INTERVIEW: MAXWELL Speaks to Denise Quan (CNN)
MAXWELL’s first CD in eight years yields six Grammy noms. Denise Quan speaks with the Comeback King of 2009.
December 14, 2009 | Los Angeles, California (CNN) — Once upon a time, Maxwell’s hair would have walked into a room five minutes before he did.
When he first hit the big time in 1996, he rocked the biggest, fluffiest Afro this side of the ’70s and evoked a distinctly bohemian vibe.
Now, the neo-soul superstar is back after an eight-year self-imposed hiatus, and he looks like a new man, with close-cropped hair and a wardrobe of elegantly tailored suits.
“Sometimes I just get sick of myself,” he confided, alluding to his time away from the spotlight. “That’s kind of what happened in 2001. I didn’t want to see another photo; I didn’t want to hear me. I just sort of needed a coffee bean in the perfume shop of who I was, you know what I mean?”
But the deluge of media attention is starting to happen all over again.
We’re backstage at “The Jay Leno Show” in Burbank, California, where the mood is jubilant. The night before, the 36-year-old singer-songwriter earned six Grammy nominations for “BLACKsummer’s Night,” the first in a trilogy of albums rolling out over the next couple of years.
It’s the comeback story of 2009, especially since Whitney Houston’s much-publicized CD failed to garner a single nod from Grammy voters.
Interview requests are pouring in. This time, Maxwell insists that he won’t lose focus.
“I think I was just more afraid. Fear of failing, fear of having something sort of stop. For me, I was like, ‘I don’t want to love this too much, because what if this goes away?’ I kind of went through that because I’m kind of insecure in that way. But for the hiatus to have occurred, to then come back and to have this — I feel a lot more settled and a lot more confident.”
Maxwell spoke with CNN about his return. Read more
If you missed Maxwell’s performance on CNN Heroes – An All-Star Tribute (November 26, 2009) watch it here on LMN.
This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 12:38 pm and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Arnita Blowe December 14th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Great interview!!! I just love this man–his spirit, his humbleness, his gentleness, his mystique. Mystique is good–it makes me appreciate him more and more.
On the subject of his hair, I really like it short. I like the transformation because change is good.
I saw his performance of “Lifetime” on the David Letterman show when the “Now” cd was out. There was no emotion in his eyes. He sang the song as if to say “Let me get the hell off of this stage–I’m done. I don’t want to do this anymore.” He just looked sad.
I watched his performance of “Simply Beautiful” on the BET Awards. I screamed during the entire performance because he looked great. I loved his haircut. He was happy.