singer seal yacht

The Real Reason Why Heidi Klum And Seal Broke Up

Heidi Klum and Seal had a whirlwind extravagant kind of love that you see in movies. We're pretty sure the moment from The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2005 (via Elle ) is ingrained in our memories forever. After all, who wouldn't want to be serenaded by a tall, dark, and handsome man while wearing lingerie? Okay, that last part may only apply if you happen to be in the best shape of your life. But rewind just one year, to Klum and Seal's meet-cute, and you'll find another moment of cinematic romance. 

Klum told Piers Morgan  that when she first met Seal — by chance in a hotel lobby in 2004 — "it was kind of like two magnets." The "Kissed By A Rose" singer was seemingly fresh out of a gym session, wearing bicycle shorts. In other words, he looked like a glossy statue, and the supermodel liked what she saw. She told Oprah , "I was physically, straightaway attracted to him, and then we got talking, and I was like, 'Wow, he's such a warm and charming man.'"

From there it was kids, more kids, a  legendary run of Halloween costumes , and more, making Klum and Seal's seven year marriage one for the books. But it clearly wasn't as picture perfect as it seemed. In 2012 the superstar couple called it quits, shocking the world. They officially divorced in 2014. So, what went wrong? Here's the real reason why Heidi Klum and Seal broke up.  

Seal and Heidi Klum were #relationshipgoals before it was a thing

As amazing as Heidi Klum and Seal's initial meeting sounds, the timing wasn't the most ideal. According to E! News , Klum was pregnant with her daughter Leni, the child she had with Italian businessman Flavio Briatore. But Klum and Briatore had already had a highly public flame-out (he cheated on her, per Vogue ), so when Klum gave birth to Leni, Seal was by her side.

The two got engaged less than a year after meeting. Seal popped the question in a creative, thoughtful, and dramatic way. E! News reported he asked Klum to be his wife right before Christmas on the top of a "secluded natural glacier" at a "Canadian ski resort." He even had a special igloo made for the event. The moment set the tone for their entire marriage: Lavish and full-throttle. Their wedding ceremony didn't lack in comparison. On May 10, 2005, the couple got married in front of 40 guests at a "swanky" Mexican beach resort. E! News reported Klum walked down the aisle in a Vera Wang gown while pregnant with her first child with Seal.

'One day you're in, the next day you're out'

Split rumors started flying on January 20, 2012 after Seal sent out this  cryptic tweet : "The End." Two days later, the two made it official with a joint statement that read, in part (via E! News ), "We have had the deepest respect for one another throughout our relationship and continue to love each other very much, but we have grown apart."

Fans of the couple were shocked, because for years it seemed like Klum and Seal would prevail over the pantheon of doomed Hollywood marriages. But all good things must come to an end. Their good thing ended after seven years.

Overall, the two stayed relatively quiet about what caused their split, particularly in the wake of their public statement about it. In fact, while speaking with  Elle  in March of 2012, Klum said that she felt like she was "in the eye of a tornado" trying to deal with the "emotions" of the situation in the midst of "the outside world doing all this craziness." She added, "I don't want to talk positively or negatively about the ups and downs that we had. Every couple goes through things. Unfortunately, we're in the public, so the highs are out there. But I don't think it's necessary — especially for our children — to have the lows being printed in magazines and talked about." 

In later interviews, both Klum and Seal became a tad more forthright about those issues. 

Distance didn't make the heart grow fonder

Both Heidi Klum and Seal are megastars in their own right, and with that, of course, comes busy schedules that help pay the bills (and them some). Seal, a top-charting singer, and Klum, a top supermodel, both have jobs that clearly require them to jet around the world for extended periods of time. And even though things like technology and the relatively low cost of travel have made long distance relationships much more viable than they were in the past (per The Atlantic ), we all know how difficult being apart from a loved one for long periods of time can be. 

Klum basically said as much in a post-split interview with Redbook where she offered an arguably gloomy attempt at optimism. "[Seal] traveled a lot," she said, adding, "The kids knew it was part of his job. I'm a mom and a dad at the same time." On the bright side, she says because of his busy schedule it made it a little easier for her to transition into becoming a single mother. "Obviously things have changed, but they haven't changed drastically," Klum told the mag. Yeesh.

What was up with Seal's alleged anger issue?

Unbeknownst to his fans, Seal allegedly had an anger issue, and multiple insiders told TMZ  that this "volcanic temper" was a large reason for his split from Heidi Klum. Supposedly it became too much for Heidi to handle, with the tab even alleging that it was "affecting their children." Even Seal's ex-girlfriend, Tatjana Patitz, came out of the woodwork to confirm the "Fly Like an Eagle" singer's hot-headedness. In fact she claims that was the reason for he r breakup with him. According to In Touch (via the Daily Mail ), Patitz said, "He is not a nice person. ... He is definitely not someone who I think of fondly now."

But Seal refuted claims about his alleged bad temper.  Speaking with Piers Morgan , Seal explained that, in his view, people wrongly started making assumptions about him him after a paparazzi incident involving his kids, in which he claimed he merely "raised [his] voice" at a photographer who allegedly "hit [his] son in the head with a camera lens." Headlines detailing Seal's reaction rolled out afterwards, which he says resulted in him becoming "the angry stereotype...the rock star, the angry rock star with a hot temper." Granted, he didn't really address the claims made by his ex or those unnamed "insiders" who spoke with TMZ , but regardless, Seal says he is just your average overprotective dad.

Seal pretty much flat-out accused Heidi Klum of cheating

The first question everybody asks when a celeb couple breaks up is "Did one of them cheat?" Seal seemingly gave a pretty definitive answer to this question when he got remarkably candid with a TMZ camera crew in September 2012, which happened to be right around the time that it was revealed that Heidi Klum had started dating the couple's former bodyguard.

Asked how he felt about his ex's new relationship, Seal said, "Whilst I didn't expect any better from him, I would have thought Heidi would have shown a little bit more class and at least waited until we separated first before deciding to fornicate with the help, as it were." Heads went spiraling. Seal later clarified his words in a statement to  People , saying "that he was not implying his wife was cheating on him while they were together, but rather he was pointing out that they are separated and the divorce is not final so they are legally still married." Hmm. 

Klum attempted to set the record straight, too. In an interview with Katie Couric (via HuffPost ), she said, "It's not true. I've never looked at another man while I was with him." Of course, that officially makes this a classic case of he-said-she-said, but we don't think the "looking" was the problem here. 

