Leo Sayer, 78, is an English-Australian singer-songwriter, born Gerard Hugh Sayer. His hits include The Show Must Go On, Moonlighting, When I Need You and You Make Me Feel Like Dancing. He moved to Australia in 2005 and married his long-term partner, Donatella Piccinetti, in 2023. His autobiography and a career-spanning box set are due this year, alongside his final full UK tour.
Here, he looks back at the moments that shaped him, from a deadly hotel fire to getting his nickname, and his first American number one.
Being carried down Fifth Avenue on somebody’s shoulders was a good way to discover I was number one in America. I was shopping with my first wife when somebody shouted: “There he is! He’s number one!” A crowd lifted me up and carried me towards the Plaza Hotel while singing You Make Me Feel Like Dancing. The staff stood and saluted me, my room bill was waived and champagne appeared.
You have to nail your feet to the ground after something like that. Almost 30 years later, Thunder in My Heart became number one in Britain after being remixed, and I had to mime to a vocal I had recorded in 1977. On the Saturday-morning television show CD-UK, children who had been screaming at Blue ignored them and screamed at me instead. How can you not remain optimistic when life keeps doing things like that?
I am a scaredy-cat who avoids conflict, but lies and cheats make me furious. I cannot always say exactly what I think as a public figure, so sometimes I put it into songs.
I keep Leo Sayer at arm’s length. My passport, driving licence and credit cards all say: Gerard Sayer. I walk on stage and become Leo, but away from work I am Gerard. My autobiography is written by Gerard, looking objectively at this strange person called Leo who has had an extraordinary career. Leo is not an act, exactly, but he is a useful separation. You cannot let him go to your head.
The name came from a morally correct cartoon lion. David Courtney, Adam Faith’s wife Jackie and others thought my enormous mane of hair made me resemble Leo the Lion, who gave children advice about brushing their teeth. I liked that there were hardly any other famous Leos, so a headline could simply say: “Leo makes it.” I stayed up all night practising the signature.
My hair disguises the fact that a dog pushed me out of my pram. I landed on my head, which was flattened, and injured my neck. I have spent my life trying to make my hair taller than my head really is. When I performed The Show Must Go On dressed as Pierrot, pinning it beneath the black bathing cap without letting it burst out was an operation every night.
My first wife wanted the old Gerry back. Janice was incredibly intelligent and gave up university to travel with me, which I always felt guilty about. When we met, I was quiet; by the end, I was a loudmouthed extrovert because the job required it. She became fed up with being Mrs Sayer, and I do not blame her. We promised never to speak again when we separated. I do not know where she is now.
Donatella and I waited almost 40 years to marry – we did not want to spoil anything. We already had something magical. Eventually, practical questions about Australia, the business and what would happen after I died made marriage sensible. We had 40 people in the garden and kept it secret until a friend leaked it the next day. At least there were no drones or helicopters above the ceremony.
I saw two people burn to death when I was 18. I was a hall porter at the King’s Hotel in Brighton, where two elderly widowed guests were having a secret relationship. I carried messages between them and found them a room where they could lie together in the afternoons. Then a fire broke out. I brought the lift up and found flames everywhere. The lift caught fire and crashed, but I escaped and helped people as I went upstairs. Apparently, I saved four lives, although much is a blur. I tried to get the couple to safety, but the fire was coming through the door. I tried to persuade them to climb out of the window with me, but they said, “No, we’ve had a great life”. Firefighters rescued me from the ledge.
That fire gave me my moral compass. The next day, I was told it had been staged for insurance and warned that my parents could be hurt if I spoke out. I was a frightened teenager, travelling home looking like a burn victim, but I suddenly understood the difference between right and wrong. When my singing career started, I thought: never forget what happened. I never have.
I still call England home, but I like being at arm’s length from it. Distance sharpens you. Living in Australia is magical because feeding kookaburras is not the same as looking at a barn owl. We decided to move to Australia while sitting jet-lagged outside its consulate with our suitcases. After a tour in 2005, we realised we had more friends here than at home. We told the driver to leave us opposite the consulate because, if we went home, we might lose our nerve. The first person to arrive was the cleaner. Eventually, the staff let us in, made tea and started the paperwork.
I am happy and content, but a little worm inside me still says I’m a failure. I can look at the records, the box set, and everything I have achieved and know I have been incredibly fortunate. Then the voice starts: “Prove it. What a load of crap you’ve done so far. Pull up your socks and make a decent record.” I know it is not true, but it keeps me moving.
I still believe my best record is ahead of me. At 78, I have no sensible reason to think the greatest thing I will make has not happened yet, but that is how I have always survived: Gerard keeps Leo’s feet on the ground, while Leo insists the show is not over.
Leo Sayer’s Leothology: The Studio Albums 1973–Now is out now. He tours from 7 October to 15 November. See leosayer.com
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