KT Tunstall: ‘I was a totally crap pop star… It’s important to kill your idea of what you should be’
Twenty years on from her breakout hit Suddenly I See, KT Tunstall is refreshingly candid about her early career: “I was a totally crap pop star,” she tells Sky News.
The Scottish singer-songwriter may have a Brit and Ivor Novello to her name – won the year after she outsold every other female artist in the UK – but she’s not taking any prisoners.
KT Tunstall performing in 2023. Pic: AP Images
“You have an idea of what you should be as an artist, I think it’s really, really important to kill that.”
She goes on: “The whole point of being an artist is that you never know what you’re going to be, and you should never assume that you know.
“I think there’s something much more divine in the kind of growth of yourself as an artist that it’s not your place to know what’s going to be.”
Emma Flynn plays Cher. Pic: Pamela Raith Photography
Sharing a private thought, she admits: “I don’t think I’ve ever said it out loud, but I have always thought to myself, ‘What if the things that you have done are not the thing that you’re most known for? That there’s something coming’?”
Emma Flynn plays Cher. Pic: Pamela Raith Photography
Turning 50 next year, Tunstall’s embraced change head on, helping transform 1995 film Clueless for the stage, alongside its creator Amy Heckerling.
Working in Hollywood for four decades and counting, Heckerling, who also directed Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Look Who’s Talking, says “I always felt like the movie, while we were making it, kind of wanted to sing.”
‘It was really time to do something new’
It was a “wild ride” that Tunstall, who says she was “desperate to learn something new,” was keen to be part of.
The Clueless The Musical cast. Pic: Pamela Raith Photography
Busking as a student before joining bands in her early 20s, Tunstall says: “I’ve been I’ve been doing gigs and touring for a long time, and it was really time to do something new and, and this is just a dream project to do it with.”
With the film’s original soundtrack featuring hits from Radiohead, Coolio, the Lightning Seeds, Supergrass and the Beastie Boys, Tunstall says it was exciting to create songs for the “explosion of genre” that was the 1990s – a time when Nirvana and NSYNC jostled alongside each other in the charts, and the Spice Girls burst onto the worldwide scene.
KT Tunstall has written the music for Clueless The Musical, the 90s film that made Alicia Silverstone a star. Pic: Paramount Pictures/PA
Tunstall’s approach? “Come up with a mega-mix feel, that it’s the cassette tape playing in Cher’s Jeep” and then merge it with the MTV music video visuals catching fire at the time.
‘Enjoy the nostalgia and relax in the theatre’
Emma Flynn, who plays Cher Horowitz in the show, says it’s the role of a lifetime having been a fan of the movie “since I was in the foetal position” and “pretty much off book” from day one.
Flynn says the show offers audiences an escape from some of the stresses of modern-day life.
“Watching people before social media and cell phones, just going to the Valley party and actually having to communicate. I think people enjoy that nostalgia. And I think it allows people to relax in the theatre too.”
And Clueless isn’t the only classic movie getting a musical makeover.
Georgie Buckland as Andy (L) and Amy Di Bartol as Emily (R) in The Devil Wears Prada The Musical. Pic: Matt Crockett
The Devil Wears Prada The Musical brings fashion to the West End, with music by Sir Elton John.
While the Mean Girls Broadway run was such a success, it got turned back into its own movie last year, taking over $100m at the global box office. The musical’s now in the West End, becoming the fastest-selling show in the Dominion Theatre’s history.
Mean Girls The Musical cast. Pic: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg
So, what’s the appeal?
The shows already have a ready-made audience of fans, created by the original film.
They’re familiar but different – building on the original narrative, taking well-loved characters and oft-repeated catchphrases – and using song and dance to expand on the movies’ best-known scenes – to the delight of the audience.
Meanwhile, the success of streaming over the last two decades means older films are easy to find and re-watch for a new generation of fans.