Seal wasn't a big fan of this tradition the couple kept

Heidi Klum and Seal renewed their vows every year in a series of themed ceremonies, including one that Popsugar dubbed "Malibu white trash," due to Klum's "corn rows" and Seal's "cutoff jean shorts" and mullet wig. Of the wacky tradition, Klum told Redbook  in 2010 (via Page Six ), "It's our time — a lovely family time. It's about remembering this moment of love we gave to each other and reinforcing it." She added, "It's so special to us, something we love and something our children have gotten accustomed to. It's like, 'Hey, Mom and Dad love each other and they get married every year!'" 

Well, maybe Seal was just in it for the kids, because he later told Andy Cohen on his Sirius XM radio show that the whole thing "kind of turned into a little bit of a ... circus, which I wasn't terribly fond of because, by default, I'm quite a private person." Although he relented a bit, saying the vow renewal ceremonies were "cool" albeit possibly unnecessary, he did also say that "what [he] disliked most about it" was the publicity that came along with it. Huh, well we certainly couldn't tell through the photos. He seemed to take it like a champ at the time. 

Age ain't nothing but a number for Heidi Klum

Remember that bodyguard we told you about? Martin Kirsten? You know, the one Heidi Klum said she didn't start seeing until after her and Seal ended things? Well, his romance with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model was short-lived, too. They dated from 2012 to 2014.

Then it was on to the next, and in 2014 Klum started dating art curator Vito Schnabel. She received some judgement about their age difference, as she was 13 years older than him. But Klum wasn't embarrassed to be a cougar. She told Ocean Drive (via E! News ), "It doesn't matter what people say. As long as you know when you close your door in your own home, you have an amazing time together. That's really all that matters." They dated for three years.

The next time around Klum went even younger, snagging a beau 17 years her junior. In 2018 Klum, started dating Tokyo Hotel artist Tom Kaulitz. As of this writing, it's going more than good. In a deja vu moment the pair got engaged on Christmas Eve. "Tom and the kids together worked on making a breakfast tray for Heidi that had coffee, flowers, and a ring box," a source told  People . The couple got legally married two months later, but didn't tell the public for months. Heidi seems very happy with Kaulitz. She told People , " I just found my partner finally."

Seal's search for love

Seal's post-Heidi Klum love life has appeared to be far less eventful than her. But he apparently only has himself to blame. In a 2017 interview with Fault , when asked "What is your fault," the singer answered, "Relationships. They're hard for me, but I'm learning." He told them not just romantic ones, but even the relationship he has with his kids.

Since his divorce from Klum he has only been linked to Erica Packer, billionaire James Packer's ex-wife, which they couple confirmed with a high-profile smooch aboard a yacht in Formentera, Spain. Seal and Packer started dating in 2015. At the time, he was 52 and she was 38. They broke up two years later.  Then,  rumors flew that Seal and his The Voice Australia co-judge Delta Goodrem, but, she definitively shot that idea down in March 2018.  

As for how Seal felt about Klum finally tying the knot with someone else? "I don't know, I don't really have any comment to pass on that," he said to a Daily Mail photographer who apparently just broke the news to the singer about his wife's remarriage. "I just don't have a lot of interest in that subject in general," Seal continued, before adding, "What am I gonna say, what do you actually want me to say? I'm as confused as you are." Is it really possible that Seal didn't know his ex-wife had gotten hitched again? If so, yikes. 

Hedi Klum and Seal's co-parenting journey

After their split, Seal and Heidi Klum reached a confidential custody agreement. From the looks of it there is at least no bad blood between them that prevents them from being there for their #1 priority, their four children.  As such, they've been able to maintain a strong co-parent relationship. In fact, in reference to a 2017 ski trip that saw the exes reunited with all of their kids in Aspen, Colo., Klum told  Entertainment Tonight , "We're always there for our children and always will be."

Seal seems to concur. In fact, even just before his infamous "fornicating with the help" comment, he told TMZ , "As always, my main priority is the emotional wellbeing of our children. He later told Larry King that co-parenting "is the toughest gig in the world," but he gave props to his ex, saying, "Heidi is a great parent. I think she's a great mother."  

Both Seal and Klum frequent the kids' sporting activities as well, and Seal was even a guest on America's Got Talent , which Klum is a judge on, since their split. They've spent holidays together , too. As we know, losing love isn't easy, but it's nice to see they have their priorities straight, or as Klum told ET , You always make it work. You just do." 

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Top 50 Yacht Rock Songs

Yacht rock was one of the most commercially successful genres to emerge from the '70s and yet has managed to evade concise definition since its inception. For many listeners, it boils down to a feeling or mood that cannot be found in other kinds of music: Simply put, you know it when you hear it.

Some agreed-upon elements are crucial to yacht rock. One is its fluidity, with more emphasis on a catchy, easy-feeling melody than on beat or rhythm. Another is a generally lighthearted attitude in the lyrics. Think Seals & Crofts ' "Summer Breeze," Christopher Cross ' "Ride Like the Wind" or Bill Withers ' "Just the Two of Us." Yes, as its label suggests, music that would fit perfectly being played from the deck of a luxurious boat on the high seas.

But even these roughly outlined "rules" can be flouted and still considered yacht rock. Plenty of bands that are typically deemed "nyacht" rock have made their attempts at the genre: Crosby, Stills & Nash got a bit nautical with "Southern Cross," leading with their famed tightly knit harmonies, and Fleetwood Mac also entered yacht rock territory with "Dreams" – which, although lyrically dour, offers a sense of melody in line with yacht rock.

Given its undefined parameters, the genre has become one of music's most expansive corners. From No. 1 hits to deeper-cut gems, we've compiled a list of 50 Top Yacht Rock Songs to set sail to below.

50. "Thunder Island," Jay Ferguson (1978)

Younger generations might be more apt to recognize Jay Ferguson from his score for NBC's The Office , where he also portrayed the guitarist in Kevin Malone's band Scrantonicity. But Ferguson's musical roots go back to the '60s band Spirit; he was also in a group with one of the future members of Firefall, signaling a '70s-era shift toward yacht rock and "Thunder Island." The once-ubiquitous single began its steady ascent in October 1977 before reaching the Top 10 in April of the following year. Producer Bill Szymczyk helped it get there by bringing in his buddy Joe Walsh for a soaring turn on the slide. The best showing Ferguson had after this, however, was the quickly forgotten 1979 Top 40 hit "Shakedown Cruise." (Nick DeRiso)

49. "Southern Cross," Crosby, Stills & Nash (1982)

CSN's "Southern Cross" was an example of a more literal interpretation of yacht rock, one in which leftover material was revitalized by Stephen Stills . He sped up the tempo of a song titled " Seven League Boots " originally penned by brothers Rick and Michael Curtis, then laid in new lyrics about, yes, an actual boat ride. "I rewrote a new set of words and added a different chorus, a story about a long boat trip I took after my divorce," Stills said in the liner notes  to 1991's CSN box. "It's about using the power of the universe to heal your wounds." The music video for the song, which went into heavy rotation on MTV, also prominently displayed the band members aboard a large vessel. (Allison Rapp)

