How Vanessa Amorosi fought against the music industry’s sexism and won

As Vanessa Amorosi releases her new record City of Angels, she reveals there is one thing other singers do that she won’t.

Vanessa Amorosi figured out early in her career how to say no.

As she launches her new album City of Angels, the fiercely independent pop star recalls how she set the standard for her creative life when she was just 17 and filming the video for her smash hit single Shine.

“Back when I started, it was about the image and what you looked like and in the Shine video, I wore a 20 cent pair of pants, I refused to take them off,” she said, laughing.

“I really wanted to be known as a singer songwriter and I was very serious about that.”

Amorosi remains a fiercely independent pop artist. Picture: Tim Pascoe

In the early 2000s, after soundtracking the Sydney Olympics with both Shine and her uplifting dance anthem Absolutely Everybody, Amorosi encountered more hurdles as her songs took off in Europe.

And again, she refused to play the game.

“Going through Europe, there were so many shows back then that were mimed and I refused to do it; it was a nightmare for them and I was the difficult singer who wanted to sing live,” she said.

“It’s not so common now; people are expected to sing live or there’s a weird vibe.”

Her uncompromising attitude has fostered a lifelong connection with half a million regular listeners on streaming services, with thousands of those turning out to scream along to the hits on her current Australian tour which included performing at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Amorosi doesn’t look out at the sea of faces singing along to hits including This Is Who I Am, Perfect and even the new stuff like recent single Crash Now Burn and see fans. She sees family.

“I’ve grown up with everybody and that is what you dream to have. They have babies and families now who come to the gigs so when I look out into the crowd now, I know half the people standing there; they’re family,” she said.

Amorosi releases City of Angels this week, a record she wrote, recorded and produced herself in Los Angeles, her home of the past decade, and inspired by American gospel and soul music.

It’s the kind of music which harnesses the power of her gifted vocals and wear her heart on her sleeve, whether it’s processing betrayal and disappointment or celebrating life’s precious moments.

The closing track I’ll Be There is for her six-year-old son Killian, who is yet to appreciate his mum is a bit of a singing superstar.

“Whenever I play him things, he’s too busy banging on guitars and making his own racket,” she said.

“He’s definitely got that music gene but he’s still too young to get what I do.”

City of Angels is out on March 18. For all tour dates and tickers, click here.

Originally published as How Vanessa Amorosi fought against the music industry’s sexism and won