Soprano Lesley Garrett has revealed her impending 70th birthday has made her think about quitting singing.
The classical music star says she would hate for audiences to complain she was no longer as good as she used to be at the height of her fame.
So with her landmark birthday looming in April she has started to ponder retiring while she is still ahead.
Lesley, who was the principal soprano for the English National Opera and has also performed in musicals in the West End, said: “I’m now having to look at re-inventing myself, because, although I am still singing and still performing, next year I’ll be 70. Can you keep going forever?
“Or, do I quit while I’m ahead and say, ‘right. I’ve had 45 years of an amazing career, let’s just park that and go and do something else – save the whales, whatever.’ It’s a bit of a crossroads.”
Speaking to broadcaster Kaye Adams on her How to be 60 podcast, Lesley added: “My husband says I’m only at my happiest when I’m singing. He says he worries about my mental health if I stop singing.
“He says I’m at my most energetic and positive when I’m involved in singing. But there are other aspects; there are other things that start to go, like memory. Any kind of singing is about remembering huge tracts of text and suddenly you’ll not be able to remember a word.
“You can’t do that on a stage in front of 2,000 people. You don’t want people to be leaving the auditorium saying, ‘well, you know, she’s not as good as she was.’ I would hate that.”
The Yorkshire-born singer, who is married to retired GP Peter Christian and has two children, disclosed she was even wondering whether to abandon her singing surname, Garrett.
She explained: “I’ve been thinking about dropping that name altogether and just being known by my married name, because I do go by both names, so I’m Mrs Christian – mum and wife – and Lesley Garrett – diva. I don’t know if I could, because I just don’t think I’d know who the hell I was and what would I be here for.”
Lesley has also enjoyed a successful TV career, taking part in the first series of Strictly when she was partnered with Anton Du Beke, and appearing on the Loose Women panel. She has released 14 solo albums and was awarded a CBE in 2002.