I saw Bono in concert at 18 and said, 'that's what I'm going to do'

The singer Natasha Bedingfield talks about her love for Irish bands, and her song Unwritten going viral, ahead of her gigs in Cork and Blessington next week

Natasha Bedingfield performs at Live at the Marquee in Cork and headlines Kaleidoscope next week. Picture: Aaron Parsons Photography

Singer/songwriter Natasha Bedingfield is enjoying a golden period in her 20-year-plus career, thanks in large part to the resurgence of her 2004 hit Unwritten.

Originally penned as a gift for her brother, singer Daniel Bedingfield, the song found a new audience when it went viral on TikTok after a remix and a viral dance in 2021.

Two years later, Unwritten featured in the 2023 rom-com Anyone But You. At the time, the world was starting to return to normal after years of covid restrictions, and Bedingfield was getting ready to go on tour.

“I remember thinking, at the tail end of covid, that I needed to get back on the road, that people would want to see shows again, to connect with people,” said London-born Bedingfield.

I had started getting ready and then, because my song went into the movie, things just moved completely out of my control and it took off. The timing was great.

The movie, starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, was a global hit, pulling a younger demographic back to the cinemas. Combined with its TikTok appeal, Unwritten moved in to anthem territory, and Bedingfield, 44, has been riding the wave of this success ever since.

“I’ve ended up playing at all these colleges around the US. I’ve been doing so many festivals around the world. I’m seeing this as an opportunity to get out there and play my music live, which I love.”

Her music is resonating with a younger audience. She loves that and mentions the average age of people streaming her songs on Spotify is between 17 and 35.

My audience keeps getting younger and younger, so I kind of have this illusion where I feel like I’m still the same as well. How lucky am I?

As we chat over Zoom, Bedingfield is in Germany, getting ready to play at Summer in the City in Mainz to 70,000 people. She enjoys playing these festival gigs.

“The other night, I was on stage in Germany, looking out to, I think, 80,000 people. It was a pinch-me moment. I remembered, about 20 years ago, dreaming of playing to a crowd that size. Right then, I had a feeling that this is what I was made to do.”

The singer, who was born to New Zealand parents and grew up in London and Auckland, sees live shows as a way to build a connection with the audience.

“For me, as artists, it’s all about how do we connect with people? How do we move people? How do we move ourselves? Because that’s the whole purpose of art: Forming connections through common feelings.”

After her gigs in Germany, Bedingfield is Ireland-bound, where she will play two gigs — the first in Cork, at Live at the Marquee on July 2, and the second in Blessington, on July 3, where she will headline on the Friday night at the family music festival Kaleidoscope.

“I’m used to seeing all age groups in my audience, but a family crowd will be great,” she says.

Bedingfield has a long musical connection with Ireland. 

When you release music in England, usually the label puts it out in Ireland at the same time, but it usually charts in Ireland first, as you guys chart on a different day. So, as it happens, Ireland is actually the first country where I ever had a hit.

That was with her debut record, Single, which was quickly followed by These Words, in 2004. Growing up, though, her musical dreams were sparked when she attended a US gig when she was 18.

“I went to a U2 show, and I remember having this moment where I remember seeing Bono sing and being like, ‘That’s what I’m going to do’. I had just been singing music in church at the time and seeing him made me rethink everything!”

Bedingfield is also a huge fan of The Cranberries and grew up “devouring” the Limerick band’s No Need To Argue album. “I know that album inside out. We have been singing Zombie on tour recently, and it goes down really, really well. We sang it in Sweden last year, and that video had eight million views. The crowds were singing every word so loudly. You can tell that it resonates with people.”

Accompanying Bedingfield on her summer tour this year is her eight-year-old son.

“We’ve been touring now for about 12 days and it’s been really fun. It’s great for him, you know, but it’s great for me, too,” says the singer.

“We get to have this experience together.”

It is a wonderful opportunity for her son to see her in her element. “You get to show your craft to your kid and I really love that.” Seeing her do difficult or “scary” things is a good education, too, for her son, she says. “Your kid gets to see you do hard things and I think that’s a helpful thing.”

Bedingfield recalls her own childhood, and she says her parents prioritised travel over other material things.

We would have the most basic kind of car-boot-sale clothes, but then we would travel to New Zealand.

"Travel, for me, gives you that feeling that you don’t have to be afraid, and you can kind of make the world your home.

Bedingfield plans to continue touring. With the advent of AI, she says live shows will become even more important. “I think people are going to want to have that live experience more and more. This sweating with other people. This coming in contact with people, and having an in-person experience, I think there’s going to be a kind of craving for that.

“I’m very lucky that I love touring, so I just keep going where it flows, and go where the love is, as they say.”

Bedingfield is also “on track” to release a new album, her sixth, this year.

“I’m pulling the team together and I’ve got the new music, so the new album should be happening very soon.”