Thirty years on from Eternal’s Top 10 breakthrough with Stay, Louise won’t rule out a full band reunion in the future.
Alongside sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett, and Kéllé Bryan, the London-born star scored global success with a run of chart smashes from the group’s debut album, ‘Always & Forever’ (1993), before exiting the band and relaunching as a solo artist in 1995.
Back in 2014, Easther, Vernie and Kéllé reunited for ‘The Big Reunion’ and while a full-band reunion featuring the original line-up has yet to happen, Louise tells RETROPOP’s July 2023 issue she’d be on board if the opportunity arose.
“I respect and admire all three of the girls. Hugely. And I’m also a real supporter of more women within our industry – especially talented women, like the girls,” she shares, “so I’m always open and would be really positive about us all working together again in any capacity. So, never say never…”
On the new ‘Greatest Hits’ package, Louise celebrates both of her pop careers and has reworked Eternal hits Just A Step From Heaven, Stay and So Good as part of a set of ‘reimagined’ recordings, alongside classics from her solo catalogue like In Walked Love, Naked, 2 Faced and Arms Around the World.
Reflecting on life as a pop star then versus now, she muses: “If I’m honest, I wish I could do now what I did then, because I never over-thought anything and it all seemed like a great idea. I was just having a great time; I was making music, there was a lot of love and support for it, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m down with that’.
“The music industry has changed a lot and now everybody has something to say and we all have to bare all so everybody can have an opinion and say it directly to you in one format or another.
“Back then, it was like you were in your own little world because nothing bad ever got through to you! It was so much easier for pop stars back then because there was no negativity being fed back to you and you could immerse yourself in this bubble of excitement and fun and love for what you do.”
Throughout the nineties, Louise established herself as a British pop institution, delivering a run of 12 UK Top 10 smashes, scooping two BRIT nominations for British Female Solo Artist, and earning Platinum status with her first two albums, ‘Naked’ (1996) and ‘Woman In Me’ (1997). But the sales are only part of the story and when it comes to career milestones, there are too many to choose from.
“There’s moments that I look back on and think, ‘Wow, I wish I’d stopped and pinched myself for a moment and really realised what a big deal this is’. Like singing at the first Apartheid concert in South Africa in front of 150,000 people – there’s not many people in the world that have done that,” she beams.
“I must have been 22 and now I look back and think, ‘That was part of history’. And it’s not that I didn’t enjoy it and appreciate it then, but I look back and I think, knowing what I know now, I might have really taken those memories in even more.
“But I can still remember certain banners in the crowd; there are visions that I’ll never forget. So I am super proud to look back over all of that and think, ‘Wow, I was lucky’.”
‘Greatest Hits’ is out June 2 on Tag8 / BMG. Louise stars as Teen Angel in ‘Grease’ at London’s Dominion Theatre from June 2 – October 28, 2023 and will perform at Brighton Pride on August 6.
Read the full interview in the July 2023 edition of RETROPOP, out now. Order yours or subscribe via our Online Store, use our Store Finder to locate your nearest stockist, or get Digital Copies delivered direct to your devices.