48. "Jackie Blue," the Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1974)

Drummer Larry Lee only had a rough idea of what he wanted to do with "Jackie Blue," originally naming it after a bartending dope pusher. For a long time, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils' best-known single remained an instrumental with the place-keeper lyric, " Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh Jackie Blue. He was dada, and dada doo. He did this, he did that ... ." Producer Glyn Johns, who loved the track, made a key suggestion – and everything finally snapped into place: "No, no, no, mate," Johns told them. "Jackie Blue has to be a girl." They "knocked some new lyrics out in about 30 minutes," Lee said in It Shined: The Saga of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils . "[From] some drugged-out guy, we changed Jackie into a reclusive girl." She'd go all the way to No. 3. (DeRiso)

47. "Sailing," Christopher Cross (1979)

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more quintessential yacht rock song than “Sailing.” The second single (and first chart-topper) off Christopher Cross’ 1979 self-titled debut offers an intoxicating combination of dreamy strings, singsong vocals and shimmering, open-tuned guitar arpeggios that pay deference to Cross’ songwriting idol, Joni Mitchell . “These tunings, like Joni used to say, they get you in this sort of trance,” Cross told Songfacts in 2013. “The chorus just sort of came out. … So I got up and wandered around the apartment just thinking, ‘Wow, that's pretty fuckin' great.’” Grammy voters agreed: “Sailing” won Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Arrangement at the 1981 awards. (Bryan Rolli)

46. "Just the Two of Us," Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr. (1980)

A collaboration between singer Bill Withers and saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. resulted in the sleek "Just the Two of Us." When first approached with the song, Withers insisted on reworking the lyrics. "I'm a little snobbish about words," he said in 2004 . "I said, 'Yeah, if you'll let me go in and try to dress these words up a little bit.' Everybody that knows me is kind of used to me that way. I probably threw in the stuff like the crystal raindrops. The 'Just the Two of Us' thing was already written. It was trying to put a tuxedo on it." The track was completed with some peppy backing vocals and a subtle slap bass part. (Rapp)

45. "Sara Smile," Daryl Hall & John Oates (1975)

It doesn't get much smoother than "Sara Smile," Daryl Hall & John Oates ' first Top 10 hit in the U.S. The song was written for Sara Allen, Hall's longtime girlfriend, whom he had met when she was working as a flight attendant. His lead vocal, which was recorded live, is clear as a bell on top of a velvety bass line and polished backing vocals that nodded to the group's R&B influences. “It was a song that came completely out of my heart," Hall said in 2018 . "It was a postcard. It’s short and sweet and to the point." Hall and Allen stayed together for almost 30 years before breaking up in 2001. (Rapp)

44. "Rosanna," Toto (1982)

One of the most identifiable hits of 1982 was written by Toto co-founder David Paich – but wasn't about Rosanna Arquette, as some people have claimed, even though keyboardist Steve Porcaro was dating the actress at the time. The backbeat laid down by drummer Jeff Porcaro – a "half-time shuffle" similar to what John Bonham played on " Fool in the Rain " – propels the track, while vocal harmonies and emphatic brass sections add further layers. The result is an infectious and uplifting groove – yacht rock at its finest. (Corey Irwin)

43. "Diamond Girl," Seals & Crofts (1973)

Seals & Crofts were soft-rock stylists with imagination, dolling up their saccharine melodies with enough musical intrigue to survive beyond the seemingly obvious shelf life. Granted, the lyrics to “Diamond Girl,” one of the duo’s three No. 6 hits, are as sterile as a surgery-operating room, built on pseudo-romantic nothing-isms ( “Now that I’ve found you, it’s around you that I am” — what a perfectly natural phrase!). But boy, oh boy does that groove sound luxurious beaming out of a hi-fi system, with every nuance — those stacked backing vocals, that snapping piano — presented in full analog glory. (Ryan Reed)

42. "What You Won't Do for Love," Bobby Caldwell (1978)

Smooth. From the opening horn riffs and the soulful keyboard to the funk bass and the velvety vocals of Bobby Caldwell, everything about “What You Won’t Do for Love” is smooth. Released in September 1978, the track peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went on to become the biggest hit of Caldwell’s career. It was later given a second life after being sampled for rapper 2Pac's posthumously released 1998 hit single “Do for Love.” (Irwin)

41. "We Just Disagree," Dave Mason (1977)

Dave Mason's ace in the hole on the No. 12 smash "We Just Disagree" was Jim Krueger, who composed the track, shared the harmony vocal and played that lovely guitar figure. "It was a song that when he sang it to me, it was like, 'Yeah, that's the song,'" Mason told Greg Prato in 2014. "Just him and a guitar, which is usually how I judge whether I'm going to do something. If it holds up like that, I'll put the rest of the icing on it." Unfortunately, the multitalented Krueger died of pancreatic cancer at age 43. By then, Mason had disappeared from the top of the charts, never getting higher than No. 39 again. (DeRiso)

40. "Crazy Love," Poco (1978)

Rusty Young was paneling a wall when inspiration struck. He'd long toiled in the shadow of Stephen Stills , Richie Furay and Neil Young , serving in an instrumentalist role with Buffalo Springfield and then Poco . "Crazy Love" was his breakout moment, and he knew it. Rusty Young presented the song before he'd even finished the lyric, but his Poco bandmates loved the way the stopgap words harmonized. "I told the others, 'Don't worry about the ' ooh, ooh, ahhhh haaa ' part. I can find words for that," Young told the St. Louis Dispatch in 2013. "And they said, 'Don't do that. That's the way it's supposed to be.'" It was: Young's first big vocal became his group's only Top 20 hit. (DeRiso)

39. "Suspicions," Eddie Rabbitt (1979)

Eddie Rabbitt 's move from country to crossover stardom was hurtled along by "Suspicions," as a song about a cuckold's worry rose to the Top 20 on both the pop and adult-contemporary charts. Behind the scenes, there was an even clearer connection to yacht rock: Co-writer Even Stevens said Toto's David Hungate played bass on the date. As important as it was for his career, Rabbitt later admitted that he scratched out "Suspicions" in a matter of minutes, while on a lunch break in the studio on the last day of recording his fifth album at Wally Heider's Los Angeles studio. "Sometimes," Rabbitt told the Associated Press in 1985, "the words just fall out of my mouth." (DeRiso)

38. "Moonlight Feels Right," Starbuck (1976)

