One of disco’s biggest stars answers your questions, recalling tours with Rick James, inspiration for Destiny’s Child and what she wished she asked Michael Jackson
You have been an active contributor to an astounding canon of music. What was the essential ingredient that made it all happen? eamonmcc
The first word that comes to mind is passion – for the music, for what I do. If you get to be the voice of a song like We Are Family, which is here for generations to come – to me, it’s more than a song, it’s a statement – it just blows my mind. We were the group that brought the world together as a family through a song.
I reckon if you put a rocker, a pop fan, a metalhead, a hip-hop nut, a techno obsessive and a classical devotee into a room and put on Lost in Music, everybody would get down. What’s your own relationship with the song? DeJongandtherestless
The song we’re known for is We Are Family, but we’re really Lost in Music. That should be the theme song for Sister Sledge. I’ve been doing this all my life, since I was 11 years old, but in order to survive the industry, there has to be a balance. There were times, especially in the early days, where we toured so much that we couldn’t come up for air, and that, if anything, makes me relate to those lyrics.
