Yahoo News I'm A Celeb Russell Watson says 'it brings tears to my eyes' in emotional admission
Russell Watson is keen to make the most of every moment. The legendary tenor is a pioneer in classical music and was one of the first artists to successfully crossover opera with pop.
However, his remarkable career has not come without adversity as Russell has overcome a number of health battles during his incredible journey to the top. The 58-year-old told the ECHO in an exclusive interview: "Two brain tumours, a throat operation, an issue with my heart." He laughed: "There's quite a few health things to say the least."
Russell's health woes have hammered home how life can be too short and he knows more than most that time is of the essence. The singer is grateful to now have a clean bill of health and wants to take advantage of this by staying as busy and prolific as possible.
He released an autobiography, Encore: My Journey back to Centre Stage, this year and is currently on the road with the Magnificent Buildings tour, which sees him perform at some of the most beautiful cathedrals and abbeys across the country. The tour ends this year in Merseyside with a show at the Liverpool Cathedral on December 14 - and Russell can't wait to bring the curtain down in a city close to his heart.
He told the ECHO: "I have a real affinity with Liverpool because that's where I spent eight or nine years of my club life treading the boards in the working men's club so I was here, there and everywhere in the 1990s."
Russell said the clubs of Merseyside were the perfect breeding ground for his early career as he could always count on an honest reaction from the crowd. He added: "The good thing about Liverpool is if they love you, they'll let you know. If they don't, they'll let you know. So there was never any ambiguity on whether you've gone down well."
The tenor, who hails from Irlam, enjoys a close connection with Merseyside as his friendship with one of our region's most famous figures - the late, great, Paul O'Grady - played a pivotal role in shaping his life. In addition to valuable career advice, Russell said he could always confide in the late star on their shared experiences with serious health scares, as Paul suffered three heart attacks during his life.
Russell recalled how the Lily Savage legend's words were vital in helping him process his own brain tumour diagnosis as he explained how a near death experience changes you. He told the ECHO: "Paul said there's nothing that makes you appreciate everything a little bit more than having a major health scare."
Russell was first diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2006, but soon returned to living his life normally once this was successfully treated. The iconic Birkenhead presenter's words rung true a year later in 2007 as Russell was diagnosed for a second time and nearly died in his sleep when the tumour haemorrhaged.
He said: "I went to bed one night and I didn't wake up the next morning. I was unconscious and carted out of the house by two paramedics. Consequently, 25 treatments of radiotherapy started in January that year."
This was the moment when Russell's outlook on life changed forever as he said: "That was the point when it really hit home. When it hits you again and, all of a sudden, the fragility of your own mortality and life, you become much more self aware of it.
"I know it sounds a bit morbid, but we're not going to be here forever. None of us are and it's a really sobering thought. There are times when I'll often think about it on my own and it upsets me. It brings tears to my eyes knowing that none of us will be here at some point."
Russell is a patron for the Brain Tumour Charity and regularly shares honest updates about his health and well-being in the hope it will help people. However, he admitted there were still aspects from that traumatic period of his life when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour that were difficult to revisit when writing the autobiography.
He said: "The only people that knew what was going on were people who I felt needed to know through necessity. I didn't tell my family, I didn't tell my kids. I told literally everyone the night before I was going in for the first operation.
"Everyone knew about the second one because it was all over the news. I was the only one that knew nothing about it because, at the time, I was out of it.
"The one thing that stands in my mind throughout all of that was when I had to tell my two daughters (Rebecca and Hannah) who then would have been 5 and 11. That was horrific." Russell has written extensively about his health problems in the new book, which he hopes draws a line under that chapter of his life.
The singer wants the inspiring aspects of his story to shine through as he left school at 16 with no qualifications and broke down class barriers to forge a successful career in classical music. Russell hopes to highlight the positives that can come out of struggle as he said: "I wanted the essence of the book to be, 'I went though this and it's difficult'. But it's not about brain tumours, it's not about all the highs and lows. It's about how I processed all the good stuff and the bad stuff almost hand in hand.
"It's about how I processed the whole thing and came out the other end as, what I think, is a better person." The tenor's remarkable story starts in the working men's club of the North West when he stumbled upon his incredible ability to sing opera after a promoter recommended he give Nessun dorma a try.
The former factory worker gave it a go, received a standing ovation at his very next gig in Wigan and the rest is history. Five years after he performed an opera song in front of a live crowd for the first time, Russell had released the best selling classical album from a UK artist of all time when The Voice was released in 2000.
The tenor is celebrating the album's 25th anniversary next year with a new tour and said the untraditional route he took into the industry has been key to his longevity as the out-of-the-box approach enabled him to carve out his own niche.
He said: "At the point where I came onto the scene, nobody had done that kind of repertoire that I'd done with the mixture of classical and pop music. The so-called classical music critics didn't like it.
"They've had to accept the crossover genre now and they've had to accept there's lots of different artists coming through that aren't what one would consider to be the stand up traditional, classical artist."
Since the moment he wowed that working men's club in the North West, Russell has went on to experience moments he could never have dreamed of such as performing at Wembley and singing for the Pope at the Vatican. The tenor still pinches himself at what he has been able to achieve in his career, but admitted his brush with death has forever changed his outlook so he is always mindful to keep in perspective what truly matters.
Russell's family life with his wife, Louise, at their farm in Cheshire will always take priority and he is looking forward to the next chapter of his glittering career now his health problems look to be behind him. He said: "You've got to enjoy life, but I think more important than that, you've got to enjoy life with the people that you love around you. And that's the one lesson I've learnt from all this."
Russell Watson will perform at Liverpool Cathedral on December 14. Tickets are available at weloveconcerts.com/