There’s the nostalgia factor too – looking back to a movie you loved as a child or teen means it’s already won a special place in your heart, and you’re much more likely to welcome it in for a second time.
Charlie Burn (R) plays Cady Heron. Pic: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg
‘The 90s are on fire in popular culture’
And the shows are not just attracting familiar audiences, but fresh ones as well says actress Charlie Burn, who plays Cady Heron in Mean Girls The Musical.
While she says there are certain “anticipatory parts of the show where people know there are iconic lines coming up,” she says there are also “parents with their kids at the stage door, that say, ‘I never knew the musical, I never knew the movie, and I loved it’.”
As for Clueless, Tunstall says it’s a piece of luck that after years of work the musical has come to fruition “when the ’90s are on fire again in popular culture”, adding “a whole new generation of kids are really appreciating the culture of the ’90s, and it just feels really perfect.”
Cher’s futuristic outfit generator may never have become a daily-dressing reality, and a Burn Book in the back of the closet would now be shared via an array of social media putdowns.
But the hefty dollop of nostalgia delivered by such shows is a song and dance welcomed by many across universally challenging times.
The Salt Path author Raynor Winn’s fourth book has been delayed by her publisher.
It comes amid claims that the author lied about her story in her hit first book. Winn previously described the claims as “highly misleading” and called suggestions that her husband had Moth made up his illness “utterly vile”.
In a statement, Penguin Michael Joseph, said it had delayed the publication of Winn’s latest book On Winter Hill – which had been set for release 23 October.
The publisher said the decision had been made in light of “recent events, in particular intrusive conjecture around Moth’s health”, which it said had caused “considerable distress” to the author and her family.
“It is our priority to support the author at this time,” the publisher said.
“With this in mind, Penguin Michael Joseph, together with the author, has made the decision to delay the publication of On Winter Hill from this October.”
A new release date will be announced in due course, the publisher added.
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Winn’s first book, released in 2018, detailed the journey she and husband took along the South West Coast Path – familiarly known as The Salt Path – after they lost their family farm and Moth received a terminal health diagnosis of Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD).
But a report in The Observer disputed key aspects of the 2018 “true” story – which was recently turned into a film starring Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson.
Raynor and husband Moth (centre) with actors Jason Isaacs (L) and Gillian Anderson (R). Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
Experts ‘sceptical of health claims’
As part of the article, published last weekend, The Observer claimed to have spoken to experts who were “sceptical” about elements of Moth’s terminal diagnosis, such as a “lack of acute symptoms and his apparent ability to reverse them”.
In the ensuing controversy, PSPA, a charity that supports people with CBD, cut ties with the couple.
The Observer article also claimed the portrayal of a failed investment in a friend’s business wasn’t true, but said the couple – whose names are Sally and Tim Walker – lost their home after Raynor Winn embezzled money from her employer and had to borrow to pay it back and avoid police action.
Anderson played Winn in a movie about the couple’s journey. Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
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It also said that, rather than being homeless, the couple had owned a house in France since 2007.
Winn’s statement said the dispute with her employer wasn’t the reason the couple lost their home – but admitted she may have made “mistakes” while in the job.
“For me it was a pressured time,” she wrote. “It was also a time when mistakes were being made in the business. Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry.”
She admitted being questioned by police but said she wasn’t charged.
The author also said accusations that Moth lied about having CBD/CBS were false and had “emotionally devastated” him.
“I have charted Moth’s condition with such a level of honesty, that this is the most unbearable of the allegations,” Winn wrote on her website.
The first fan started queuing before 8am.
Heaton Park, just north of Manchester City centre, is tonight hosting 80,000 fans who’ve come to see the Gallaghers’ homecoming.
“I would honestly say it’s a real cultural moment of the 21st century,” says Sam, who’s from Manchester and has come here with a group of friends – including one who has travelled from Australia for the gig.
Oasis fans wear band T-shirts with the almost obligatory bucket hats. Pic: Reuters
This will be the fourth time Sam has seen Oasis play, although obviously not for many years, and he says he can’t wait for the moment the band comes on to the stage.
