Natalie Imbruglia to host special programme on Virgin Radio

Natalie Imbruglia joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show to talk about presenting an International Women’s Day special on Virgin Radio UK tonight.

The singer and actor told Chris: “I picked people that I’ve got funny anecdotal stories about, who have influenced either my music, or just me as a person. People that I might have got to meet, or run into, in my youth, like Tori Amos, who I once met in a bathroom before her show, and I was like ‘Do I say hello in a bathroom?’”

She explained to Chris that the meeting came about after she met her tour manager in a club in Melbourne.

“He stupidly said to an Aussie, ‘If ever you’re in the UK, call me’. So I did, ‘Can I come stay?’ And he’s like, ‘I could have been a serial killer’. I said, ‘Yeah, but you’re not, because you’re Tori Amos’ tour manager’. And he played me music for the first time, took me to the show.

“I’m a bit of a hippie, same as Tori… I had a rose quartz crystal to give to her. And I’m in the loo and I’m like, ‘Do I give her the crystal?’” She added: “She was so lovely. We had a chat in the loo. Not in the loo.”

Other stories she recalls in her special show later include why she’s grateful her dad bought her albums as presents from the likes of The Mamas and the Papas, The Carpenters and The Beatles when she was young, and how she met Madonna when Bono took her to the Queen of Pop’s Grammys afterparty one year.

“I was like, ‘I’m talking to Madonna! This is Madonna!’ So you’re kind of trying to concentrate but you’re like, ‘It’s Madonna!!!’” she said.

Speaking about being a woman in the music industry, Natalie said: “You cop a lot of slack. And there was a misogyny when I was kind of coming up through the ranks that you have to endure.

She continued: “It’s changed. But I also do think that younger women in this industry get a harder time. I used to get interviewed and sometimes it felt like a battle, and I don’t get that anymore. But is that just because I’m old?

“Things have changed and progressed. There’s still a long way to go in some areas, but from what I’m observing, you know, it’s nicer for women coming up through the ranks, which is great.”

You can hear the International Women’s Day special with Natalie Imbruglia tonight (8th March) at 7pm on Virgin Radio UK.