The first thing you notice about Scottish-born singer Sheena Easton when you’re speaking to her is that she doesn’t sound, well, Scottish. More American, in fact. “I have lived in the United States since I was 22,” she tells 8 DAYS over the phone from her home in Nevada. “I just turned 60, so I have been here most of my life.” That explains a lot.

After moving to Stateside in the early ’80s, Easton went on to become one of the biggest pop stars of the decade. Her achievements include singing the theme song for the Bond flick For Your Eyes Only, two Grammys win, and collaborations with the likes Prince, Babyface and Kenny Rogers. In the mid-‘90s, Easton shifted focus away her pop career to raising her two adopted children.

In the new millennium, Easton, who’s been divorced four times, reinvented herself as a live performer in Las Vegas and Broadway and West End musicals. Occasionally, she would take her music on the road. Ahead of her concert this Sunday at the Gateway Theatre, we ask Easton about her fondest memories of the 1980s.

Back in the day: Sheena Easton on the cover of her 1981 debut album, 'Take My Time'.

8 DAYS: First things first, you haven’t been in Singapore since the 1980s. Why did it take you this long to return?

SHEENA EASTON: I don’t know, honestly. Back in the ’80s, life was crazy. I was constantly travelling all over the world. Usually my tours were routed and booked by agents and managers, so I couldn’t give you a real reason why I hadn’t been here in a while. But I’m excited to be coming over now!

Did you Google Singapore before this interview?

Honestly, I didn’t Google you. I travel a lot and I usually don’t Google. I show up and find out for myself when I get there and find out what the place is like. I haven’t been to Singapore for a very long time and I heard that it’s changed a great deal since I have been there. I’m excited. I’m looking forward to experience it almost like a new place and get to know it for the couple of days I’m there.

You’ll be performing the hits from the ‘80s and ‘90s. Do you ever get bored with singing the old stuff?

When you’re young, you just want to focus on what’s new. When you’ve just done a new album, you’re very excited by that. You want to do the new stuff all the time but it’s been a long while since I have recorded [new material]. I focus on being a live artiste these days. I have to say that my favourite things to perform now are the hits because I am old enough that I have a lot of memories attached to them and I have a lot of fans who have grown up with them and they have a lifetime of memories. When I look out and see how their faces light up when they hear the songs, that makes me love that moment.

You sang the James Bond theme in For Your Eyes Only and you still hold the title as the only singer to be featured in the opening credits…

It could still happen again. It could happen the next time for all we know. I just very privileged to be the first but I’m sure there’s going to be many more James Bond films down the line where they will do that same sort of thing. [Title sequence designer] Maurice Binder saw me when I first met the producers of the film and thought I’d look [good] in his concept. Maurice has since passed [in 1991], so only he could tell you [the real reason].

You’d probably get asked that a lot. Have you thought about writing a memoir so people can stop asking questions about that...

Nope. No interest. I want to maintain my privacy. I am not interested in writing a memoir at all.

You aren’t on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. I guess making music videos is the closest thing to social media back in the day. Did you enjoy making music videos?

I hated making music videos. That was not my favourite thing to do at all. Maybe a couple of them I enjoyed, but I didn’t like the process. I have enjoyed the process of acting. I have done Broadway a couple of times; I’ve done the West End, TV, voice-overs. I like stuff with a script, but music videos, to me, felt like one giant photo shoot that went on for hours and hours. Some artistes say [they love making videos] because they get to put their creativity into it. For me, not so much. I love to record albums and perform on stage live.

Do you have a favourite TV show or movie that feature your songs? There's this Seinfeld episode that used ‘Morning Train (Nine to Five)’…

Not really, I don’t focus on stuff like that. I like it when they use my songs for comedy purposes. I tend to not personally to track them down.

You played Don Johnson’s wife on Miami Vice. What are your memories working on the hottest show on the planet then?

When I came onboard, it was already a huge thing. I loved it. The set ran like clockwork, the crew were amazing. That was a lot of fun. I think that was my first TV acting job. It was exciting and a great part to do. It’s all good memories.

In the past few years, we’ve seen the passing of several ‘80s pop cultural icons, including Prince, whom you’d collaborated with before. For us fans, their deaths shocked us because we always thought they were immortal. How did their passing affect you?

Unfortunately, there’s a list of artistes from our generation —Whitney Houston, George Michael, Prince, Michael Jackson — that have passed and I’m still here. When you look at your peer group passing, it makes you more grateful every day for still being here. I am more grateful for the fact that I am healthy and I am strong. I can perform when I want to perform and I can stay with my family when I want to. I know it sounds cliché but it makes me feel blessed. It makes me glad that I am able to go out and share music. When it comes to working with Prince, I am able to go out and perform the material we did together for my fans and that keeps that tiny corner of his music alive. The thing about Prince is that he was so prolific. He wrote so much music, collaborated with so many different artists that there are artists all over the world performing Prince’s music. That’s how he will live on.

Catch Sheena Easton’s Four Your Eyes Only concert this Sunday (July 28), 8pm, at the Gateway Theatre. Tix from Sistic.

Photos; TPG News/Click Photos, Mode Productions