’80s Pop Star Sheena Easton: ‘I’m Not Being Shoved in People’s Faces Anymore’
What To Know
- Sheena Easton stepped away from the spotlight to prioritize a grounded, normal life over the constant demands of pop stardom.
- In the 1990s, she focused on raising her adopted children while balancing a performance schedule that allowed her to be present for her family.
- Easton now enjoys a mostly private life, occasionally performing but choosing not to return to the intense lifestyle required of a pop star.
Iconic ’80s pop star Sheena Easton recently opened up about why she decided to walk away from the spotlight.
During an interview with The New York Times published on October 25, Easton opened up about why she hasn’t released an album since 2000.
The singer, 66, is best known for songs like “Morning Train (Nine to Five),” “Sugar Walls,” and the iconic James Bond theme, “For Your Eyes Only,” which was featured in the 1981 film.
“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,” Easton told The New York Times. “I felt like, this is all a wonderful fantasy, but I don’t ever want to start believing it’s real.”
In addition to her music career, Easton is known for voicing the character Sasha La Fleur in All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 and for making a guest appearance on Miami Vice in 1987. She also notably had a close friendship with Prince, who wrote “Sugar Walls” for her.
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In the ’90s, Easton decided to start a family. She welcomed her adopted son, Jake, in 1994, and her adopted daughter, Skylar, in 1996. She continued to perform “eight shows a week for two and a half years straight,” and the schedule “worked out great because the kids would go to bed, and that’s when I would go to work.”
However, Easton eventually reached a point when she realized she needed a change.
“At the risk of a horrible cliché, that’s when I got off the merry-go-round,” she told The New York Times. “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.”
Today, she enjoys a relatively normal life — although she still occasionally performs. “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 explained.
Easton added, “I’m open to different creative things. 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.”