No sound in rock history is more yacht friendly than Bruce Blackman’s laugh: hilarious, arbitrary, smug, speckled with vocal fry, arriving just before each chorus of Starbuck’s signature tune. Why is this human being laughing? Shrug. Guess the glow of night will do that to you. Then again, this is one of the more strange hits of the '70s — soft-pop hooks frolicking among waves of marimba and synthesizers that could have been plucked from a classic prog epic. “ The eastern moon looks ready for a wet kiss ,” Blackman croons, “ to make the tide rise again .” It’s a lunar make-out session, baby. (Reed)

37. "Same Old Lang Syne," Dan Fogelberg (1981)

“Same Old Lang Syne” is a masterclass in economic storytelling, and its tragedy is in the things both protagonists leave unsaid. Dan Fogelberg weaves a devastating tale of two former lovers who run into each other at a grocery store on Christmas Eve and spend the rest of the night catching up and reminiscing. Their circumstances have changed — he’s a disillusioned professional musician, she’s stuck in an unhappy marriage — but their love for each other is still palpable if only they could overcome their fears and say it out loud. They don’t, of course, and when Fogelberg bids his high-school flame adieu, he’s left with only his bittersweet memories and gnawing sense of unfulfillment to keep him warm on that snowy (and later rainy) December night. (Rolli)

36. "Eye in the Sky," the Alan Parsons Project (1982)

Few songs strike a chord with both prog nerds and soft-rock enthusiasts, but the Alan Parsons Project's “Eye in the Sky” belongs to that exclusive club. The arrangement is all smooth contours and pillowy textures: By the time Eric Woolfson reaches the chorus, shyly emoting about romantic deception over a bed of Wurlitzer keys and palm-muted riffs, the effect is like falling slow motion down a waterfall onto a memory foam mattress. But there’s artfulness here, too, from Ian Bairnson’s seductive guitar solo to the titular phrase conjuring some kind of god-like omniscience. (Reed)

35. "Somebody's Baby," Jackson Browne (1982)

Jackson Browne 's highest-charting single, and his last Top 10 hit, was originally tucked away on the soundtrack for the 1982 teen comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High . That placed Browne, one of the most earnest of singer-songwriters, firmly out of his element. "It was not typical of what Jackson writes at all, that song," co-composer Danny Kortchmar told Songfacts in 2013. "But because it was for this movie, he changed his general approach and came up with this fantastic song." Still unsure of how it would fit in, Browne refused to place "Somebody's Baby" on his next proper album – something he'd later come to regret . Lawyers in Love broke a string of consecutive multiplatinum releases dating back to 1976. (DeRiso)

34. "Still the One," Orleans (1976)

Part of yacht rock’s charm is being many things but only to a small degree. Songs can be jazzy, but not experimental. Brass sections are great but don’t get too funky. And the songs should rock, but not rock . In that mold comes Orleans’ 1976 hit “Still the One.” On top of a chugging groove, frontman John Hall sings about a romance that continues to stand the test of time. This love isn’t the white-hot flame that leaves passionate lovers burned – more like a soft, medium-level heat that keeps things comfortably warm. The tune is inoffensive, catchy and fun, aka yacht-rock gold. (Irwin)

33. "New Frontier," Donald Fagen (1982)

In which an awkward young man attempts to spark a Cold War-era fling — then, hopefully, a longer, post-apocalyptic relationship — via bomb shelter bunker, chatting up a “big blond” with starlet looks and a soft spot for Dave Brubeck. Few songwriters could pull off a lyrical concept so specific, and almost no one but Donald Fagen could render it catchy. “New Frontier,” a signature solo cut from the Steely Dan maestro, builds the sleek jazz-funk of Gaucho into a more digital-sounding landscape, with Fagen stacking precise vocal harmonies over synth buzz and bent-note guitar leads. (Reed)

32. "Sail On, Sailor," the Beach Boys (1973)

The Beach Boys were reworking a new album when Van Dyke Parks handed them this updated version of an unfinished Brian Wilson song. All that was left was to hand the mic over to Blondie Chaplin for his greatest-ever Beach Boys moment. They released "Sail On, Sailor" twice, however, and this yearning groover somehow barely cracked the Top 50. Chaplin was soon out of the band, too. It's a shame. "Sail On, Sailor" remains the best example of how the Beach Boys' elemental style might have kept growing. Instead, Chaplin went on to collaborate with the Band , Gene Clark of the  Byrds  and the Rolling Stones – while the Beach Boys settled into a lengthy tenure as a jukebox band. (DeRiso)

31. "Time Passages," Al Stewart (1978)

Al Stewart followed up the first hit single of his decade-long career – 1976's "Year of the Cat" – with a more streamlined take two years later. "Time Passages" bears a similar structure to the earlier track, including a Phil Kenzie sax solo and production by Alan Parsons. While both songs' respective album and single versions coincidentally run the same time, the 1978 hit's narrative wasn't as convoluted and fit more squarely into pop radio playlists. "Time Passages" became Stewart's highest-charting single, reaching No. 7 – while "Year of the Cat" had stalled at No. 8. (Michael Gallucci)

30. "I Go Crazy," Paul Davis (1977)

Paul Davis looked like he belonged in the Allman Brothers Band , but his soft, soulful voice took him in a different direction. The slow-burning nature of his breakthrough single "I Go Crazy" was reflected in its chart performance: For years the song held the record for the most weeks spent on the chart, peaking at No. 7 during its 40-week run. Davis, who died in 2008, took five more songs into the Top 40 after 1977, but "I Go Crazy" is his masterpiece – a wistful and melancholic look back at lost love backed by spare, brokenhearted verses. (Gallucci)

29. "Biggest Part of Me," Ambrosia (1980)

Songwriter David Pack taped the original demo of this song on a reel-to-reel when everyone else was running late, finishing just in time: "I was waiting for my family to get in the car so I could go to a Fourth of July celebration in Malibu," he told the Tennessean in 2014. "I turned off my machine [and] heard the car horn honking for me." Still, Pack was worried that the hastily written first verse – which rhymed " arisin ,'" " horizon " and " realizin '" – might come off a little corny. So he followed the time-honored yacht-rock tradition of calling in Michael McDonald to sing heartfelt background vocals. Result: a Top 5 hit on both the pop and adult-contemporary charts. (DeRiso)

28. "Africa," Toto (1982)

Remove the cover versions, the nostalgia sheen and its overuse in TV and films, and you’re left with what makes “Africa” great: one of the best earworm choruses in music history. Never mind that the band is made up of white guys from Los Angeles who'd never visited the titular continent. Verses about Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti paint a picture so vivid that listeners are swept away. From the soaring vocals to the stirring synth line, every element of the song works perfectly. There’s a reason generations of music fans continue to proudly bless the rains. (Irwin)

