Il Divo take in a date at the Brighton Centre on Thursday, October 24 on their 20th anniversary tour.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Really lovely
00:07this morning to speak to Sebastian from Il Divo, and goodness, exciting times! You are
00:12celebrating, and it's difficult to believe, but you are celebrating your 20th anniversary
00:17as a band. And I know you're saying that you like to look forward rather than look back,
00:22but even so, look back. It's been a fabulous journey, hasn't it?
00:26Incredible. Like, so many memories, so many beautiful and hard as well memories, you know,
00:35and throughout the support and the love of all the fans around the world, and everything
00:40started, you know, for us 20 years ago in the UK. That's where we were born, and here
00:47we are. It's just fabulous to...
00:49Does it feel like you're just swept along on this tidal wave? You look, you know, 30
00:54million albums, 50 number ones. The stats are astonishing, aren't they?
00:59It's pretty good. It's not bad. I think it just makes me shy sometimes. I feel shy around
01:05the fact that, yeah, we've done a lot of things. And that's why I like to look at the present
01:10and the future, because somehow I think I'm like, my God, we've done all this. You know,
01:14there's been like so many incredible things, like singing for the Queen, you know, Elizabeth,
01:20or her jubilee years, stuff like that. I used to live in the UK for 10 years and have
01:25been so proud, you know, I think...
01:28You don't get a better audience than that, do you?
01:30No, you can't. It's incredible. Really incredible.
01:34But what about your enjoyment, your personal enjoyment? Is that just the same now as it
01:38ever was? Or does it change with maturity? Greater maturity, at least?
01:43Exactly. Well, I hope so. You'd have to ask my friends. They would answer very directly,
01:50though, with no filter. I hope so. I mean, I'm 51 now. I started, you know, I was younger.
01:59And I feel all the mistakes, the errors of the past relationship, the families, the career,
02:10I feel like it's amazing. All the gifts, as painful as they can be sometimes, you know,
02:15the loss of Carlos, which was so difficult, but made me really realize how precious life
02:23can be every moment. And there's no point of, I mean, for me, I've really tried to lean
02:29on the present because that's really all I have. And really not taking that for granted.
02:34As an artist today, I feel like I'm so lucky. I'm incredibly, it's very hard, you know,
02:40another plane, you don't have a voice, you're jet lagged. But overall, I'm still doing something
02:46that gives so much joy to people. And I don't need to take that joy anymore. I used to want
02:51to be loved, you know, and I don't need that. To me, it's really being of service. It's about
02:57giving joy to people. That really brings me joy. It was super exciting. You're heading to Brighton
03:03as part of the 20th anniversary. Let's speak again for the 30th anniversary and the 40th
03:08and the 50th. Lovely to speak to you.
03:14Well, you know, I don't know how that's going to be like, but still, I'm sure a lot of things
03:19would have been achieved by then.
03:27That would be kind of amazing. Sometimes I watch those incredible artists and, you know,
03:31they're like in their 70s. And I'm like, how did it do that? How did it travel? Like my back hurts
03:38me. And I'm like, struggling to sleep in hotel rooms.
03:49As I said, you know, the fans are the reason for me and I think for my three other fellows,
03:57you know, that we are still doing what we do. Because the love is unconditional. What we see
04:04when we're on stage and see how happy they are, or even if there's crying,
04:10but it's just beautiful to connect through music.
04:14Fantastic.
04:14That's the most powerful thing. We'll see. We'll see what happens.
04:18Long may that continue. Really lovely to speak to you. And congratulations on the 20th.
04:23Fabulous. Thank you.
04:24Thank you very much. I'm looking forward to it.