‘Women can’t have it all,’ says Paloma Faith

Paloma Faith has said that she doesn’t believe women “can have it all”.

The award-winning singer, 42, who will be performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury this summer, said juggling her career and being a single parent hasn’t been easy.

Speaking to Radio Times, she said: “I don’t believe we can have it all.

“I feel a bit disgruntled about society’s expectation on women because we were given this idea that you could work and have your own money and independence while raising children.

“What we’ve ended up with is far too much responsibility, and I think a lot of women are burning out.”

Faith, who has two children under the age of 10, has been touring in the UK and Europe while dealing with childcare.

“I’ve got more energy than most but, frankly, I’m so tired,” she added.

The Only Love Can Hurt Like This singer split from Leyman Lahcine, her husband and father of her two daughters, in 2022.

“Touring as a single parent is something else,” she said. “Back in the day, I’d get in at two in the morning and then I’d sleep in because my ex would look after the kids. But now I get in, get four hours sleep, then I’m up getting them ready for school.”

The pop star has previously told The Telegraph that the music industry “isn’t friendly to women with babies” with an unrelenting cycle of recording, promotion and touring.

“They want you to constantly go on this treadmill of putting out work… and basically, when women have babies, it puts a big block on that for a while,” she added.

Faith is particularly passionate about the subject and has recently published a book titled MILF: Motherhood, Identity, Love and F---ery.

Her new album, The Glorification of Sadness, was also released this year and recounts the details of her “devastating” split from the French artist.

She told Radio Times that parenting is a “full-time job” and that not being able to delegate your work to a partner is “exhausting”.

“You sacrifice something, always,” she added.

The artist also discussed rediscovering her sexuality in her 40s by dating younger men and adapting her career persona to reflect more of a “sexy and empowered woman”.

“It’s always been quite tongue-in-cheek but I feel like this is a feminist angle,” she explained, adding: “It’s almost like I’m a new artist again.”

This summer, Faith will take to the Glastonbury stage in a year with more female headliners than ever before, including Dua Lipa, Shania Twain and SZA.

The singer indicated that this may be more of a temporary “knee-jerk reaction” to the criticism festival organisers faced for not having enough women headline in recent years.

“What tends to happen is they’ll diversify… and then it goes back to white men again for years,” she explained. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”