27. "Hello It's Me," Todd Rundgren (1972)

“Hello It’s Me” is the first song Todd Rundgren ever wrote, recorded by his band Nazz and released in 1968. He quickened the tempo, spruced up the instrumentation and delivered a more urgent vocal for this 1972 solo rendition (which became a Top 5 U.S. hit), but the bones of the tune remain the same. “Hello It’s Me” is a wistful, bittersweet song about the dissolution of a relationship between two people who still very much love and respect each other a clear-eyed breakup ballad lacking the guile, cynicism and zaniness of Rundgren’s later work. “The reason those [early] songs succeeded was because of their derivative nature,” Rundgren told Guitar World in 2021. “They plugged so easily into audience expectations. They’re easily absorbed.” That may be so, but there’s still no denying the airtight hooks and melancholy beauty of “Hello It’s Me.” (Rolli)

26. "Smoke From a Distant Fire," the Sanford/Townsend Band (1977)

There are other artists who better define yacht rock - Michael McDonald, Steely Dan, Christopher Cross - but few songs rival the Sanford/Townsend Band's "Smoke From a Distant Fire" as a more representative genre track. (It was a Top 10 hit in the summer of 1977. The duo never had another charting single.) From the vaguely swinging rhythm and roaring saxophone riff to the light percussion rolls and risk-free vocals (that nod heavily to Daryl Hall and John Oates' blue-eyed soul), "Smoke" may be the most definitive yacht rock song ever recorded. We may even go as far as to say it's ground zero. (Gallucci)

25. "Dream Weaver," Gary Wright (1975)

Unlike many other songs on our list, “Dream Weaver” lacks lush instrumentation. Aside from Gary Wright’s vocals and keyboard parts, the only added layer is the drumming of Jim Keltner. But while the track may not have guitars, bass or horns, it certainly has plenty of vibes. Inspired by the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda – which Wright was turned on to by George Harrison – “Dream Weaver” boasts a celestial aura that helped the song peak at No. 2 in 1976. (Irwin)

24. "Reminiscing," Little River Band (1978)

The third time was the charm with Little River Band 's highest-charting single in the U.S. Guitarist Graeham Goble wrote "Reminiscing" for singer Glenn Shorrock with a certain keyboardist in mind. Unfortunately, they weren't able to schedule a session with Peter Jones, who'd played an important role in Little River Band's first-ever charting U.S. single, 1976's "It's a Long Way There ." They tried it anyway but didn't care for the track. They tried again, with the same results. "The band was losing interest in the song," Goble later told Chuck Miller . "Just before the album was finished, Peter Jones came back into town, [and] the band and I had an argument because I wanted to give 'Reminiscing' a third chance." This time they nailed it. (DeRiso)

23. "Heart Hotels," Dan Fogelberg (1979)

Ironically enough, this song about debilitating loneliness arrived on an album in which Dan Fogelberg played almost all of the instruments himself. A key concession to the outside world became the most distinctive musical element on "Heart Hotels," as well-known saxophonist Tom Scott took a turn on the Lyricon – a pre-MIDI electronic wind instrument invented just a few years earlier. As for the meaning of sad songs like these, the late Fogelberg once said : "I feel experiences deeply, and I have an outlet, a place where I can translate those feelings. A lot of people go to psychoanalysts. I write songs." (DeRiso)

22. "Year of the Cat," Al Stewart (1976)

Just about every instrument imaginable can be heard in Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat." What begins with an elegant piano intro winds its way through a string section and a sultry sax solo, then to a passionate few moments with a Spanish acoustic guitar. The sax solo, often a hallmark of yacht-rock songs, was not Stewart's idea. Producer Alan Parsons suggested it at the last minute, and Stewart thought it was the "worst idea I'd ever heard. I said, 'Alan, there aren’t any saxophones in folk-rock. Folk-rock is about guitars. Sax is a jazz instrument,'" Stewart said in 2021 . Multiple lengthy instrumental segments bring the song to nearly seven minutes, yet each seems to blend into the next like a carefully arranged orchestra. (Rapp)

21. "How Long," Ace (1974)

How long does it take to top the charts? For the Paul Carrack-fronted Ace: 45 years . "I wrote the lyric on the bus going to my future mother-in-law's," he later told Gary James . "I wrote it on the back of that bus ticket. That's my excuse for there only being one verse." Ace released "How Long" in 1975, reaching No. 3, then Carrack moved on to stints with Squeeze and Mike and the Mechanics . Finally, in 2020, "How Long" rose two spots higher, hitting No. 1 on Billboard's rock digital song sales chart after being featured in an Amazon Prime advertisement titled "Binge Cheat." (DeRiso)

20. "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)," Looking Glass (1972)

Like "Summer Breeze" (found later in our list of Top 50 Yacht Rock Songs), Looking Glass' tale of an alluring barmaid in a busy harbor town pre-dates the classic yacht-rock era. Consider acts like Seals & Crofts and these one-hit wonders pioneers of the genre. Ironically, the effortless-sounding "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" was quite difficult to complete. "We recorded 'Brandy' two or three different times with various producers before we got it right," Looking Glass' principal songwriter Elliot Lurie told the Tennessean in 2016. The chart-topping results became so popular so fast, however, that Barry Manilow had to change the title of a new song he was working on to " Mandy ." (DeRiso)

19. "I Can't Tell You Why," Eagles (1979)

Timothy B. Schmit joined just in time to watch the  Eagles disintegrate. But things couldn't have started in a better place for the former Poco member. He arrived with the makings of his first showcase moment with the group, an unfinished scrap that would become the No. 8 hit "I Can't Tell You Why." For a moment, often-contentious band members rallied around the outsider. Don Henley and Glenn Frey both made key contributions, as Eagles completed the initial song on what would become 1979's The Long Run . Schmit felt like he had a reason to be optimistic. Instead, Eagles released the LP and then promptly split up. (DeRiso)

18. "Sentimental Lady," Bob Welch (1977)

Bob Welch  first recorded "Sentimental Lady" in 1972 as a member of Fleetwood Mac . Five years later, after separating from a band that had gone on to way bigger things , Welch revisited one of his best songs and got two former bandmates who appeared on the original version – Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie – to help out (new Mac member Lindsey Buckingham also makes an appearance). This is the better version, warmer and more inviting, and it reached the Top 10. (Gallucci)

17. "So Into You," Atlanta Rhythm Section (1976)

Atlanta Rhythm Section is often wrongly categorized as a Southern rock band, simply because of their roots in Doraville, Ga. Songs like the seductively layered "So Into You" illustrate how little they had in common with the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd . As renowned Muscle Shoals sessions ace David Hood once said, they're more like the " Steely Dan of the South ." Unfortunately, time hasn't been kind to the group. Two of this best-charting single's writers have since died , while keyboardist Dean Daughtry retired in 2019 as Atlanta Rhythm Section's last constant member. (DeRiso)

