Posted November 25, 200717 yr NOT everything written about Joss Stone is to be believed, the sassy British soul singer says. For example, last year the British press reported that the sassy, 20-year-old had bought tickets for her grandfather to attend the soccer World Cup and had even chartered a private plane to take him there. She says the report also included a quote from her grandfather. "My grandad had died a year before that," she says. A few weeks ago, she performed at the Desert Rhythm Festival in Dubai. The gig went well and she got on very well with the people around her. "Then a couple of days later, there's this thing in the paper that says diva Joss threw her cup of tea against the wall at her assistant because she was so mad that her hair wouldn't take because she was trying to put a blue streak in her already purple hair," she says. "My hair is fully blue." Outspoken and forthright she may be, but Stone swears she's not a diva. If you go to her dressing room you will find little more than Red Bull and water. She will perform a concert and then go straight home. "I think because I'm boring they just make it up," she says. But boring is one thing Stone is not. Apart from her soulful voice on three albums which have sold more than 7.5 million worldwide, the Devon-born singer is recognised for her colourful image. She has chosen to ignore most attacks on her character but she did get her own back on American celebrity gossip writer Perez Hilton. In June, Stone recorded a spoof video of herself as a newsreader reporting on a fictional candlelight vigil to save the gossip writer's soul. "He deserved it," she says. "I felt like he was picking on a lot of people. Everybody was kind of hiding away from him and paying him not to speak about them. I don't take kindly to being bullied and I don't think he should do that to anybody else. But it really turned into a bit of a laugh." Stone has been in the spotlight since the age of 16, when her debut album The Soul Sessions was released. She has had many career highs, including performing with such artists as James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Donna Summer and Smokey Robinson. Her second album Mind, Body and Soul went to No.1 in Britain. She has called her third album Introducing Joss Stone as it is the album she feels is "truly her". Stone has made a point of being herself – even when publicists have advised against it – right down to the colour of her hair. She became known for her long, blonde hippie locks, but while she was writing her third album she dyed her hair brunette. "It was fine for EMI while I was writing the album, but it wasn't fine with EMI when I was doing the photo shoot for the album," she explains. The record executives implored her to return to her blonde locks, even suggesting she wear a wig. But she had another idea. "I dyed my hair pink and that's where the colours started. My point is, I do sound the same no matter what colour my hair is. It is very superficial and it's meaningless. "Everybody's different, but different is beautiful. The moment they make blonde and brunette the most important thing it takes away the heart. It means nothing to the substance of what we're doing." Joss Stone will play at the Tivoli in Brisbane on December 5. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...14-7642,00.html :wub: Edited November 25, 200717 yr by Frank!
