4Music

From TV talent show winner to top British talent, Will Young is celebrating his career so far with his first Greatest Hits collection, The Hits. He tells us how it feels to look back over the last seven years and what he has planned for the future… 

You released your debut album From Now On in 2002. Seven years on, how does it feel to be putting your Greatest Hits together? 

I feel old. I feel old and past-it. It felt a bit weird to begin with, but what’s been really interesting is that I look back on all the songs and when you’re doing something and you’re in it, you don’t take time to stop and go, “Oh, I’m really proud of that.” I’m really proud of all those pop songs. Some of them are so different. I mean, Evergreen is so defining of a moment and it was a big moment for me, and then Leave Right Now was like a gear change in my career, really. It felt like a new me. When I think of the songs, I think of the videos a lot of the time. 

Do you have a favourite music video? 

Who Am I is my favourite. I love it! I just think it’s so kitsch and so British. I think that’s the thing: I’ve got to work with people who are so talented. What I love about doing the videos is that I always love doing the comedy. What I love about pop is that I can bring out that side in performing. You can write the songs and perform the songs, but then you can put this whole aesthetic to it. I’ve always tried to do something different.

 Do you have a favourite song from your back catalogue? 

Who Am I is my favourite, just because I love the lyrics and probably because of associations with that time. I’d kind of stopped enjoying my job for a while and then with Who Am I, I kind of started enjoying it again. And the lyrics mean a lot to me.

 What are your thoughts on your early singles like Evergreen and The Long and Winding Road? 

Evergreen was a song that wasn’t written for me. It was on a Westlife album and it wasn’t even a single for them. The thing about songs is that they remind you of moments. I sang Evergreen in rehearsals and I hadn’t sung that song in four years. All these emotions came flooding back and it was really weird. I don’t think anything else would make me evoke those emotions apart from that song, and it’s now my favourite song in rehearsals. 

You’ve been nominated for ten Brit Awards, appeared on Question Time and done a lot of important charity work. Is there a particular moment that you’re most proud of in your career so far? 

I think generally staying sane! I’m quite proud of that. I think, as I get older there are more and more moments that I’m proud about. There are all the big things, like Evergreen being the fastest selling single of the decade, but I tend to find that it’s the little things that I’m really proud of. I think singing with James Brown was a big thing for me, and doing the Concert for Diana was really great.

 As well as acting, you’ve done film and theatre work. You’ve also just filmed a part in the new series of Skins. How was that?

 Yeah, I’ve just done Skins. I felt really old. Really old and unattractive. But then I’ve just done Miss Marple and I felt really young and attractive! Yeah, it was great. I love the acting because you just turn up and do what you’re meant to be doing, whereas with pop there is a lot more pressure because you’re producing it. With acting, I feel a lot freer. 

You’re quite a private person. How do you feel being famous?

 

I forget about it, I forget. Yesterday, I went down to Cornwall surfing, and I have dys where I forget I’m famous, and then I get really self-conscious because I was surfing and someone was like, “Oh, you’re Will Young,” and I was like, “Oh now they’re going to think Will Young is a bad surfer,” and then I over-concentrate and fall off and have kids laughing at me. 

Looking ahead, you’re now working on a dance-pop album with people like Groove Armada. How’s it coming along?

 It’s coming out next summer. It’s been a project that I’ve been doing for three or four years and it is very different to the stuff that I do normally, which is very mainstream middle-of-the-road pop, which I’m very happy with. It came from doing remixes. I’m doing some stuff with Fred Falke. I think if I’d done it a few years ago then people would have seen it as an attempt by me to be cooler whereas now I just want to do it and the songs are really cool. If it works it works, and if it doesn’t it doesn’t.

 The new single Hopes and Fears is available to download now. The Hits is released on 16 November.