16. "Dreams," Fleetwood Mac (1977)

Stevie Nicks was trying to channel the heartbreak she endured after separating from Lindsey Buckingham into a song, but couldn't concentrate among the bustle of Fleetwood Mac's sessions for Rumours . "I was kind of wandering around the studio," she later told Yahoo! , "looking for somewhere I could curl up with my Fender Rhodes and my lyrics and a little cassette tape recorder." That's when she ran into a studio assistant who led her to a quieter, previously unseen area at Sausalito's Record Plant. The circular space was surrounded by keyboards and recording equipment, with a half-moon bed in black-and-red velvet to one side. She settled in, completing "Dreams" in less than half an hour, but not before asking the helpful aide one pressing question: "I said, 'What is this?' And he said, 'This is Sly Stone 's studio.'" (DeRiso)

15. "Minute by Minute," the Doobie Brothers (1978)

Michael McDonald was so unsure of this album that he nervously previewed it for a friend. "I mean, all the tunes have merit, but I don't know if they hang together as a record," McDonald later told UCR. "He looked at me and he said, 'This is a piece of shit.'" Record buyers disagreed, making Minute by Minute the Doobie Brothers' first chart-topping multiplatinum release. Such was the mania surrounding this satiny-smooth LP that the No. 14 hit title track lost out on song-of-the-year honors at the Grammys to "What a Fool Believes" (found later in our list of Top 50 Yacht Rock Songs) by the Doobie Brothers. (DeRiso)

14. "Lonely Boy," Andrew Gold (1976)

Andrew Gold’s only Top 10 U.S. hit is a story of parental neglect and simmering resentment, but those pitch-black details are easy to miss when couched inside such a deliciously upbeat melody. Gold chronicles the childhood of the titular lonely boy over a propulsive, syncopated piano figure, detailing the betrayal he felt when his parents presented him with a sister two years his junior. When he turns 18, the lonely boy ships off to college and leaves his family behind, while his sister gets married and has a son of her own — oblivious to the fact that she’s repeating the mistakes of her parents. Gold insisted “Lonely Boy” wasn’t autobiographical, despite the details in the song matching up with his own life. In any case, you can’t help but wonder what kind of imagination produces such dark, compelling fiction. (Rolli)

13. "Baby Come Back," Player (1977)

Liverpool native Peter Beckett moved to the States, originally to join a forgotten act called Skyband. By the time he regrouped to found Player with American J.C. Crowley, Beckett's wife had returned to England. Turns out Crowley was going through a breakup, too, and the Beckett-sung "Baby Come Back" was born. "So it was a genuine song, a genuine lyric – and I think that comes across in the song," Beckett said in The Yacht Rock Book . "That's why it was so popular." The demo earned Player a hastily signed record deal, meaning Beckett and Crowley had to assemble a band even as "Baby Come Back" rose to No. 1. Their debut album was released before Player had ever appeared in concert. (DeRiso)

12. "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight," England Dan & John Ford Coley (1976)

There aren't too many songs with choruses as big as the one England Dan & John Ford Coley pump into the key lines of their first Top 40 single. Getting there is half the fun: The conversational verses – " Hello, yeah, it's been a while / Not much, how 'bout you? / I'm not sure why I called / I guess I really just wanted to talk to you " – build into the superpowered come-on line " I'm not talking 'bout moving in ...  ." Their yacht-rock pedigree is strong: Dan Seals' older brother is Seals & Croft's Jim Seals. (Gallucci)

11. "Hey Nineteen," Steely Dan (1980)

At least on the surface, “Hey Nineteen” is one of Steely Dan’s least ambiguous songs: An over-the-hill guy makes one of history’s most cringe-worthy, creepiest pick-up attempts, reminiscing about his glory days in a fraternity and lamenting that his would-be companion doesn’t know who Aretha Franklin is. (The bridge is a bit tougher to crack. Is anyone sharing that “fine Colombian”?) But the words didn’t propel this Gaucho classic into Billboard's Top 10. Instead, that credit goes to the groove, anchored by Walter Becker ’s gently gliding bass guitar, Donald Fagen’s velvety electric piano and a chorus smoother than top-shelf Cuervo Gold. (Reed)

10. "Rich Girl," Daryl Hall & John Oates (1976)

It’s one of the most economical pop songs ever written: two A sections, two B sections (the second one extended), a fade-out vocal vamp. In and out. Wham, bam, boom. Perhaps that's why it’s easy to savor “Rich Girl” 12 times in a row during your morning commute, why hearing it just once on the radio is almost maddening. This blue-eyed-soul single, the duo’s first No. 1 hit, lashes out at a supposedly entitled heir to a fast-food chain. (The original lyric was the less-catchy “rich guy ”; that one change may have earned them millions.) But there’s nothing bitter about that groove, built on Hall’s electric piano stabs and staccato vocal hook. (Reed)

9. "Fooled Around and Fell in Love," Elvin Bishop (1975)

Elvin Bishop made his biggest pop-chart splash with "Fooled Around and Fell In Love," permanently changing the first line of his bio from a  former member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band to a solo star in his own right. There was only one problem: "The natural assumption was that it was Elvin Bishop who was singing,” singer  Mickey Thomas told the Tahoe Daily Tribune in 2007. Thomas later found even greater chart success with Starship alongside Donny Baldwin, who also played drums on Bishop's breakthrough single. "A lot of peers found out about me through that, and ultimately I did get credit for it," Thomas added. "It opened a lot of doors for me." (DeRiso)

8. "Baker Street," Gerry Rafferty (1978)

Gerry Rafferty already had a taste of success when his band Stealers Wheel hit the Top 10 with the Dylanesque "Stuck in the Middle With You" in 1973. His first solo album after the group's split, City to City , made it to No. 1 in 1978, thanks in great part to its hit single "Baker Street" (which spent six frustrating weeks at No. 2). The iconic saxophone riff by Raphael Ravenscroft gets much of the attention, but this single triumphs on many other levels. For six, mood-setting minutes Rafferty winds his way down "Baker Street" with a hopefulness rooted in eternal restlessness. (Gallucci)

7. "Dirty Work," Steely Dan (1972)

In just about three minutes, Steely Dan tells a soap-opera tale of an affair between a married woman and a man who is well aware he's being played but is too hopelessly hooked to end things. " When you need a bit of lovin' 'cause your man is out of town / That's the time you get me runnin' and you know I'll be around ," singer David Palmer sings in a surprisingly delicate tenor. A saxophone and flugelhorn part weeps underneath his lines. By the time the song is over, we can't help but feel sorry for the narrator who is, ostensibly, just as much part of the problem as he could be the solution. Not all yacht rock songs have happy endings. (Rapp)

