Singer Anastacia has recalled the bizarre time The Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger once made her sing the 1993 hit “Whatta Man” 12 times in one night at his birthday party.
The 56-year-old regularly sang at Hollywood functions and parties, including Steven Spielberg’s wedding to Kate Capshaw in 1991, before finding fame with her debut single “I’m Outta Love” in 2000.
Anastacia said “Whatta Man” was a “great song” but she was baffled by Schwarzenegger wanting her to sing it “over and over again”.
“Every time, I was like, ‘Oh my God, he wants it again,’” she told the BBC of the unusual request. “It really made me laugh.”
“Whatta Man” became a huge hit in 1993 after hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa sampled Linda Lyndell’s original 1968 single for a track with vocal group En Vogue.
The reimagined record was a commercial success, reaching the Top 10 chart in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand.
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Anastacia found fame with her debut single “I’m Outta Love” in 2000, aged 32. The song was a Top 10 hit in 19 countries, went platinum in the UK, and became Australia’s best-selling single of the year.
In 1998, the singer had been fired from a beauty salon in Los Angeles for “being too loud” and was considering a career in child psychology after failing to find success in the music industry.
Lisa Braude, who later became her manager, encouraged her to join the MTV talent competition The Cut, in which she became one of the ten finalists, singing her own song “Not That Kind”.
Anastacia titled her first album Not That Kind after the song she performed on the show. It sold more than four million copies worldwide.
Ahead of the record’s silver anniversary, for which Anastacia will embark on a celebratory tour, the singer said: “I pray the songs still sound fresh.”
She added: “I do feel that they still bring joy for people that have known the songs – whether they were getting over a relationship or whether it was just their party song.”
