Opera singer Lesley Garrett has revealed she has three pensions but has not cashed in any of them, saying she will not touch the money until she stops performing.
The 71-year-old, a former principal soprano at the English National Opera, has released 17 solo albums, eight DVD specials and two books over her career. She has performed in productions including Don Giovanni and Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel, and appeared in West End shows such as The Sound Of Music and Carousel, as well as singing before crowds at FA Cup finals. She is a mother of two and lives in north London with her husband, Dr Peter Christian.
Growing up without debt
Garrett said her father was inclined to spend more than he earned, while her mother "tended to get very stressed and worried about that." She said this taught her to do neither. "I don't like debt, and so I spend what I have rather than borrow," she said.
She said she has never struggled to make ends meet because she has always worked. After school she won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, which she said was unusual for someone from Doncaster. Her father advised her to get a teaching certificate as something to fall back on, but she said: "We don't really do falling back in our family, so I never needed it." She said she struggled at first at the Royal Academy, feeling like "a fish out of water" as a working-class northerner, though she was always able to cover the rent.
The £10,000 champagne advert
Garrett said she has been paid "silly money" in the past for doing jingles for adverts, including as the Kenco coffee girl and the Ragu Pasta girl. The best-paid job, she said, was a cinema advert for Taittinger Champagne. An advertising agency asked her to think of a single high note that ended an act of an opera so they could film her singing it, and she suggested the end of Sempre Libera from Act 1 of La Traviata. She recorded the note 40 years ago and was paid £10,000 plus royalties. "They didn't throw in a case of champagne, though!" she said.
Becoming principal soprano at ENO
Garrett said the best year of her financial life came in 1984, when she became principal soprano at the English National Opera. She met her husband on a blind date at ENO the same week she landed her first record deal and television show, having been a pin-up in the company's poster campaign.
She said the most lucrative period of her life was the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the BBC gave her a six-part television series on BBC2. She made three series over six years, drawing 3.8 million viewers a night, and used the show to pair singers known for other genres with opera. Michael Ball, for example, sang Papageno's duets from Mozart's The Magic Flute with her. "It really changed the way people saw opera," she said. She was later awarded a CBE for services to music, and the series led to profitable album tours.
A yellow Smart car surprise
Garrett said the most expensive thing she has bought for fun was a yellow Smart car for her husband, bought straight off the forecourt for £9,000 cash the day before Christmas. She had it delivered to the next street and led her husband to it on Christmas Day, telling him: "Open your eyes, there's your present." He was a GP at the time and has since retired; the car became known as "Dr Christian's flying lemon." "Everyone knew where he was, he could never have an affair!" she said.
Marrying "the careful one"
Garrett said her best money decision was marrying Peter, who she said is fascinated by the economy and has done all of the couple's investing. She said she could not think of a single biggest money mistake, though she mentioned years of paying for a gym membership she never used. She said she does not rule out making "terrible money mistakes" in future, adding that she expects to become "much more financially uninhibited" as she gets older.
Property in London, France and Yorkshire
Garrett said she has always bought property, calling it both an emotional and financial investment that spreads risk. She lives in a six-bed Edwardian house in north London, and said the best property she has ever bought is a farmhouse in south-west France. The couple also own two cottages in Yorkshire, one of which she rents out, and visit the region every month.
Garrett said she plans to both pass on money and spend it, with her main priority being not to become a burden to anyone. She said she wants enough money available to employ people to care for her if needed, adding that being married to a doctor has made her aware of what life can throw at a person.
Three pensions, untouched
Garrett confirmed she has three pensions but has not cashed any of them in. "They're sitting there waiting for me, because I'm still performing, and I won't touch them until I finally hang up my tonsils," she said.
Calling for a bigger arts budget
Asked what she would do if she were Chancellor, Garrett said she would increase the arts budget "massively," arguing that successive governments have failed to understand the power of the arts to inspire the public. She said Britain's worldwide reputation for arts and culture has been eroded by a lack of support at the highest level, and that high ticket prices are deterring the average theatregoer from attending performances.
Garrett said her number one financial priority is to be "fiercely independent and unbeholden to anyone," a feeling she has held since age 14, when she took her first jobs on market stalls, planting lettuces, sorting and grading tomatoes, and washing up at local RAF stations.
Garrett is represented as a corporate entertainer by Champions Music and Entertainment Agency.