6. "Ride Like the Wind," Christopher Cross (1979)

“Ride Like the Wind” is ostensibly a song about a tough-as-nails outlaw racing for the border of Mexico under cover of night, but there’s nothing remotely dangerous about Christopher Cross’ lithe tenor or the peppy piano riffs and horns propelling the tune. Those contradictions aren’t a detriment. This is cinematic, high-gloss pop-rock at its finest, bursting at the seams with hooks and elevated by Michael McDonald’s silky backing vocals. Cross nods to his Texas roots with a fiery guitar solo, blending hard rock and pop in a way that countless artists would replicate in the next decade. (Rolli)

5. "Summer Breeze," Seals & Crofts (1972)

Jim Seals and Dash Crofts were childhood friends in Texas, but the mellow grandeur of "Summer Breeze" makes it clear that they always belonged in '70s-era Southern California. "We operate on a different level," Seals once said , sounding like nothing if not a Laurel Canyon native. "We try to create images, impressions and trains of thought in the minds of our listeners." This song's fluttering curtains, welcoming domesticity and sweet jasmine certainly meet that standard. For some reason, however, they released this gem in August 1972 – as the season faded into fall. Perhaps that's why "Summer Breeze" somehow never got past No. 6 on the pop chart. (DeRiso)

4. "Lowdown," Boz Scaggs (1976)

As you throw on your shades and rev the motor, the only thing hotter than the afternoon sun is David Hungate’s sweet slap-bass blasting from the tape deck. “This is the good life,” you say to no one in particular, casually tipping your baseball cap to the bikini-clad crew on the boat zooming by. Then you press “play” again. What else but Boz Scaggs ’ silky “Lowdown” could soundtrack such a moment in paradise? Everything about this tune, which cruised to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, is equally idyllic: Jeff Porcaro’s metronomic hi-hat pattern, David Paich’s jazzy keyboard vamp, the cool-guy croon of Scaggs — flexing about gossip and “schoolboy game.” You crack open another cold one — why not? And, well, you press play once more. (Reed)

3. "Lido Shuffle," Boz Scaggs (1976)

Scaggs' storied career began as a sideman with Steve Miller  and already included a scorching duet with Duane Allman . Co-writer David Paich would earn Grammy-winning stardom with songs like "Africa." Yet they resorted to theft when it came to this No. 11 smash. Well, in a manner of speaking: "'Lido' was a song that I'd been banging around, and I kind of stole – well, I didn't steal anything. I just took the idea of the shuffle," Scaggs told Songfacts in 2013. "There was a song that Fats Domino did called 'The Fat Man ' that had a kind of driving shuffle beat that I used to play on the piano, and I just started kind of singing along with it. Then I showed it to Paich, and he helped me fill it out." Then Paich took this track's bassist and drummer with him to form Toto. (DeRiso)

2. "Peg," Steely Dan (1977)

"Peg" is blessed with several yacht-rock hallmarks: a spot on Steely Dan's most Steely Dan-like album, Aja , an impeccable airtightness that falls somewhere between soft-pop and jazz and yacht rock's stalwart captain, Michael McDonald, at the helm. (He may be a mere backing singer here, but his one-note chorus chirps take the song to another level.) Like most Steely Dan tracks, this track's meaning is both cynical and impenetrable, and its legacy has only grown over the years – from hip-hop samples to faithful cover versions. (Gallucci)

1. "What a Fool Believes," the Doobie Brothers (1978)

Michael McDonald not only steered the Doobie Brothers in a new direction when he joined in 1975, but he also made them a commercial powerhouse with the 1978 album Minute by Minute . McDonald co-wrote "What a Fool Believes" – a No. 1 single; the album topped the chart, too – with Kenny Loggins and sang lead, effectively launching a genre in the process. The song's style was copied for the next couple of years (most shamelessly in Robbie Dupree's 1980 Top 10 "Steal Away"), and McDonald became the bearded face of yacht rock. (Gallucci)

Top 100 Classic Rock Artists

Gallery Credit: UCR Staff

More From Ultimate Classic Rock

Seal interview: “Wherever it is we go to in the ether, I’ll look back with zero regrets”

By John Earls | March 15, 2023

“S eal is a huge presence. The first time I met him, he had Cuban heel boots on, when he’s 6ft 5ins anyway.” So says Trevor Horn of his initial encounter with Sealhenry Samuel at the producer’s famed London recording studio, Sarm West.

That Seal sought to make himself even bigger than he was already is appropriate for a singer whose music has always been more grandiose and replete with memorable moments than such a classy vocalist needed to get by.

Where lesser talents seek to show off with vocal gymnastics, Seal knows that the song is the star.

Still, Seal’s longtime producer is right: Seal is a huge presence. Over Zoom from his home studio in L.A., the singer is relaxed for someone who rarely talks to the British press.

He’s unguarded, funny and likes a dramatic gesture into his laptop camera. He’s every bit as Seal as you’d hope, aware of his role in music.

“In people’s eyes, I’m a singer,” he notes reasonably. “Nobody wants to hear my political views. If people listen to Seal, it’s because they want relief. They don’t want me banging on about whatever.

“Therefore, my job is really simple: come up with good songs. Hopefully one or two great ones. It’s really that straightforward. It’s not like we’re performing open-heart surgery or saving lives.”

Seal has provided relief and a chance to shimmy ever since Killer with Adamski crashed to No.1 in 1990. An early example of a featured vocalist, the unknown Seal was an instant star.

As Trevor explains: “You can tell when the public is interested in someone. Buying a single, you’re just interested in the record itself. Buying an album? You have to be interested in the artist to buy their album, and I could tell the public were interested in Seal.”

• Read more:  The birth of synth-pop

For all his obvious charisma, Seal was 27 when Killer got the public’s attention. In pop years, the Londoner was middle-aged to be introduced to the nation. Frankly, Seal, what kept you?

“That’s what I used to think,” he laughs. “Finding your voice, that’s the path of every artist. Before Killer , I wrote a bunch of songs I thought were great. On reflection, they were shite.”

Like a musical Doctor Who, Seal had tried a bunch of incarnations – most notably funk band Push – before finding his first niche in rave.

“I thought it was clear where I was going,” he admits. “But, when people came to see me play, they said the same thing: ‘He’s got an interesting voice, but what is he? If he’s rock, how come he’s black? Why isn’t he doing R&B or reggae?’ They weren’t interested.

