Rebecca Ferguson Australian Promo Tour

Rebecca Ferguson, the UK songstress quipped to become the voice of her generation will bring her remarkable soul voice for the first time to Australian shores as part of a promotional tour from March 26 – 30. Rebecca will visit Melbourne and Sydney to partake in media interviews and play intimate industry gigs showcasing songs from her debut album.

Her first single from the album, ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’ is currently dominating the airwaves at Australian radio. It’s a song that is heartfelt, passionate yet displaying the control that only a great singer can muster, the subject is one close to Rebecca’s heart – what’s really important in life – “No money, no house, no car, can beat love.”

“People used to say to me ‘Being rich doesn’t make you happy, Rebecca'” she says. “And I’d think I’ve got no electricity, nothing – tell that to my empty fridge. But now I’m doing okay, I realise, they were right. It doesn’t matter what you’ve got, as long as you’ve got love. I know that sounds cheesy, but that’s everything”.

It’s a theme continued on much of her searingly honest debut album. This is soul; raw emotion pours out of every fibre of every note making the others sound… ordinary. Fiercely proud of her working class Liverpool roots, Rebecca’s route here hasn’t been an easy one, but it’s given her a dignified fighting spirit, which bursts through her lyrics and informs the path she hopes her career will follow. Basically, she is a true artist, in it for the long haul.

Rebecca worked with a roll call of song-writer/producers including Eg White (Adele, James Morrison, Duffy) Fraser T Smith (N-Dubz, Tinchy Stryder, Cee Lo Green) and Claude Kelly in New York (Britney, Whitney Houston, Jessie J). Created over the last 11 months the album is a highly accomplished and timeless piece of work; from the sweet pared back piano led ‘Teach me How to Be Loved’ to the big band sound of ‘Fairytale’, Rebecca’s voice soars effortlessly. And if ‘Shoulder To Shoulder’ doesn’t make you cry then there must be androids amongst us….

Just over a year ago, this painfully shy, woefully under confident single mother of two was shown auditioning for The X Factor. In what is surely one of the best audition sequences ever shown on the programme, her story of dignified resignation – pregnant at 17, then again at 19, with no money and little hope – struck a chord with the nation. It’s immaterial that she came second on the show – It seemed that this was a voice destined never to be heard. Then she opened her mouth and her stunningly raw rendition of Sam Cooke’s classic “A Change Is Gonna Come” set the bar on the show, oh, just a million miles higher….

Whilst her direct musical influences are soul based, a quick arbitrary scroll through her iPod veers between; Ben Howard, Ray Charles, Bombay Bicycle Club, Tupac, Sam Cooke, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Florence and The Machine, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj and, of course, Adele.

“She’s been such a support and said such lovely things about me,” she says of her fellow chanteuse. “She even admitted she voted for me 80 times when I was on the show. She means every word she sings, which I love.”