Lewis Hamilton may have become Britain’s first two-time Formula One champion since 1973, but the Mercedes AMG racer is apparently “always” in the recording studio. The would-be R&B singer claims he is hard at work on a debut album, declaring, “Music is everything to me”.
In recent interviews with BBC Newsbeat and the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Hamilton revealed that he spends as much time making music as he does in the driver’s seat. “I have been writing a lot, even on race weeks,” he said. “When I was in Japan, I was in the studio, Monday to Wednesday. Then, Thursday to Sunday, I was racing. Then I was straight back in the studio.”
Hamilton has been recording songs since at least 2013, when he began writing material with Wonderful singer Angel. “He’s a proper good singer,” Angel said at the time. “It’s a breath of fresh air ... He’s got rap — ‘dirty south’ kind of tunes, some massive pop records and soul records [too].”
More than a year later, Hamilton says he is influenced by artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, Kodaline and Jay Z, as well as by his girlfriend, pop star Nicole Scherzinger. “I built the studio (in my home) for Nicole, so she didn’t have to leave the house to go back to LA, and now she can hardly get in because I’m always in it,” he said. He also tries to visit local studios whenever he is abroad, “put[ting] down thoughts” in the recording booth instead of “going out after the race”.
Scherzinger supports Hamilton’s ambitions, which includes recording a Live Lounge session on Radio 1. But the 29-year-old has mainly inspired Scherzinger through his absence: most of her latest album, Big Fat Lie, was written as she grappled with their short 2013 break-up.
Big Fat Lie is out now.
