In a candid interview with Swedish tabloid Expressen, Kikki tells of the problems that have plagued her and her career during the course of the years. She is currently in the process of writing an autobiography, and thinks it’s high time that the general public and her fans knew the truth behind her struggles.
Kikki (58) is one of Sweden’s most popular artists, but these last six months have been like one long, hard slog for her personally. She tells of the death of her father, radio station P4’s boycott and refusal to play any of her releases, as well as the scandal surrounding her cancelled comeback show.
Kikki does however appear to be fighting her way back into the limelight, following P4’s recent change of heart and decision to play her music after all. She is also due to make a guest appearance on the popular entertainment programme Allsång på Skansen as well as venturing into the studio to record new material which is due for release this autumn. Scandal has followed Kikki’s career repeatedly during the last ten years or so, but it wasn’t until 1999 when Kikki crashed and was sentenced for driving under the influence that the full extent of her problems started to be made public. She was again sentenced in 2004 for the same offence, and shortly after was admitted to a rehab clinic in an attempt to treat her alcoholism.
Her autobiography will, amongst other things, contain private photographs, press clippings, and diary entries and Kikki considers the writing as pure therapy and a very cathartic process. She reveals furthermore to Expressen that the book to a great extent will deal with her ongoing alcoholism and battle on the way to recovery. "I’m going to tell all and explain just how and why I drank. That I drank to hide from my feelings, my fears, just to make it through the day and to escape for different reasons". When confronted with the question as to whether or not she is a recovering alcoholic today, she replies: "I don’t really like to generalise in that way, saying that everyone who drinks is an alcoholic. I don’t like those terms. But at present I don’t have any desire to touch the stuff, I can at least say that much. And to be honest, I’ve never really had the urge to drink. But, hand on heart, I can’t promise that I’ll never touch another drop again."
Her book is scheduled for publishing next year and at the moment is entitled Gökungen – med mina egna ord (The baby cuckoo – in my own words). She goes on to say that it won’t be just the low points of her career that she will be dealing with in her book: "I’ve thought about writing this book for the last twenty years. It’s going to be about my life and my version of everything that has happened. I’ve experienced so many hilarious and crazy things during the course of my life and my career. The book is therapy for me, a way for me to deal with the grief of the loss of my father and a way for me to get to understand myself better."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWWE35gf_H0&feature=PlayList&p=6EA4C93B5B7668DD&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=16
In my view
Welcome back Kikki and I wish her every success with her comback and future projects.
The opinion expressed in "In my view" are those of the author and are not necessarily the one of EuroVisionary.com.