“The reaction from the fans, that’s going to be really special,” he says. “This band means so much to the North West.”
Like many people attending tonight’s concert, Sam is wearing a bucket hat.
Liam Gallagher’s iconic headgear has become a part of the band’s cultural legacy and they are certainly on display here, with street vendors popping up all around the park’s perimeter.
Another fan, Dean, tells me he feels incredibly lucky to have got a ticket at all.
“I had seven devices out when the tickets were released and I didn’t get one,” he says. “And then about three days ago, a friend of mine messaged to say she couldn’t make it.
“So I made it. £120 with coach travel there and back – perfect.”
Dom has flown from half a world away to be in Manchester tonight
Dom is another fan who has come from Australia for the gig.
“We’re frothing to be here, like so stoked,” he says, “The atmosphere is going to be electric.”
Read more:
Review – Oasis reunite for first gig in 16 years
A timeline of Britpop’s most successful band
One young couple are here on their honeymoon. From Italy, they met at a Liam Gallagher concert several years ago.
“It’s where we fell in love,” Claudia says. “And we got married last month so we wanted to be here to celebrate.”
Amanda, from Manchester, is also here with a loved one – well, sort of.
Amanda has found a way to make sure her son, who lives in Australia, is there in spirit
She’s wearing a paper cut-out mask of her 30-year-old son Harry’s face.
“He’s in Melbourne and got a ticket but then couldn’t come,” Amanda explains.
“And so Harry doesn’t feel left out,” she says pulling the mask down over her face, “we’ve brought him with us!”
Entertainment
Chris Brown: R&B singer denies further charges following alleged bottle attack in London club
R&B singer Chris Brown has denied further charges following an alleged bottle attack in a London nightclub.
The 36-year-old pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) to music producer Abraham Diaw, during a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.
Brown also denied one count of having an offensive weapon – a bottle – in a public place.
Chris Brown arriving at Southwark Crown Court on Friday. Pic: PA
The Grammy-winning US musician last month pleaded not guilty to a more serious charge of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent to Mr Diaw.
The attack allegedly happened at the Tape venue, a private members’ club in Hanover Square, Mayfair, on 19 February 2023.
The plea hearing is part of preparations for his five to seven-day trial, which is due to take place from 26 October 2026.
Brown’s co-defendant, US national Omololu Akinlolu, 39, on Friday pleaded not guilty to a charge of assaulting Mr Diaw occasioning him actual bodily harm.
Akinlolu, a rapper who goes by the name Hoody Baby, has previously pleaded not guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.
Brown’s co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu arrives at court. Pic: Reuters
The defendants sat side-by-side in the dock, looking straight ahead during the hearing in London.
Around 20 fans sat in the public gallery behind the dock for Friday’s hearing, with several gasping as Brown walked into the courtroom.
The Go Crazy singer was able to continue with his scheduled international tour after he was freed on conditional bail in May.
He had to pay a £5m security fee to the court as part of the bail agreement, which is a financial guarantee to ensure a defendant returns to court and may be forfeited if they breach bail conditions.
Read more:
Chris Brown posts message after being released on bail
Mr Diaw was standing at the bar of the Tape nightclub when he was struck several times with a bottle, and then pursued to a separate area of the venue where he was punched and kicked repeatedly, Manchester Magistrates’ Court previously heard.
Brown was arrested at Manchester’s Lowry Hotel at 2am on 15 May by detectives from the Metropolitan Police.
He is said to have flown into Manchester Airport on a private jet in preparation for the UK tour dates.
Brown was released from HMP Forest Bank in Salford, Greater Manchester, on 21 May.
The singer, who rose to stardom as a teenager in 2005, won his first Grammy award for best R&B album in 2011 for F.A.M.E..
He earned his second in the same category for 11:11 (Deluxe) earlier this year.
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