured onstage in Sydney in November 2019
She added: ‘I really wanted to be known as a singer songwriter and I was very serious about that.’
Vanessa previously spoke about her refusal to mime in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald in November 2002.
‘I did this massive festival in Europe, with thousands of people in the audience and every act was miming,’ she said at the time.
‘Going through Europe, there were so many shows back then that were mimed and I refused to do it, it was a nightmare for them and I was the difficult singer who wanted to sing live,’ she said
‘I was chucking tantrums big time backstage, because I wanted to sing live. It’s scary if you don’t know how to mime your own songs properly. I was petrified.’
She revealed she was later pulled into a disciplinary meeting with her British record label managers to discuss her behaviour.
‘I got into trouble because of what I did. I told them, “I don’t want this career, if you don’t want me to sing and entertain. I don’t ever want to do that sort of show again,”‘ she admitted.
Sticking with her style: Vanessa also spoke about how she also refused to conform to the image expectations put upon her by the music industry
Vanessa found fame in 1999 with her breakout hit, Have a Look, but it was her follow up single, Absolutely Everybody, that rocketed her to stardom.
The catchy anthem reached the top 10, was certified double platinum, and became the longest charting Australian single by an Australian female artist.
Internationally, it made it into the top 10 in several European countries, including the UK and Germany.
‘I really wanted to be known as a singer songwriter and I was very serious about that,’ she confessed
