Mabel McVey: Music stars came to my house — but I only cared about Lego

Rising star Mabel McVey has spoken about growing up with musician parents — and dealing with their fame as she forges her own singing career.

McVey, 21, is the daughter of Swedish singer Neneh Cherry and music producer Cameron McVey, who has worked with Massive Attack, All Saints and Sugababes.

As a child she was used to stars such as REM’S Michael Stipe coming round to her house — where All Saints recorded their hit Never Ever. To McVey, however, they were “all my dad’s annoying friends. Like, can I just get on with building this Lego?”

The singer, who grew up in Stockholm, moved to London at 18 to forge her music career — but did not reveal her full identity when contacting management companies.

She told ES Magazine: “I wanted to do music by myself. If my parents helped, I’d never feel confident in the fact that I’m actually good.”

After “literally just harassing people” she secured a manager, and in 2015 released her first song on Soundcloud. It went viral and later that year she signed a record deal with a big label.

The singer, who has made her name with a 21st-century take on Nineties R&B, now feels better able to cope with her parents’ fame, saying: “When I was in my teens I felt quite embarrassed by being my mum and dad’s daughter. I thought, ‘People will never take me seriously’. But actually, the older I get, the prouder I become of the things they’ve accomplished. My mum’s sung for Nelson Mandela, and my dad produced one of my favourite albums of all time [Massive Attack’s debut, Blue Lines].”

The singer also spoke about how music helped her cope with the severe anxiety she suffered as a child. Born in Spain, she lived in France, New York and London before the age of eight. At that point her family moved to Stockholm, where she “instantly felt safer”. She said: “Mum has always kept journals and she told me, ‘You need to be writing all of this down’. I must have been five or six when I realised all the stuff I was writing made sense with what I was playing on the piano.

“And that was an incredible tool for me. Any time I was feeling down, I was always just like, ‘Ah, go and play’. My mum would always say it was never a bad thing. It just meant that I was open, and that I felt a lot. The older I get, the more I agree with that.”