“I thought they were all deaf, and my attitude was: ‘What’s wrong with you?’ The industry just didn’t know how to market me. Then someone gave me a cassette, and one play of that made me go: ‘Ohhhh! Now I see why it’s not happening.’”

The friend’s cassette featured Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Crosby, Stills & Nash. “I didn’t write a lick of music for a year, so I could soak up everything by these incredible musicians,” Seal reflects.

“I eventually realised what all those great musicians had in common was that they played an instrument, and their instrument reflected their music as much as their voice. I thought: ‘I’ve got to get an instrument.’”

A friend showed Seal how to play the A and E chords on guitar. “The first song I wrote after that year away was Crazy ,” he states. “The whole song came in 20, maybe 25 minutes.

“Not only was Crazy different from anything I’d written before, it didn’t sound like anyone. I knew instantly: ‘I’ve got one!’ For the first time, I sounded like me .”

Such a Hollywood moment was an important step that began in 1974, when an 11-year-old Seal first sang in public, performing Johnny Nash’s classic I Can See Clearly Now on a PTA day at his comprehensive in Kilburn, north London.

“I was terrible academically,” recalls Seal. “Everyone thought I’d amount to nothing and end up in debt or in prison. Even my parents didn’t see me [as I am].”

The only person who glimpsed Seal’s potential was “the cool teacher”, Mr Wren. “He was everything to me,” smiles Seal. “He wore the cool clothes, he had long hair – he was a musician who’d got a real job. Everyone else thought I’d throw my life away, but Mr Wren told me to sing that day.

“Neither my parents nor anyone at school had heard me sing. The stage was the scariest place in the world, and I just wanted to die. And I had to sing a capella. I only sang because I wanted to be like Mr Wren, and because I loved I Can See Clearly Now .

“When I sang, it was like a scene from a movie. I closed my eyes and you could hear a pin drop. The stage turned into feeling like home and I’ve never forgotten that feeling.”

If it took writing Crazy to get on the right path, the song quickly grabbed the attention of Trevor Horn’s wife, Jill Sinclair, who ran the business side of their record label, ZTT .

Horn reveals: “Jill was a big fan of Nat King Cole. She’d say she wanted to find a modern-day Nat and one day she told me she’d found him.

“Jill played me a demo of Crazy . Seal’s vocals had been put through phasers, so I couldn’t tell how good his voice was. But I liked the song, and the line: ‘We’re never going to survive, unless we get a little crazy,’ that was great.”

• Read more:  Top 40 synth-pop songs

It should be noted that, when interviewed separately, Seal and Trevor are quicker to praise each other’s skills than take any credit themselves. They’re now friends more than singer/producer, each appreciating what the other does.

Trevor: “I used to bemoan how American producers generally had better singers to work with than English producers. Then I worked with Seal, and realised what it’s like to work with one of the best.

“You do whatever it takes to set the mood, then you keep out of his way and get a great vocal out of him. His voice is so good, I’d think: ‘I’ve got a lot to live up to, to get the backing right for him.”

Seal: “The art of making great records is so rare, and I never really understood what it was before working with Trevor. A great record has a beginning, middle and end: for both a song and an album.

“Trevor has an incredible ability to make great records. I hear collections of really good songs, but I don’t hear many great records now.”

Both men are perfectionists, with Horn famed for his lengthy recording sessions. He laughs when asked if there’s anything he’d change on Seal’s debut now, admitting: “I don’t think of ‘If only’ like that. It all seems equally incredibly important at the time when working on an album, when a lot of it isn’t half as important as you’d think.”

Seal’s idealistic streak is different, and means he’s often been unable to hear his old music without wincing: “I’m always critical of my own input, thinking I could have sung it better or written a better lyric.

“My heroes – Joni, Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye – made great records and were never concerned, I never quite achieved their excellence.

“But that’s not the point, the point is what I was reaching for. So I am always going to be critical. It’s never going to be good enough.”

Seal laughs, aware of how maddening his frustrations can be. “I don’t think it’s the right way to approach music. I’d prefer to be happy and satisfied. But then, I’d also like a 737 jet.”

Admitting that he was initially nervous about the stories of “Ooh, you’ll be in the studio forever ,” as he describes Trevor’s reputation, Seal moved into a flat owned by the producer and Jill opposite Sarm West to begin work on the album.

“I feel privileged to have come up at a time when there was money in the music industry,” admits Seal. “There was never a time, whether it was 2pm or 3am, when I couldn’t walk over to Sarm West with some harebrained vocal idea in my head and not be singing it within a maximum of 15 minutes.

“That was how Trevor ran the ship. It was always: ‘When I’ve got the vocal, I’ve got the record.’

“Trevor didn’t suffer fools gladly, and the engineers had it drummed into them: ‘The vocal is the one thing I can’t control, so do not mess around with it. I want a mic set up permanently, just in case.’ Trevor never put pressure on me, as he’d say: ‘I’m not worried about you. Once the track is right, I know you’ll sing it right.’”

“Wendy had already played guitar on two songs,” Trevor recalls. “Lisa hadn’t been well for those songs and I’d never met her before. Then, when she arrived for Whirlpool , I set Lisa, Wendy and Seal up in a semi-circle and it was one of those great sessions.”

• Read more: OMD interview: “It’s the best job in the world”

Even more fortuitously, for the complex rhythms of The Beginning Seal had asked Horn to track down a Detroit-based drum programmer who’d played with Inner City. “I was wondering how to find him,” says Trevor. “I went to the toilet in Sarm and passed a guy who was muttering at the Asteroids arcade machine.

“As it was my studio, I’d become pretty good at Asteroids , so I gave the guy a tip on how to get to the next level. We got chatting – and he was the programmer Seal had asked me to find. I told him: ‘There’s some work going in the studio downstairs if you fancy it.’ Just goes to show how random it can all be.”

By then, they’d become firm friends. “We both had the same sense of humour,” smiles Trevor. “We both liked old English comedians and were particularly fond of Frankie Howerd and Ken Dodd. You’ve got to get on with someone if you’re going to spend all those hours in the control room.”

Seal says of Trevor: “I still look at him as the older brother I never had, someone I can confide in. We have an unspoken communication after 30 years. We’ve seen each other at our highest and lowest.”

The singer credits Horn with instilling a good work ethic, ensuring that his music is done properly. Not that this method was always easy to grasp. Seal imitates the producer’s gentle County Durham accent: “Trevor would say: ‘I don’t have the record yet.’

“We’d be 27 versions in on Crazy or Prayer For The Dying , when I’d thought they sounded great 20 versions ago. I’d think: ‘What are you waiting for?’ But the first time I heard Crazy on the radio, I thought: ‘Ah, now I get it’.

“Crazy jumped off the radio and it sounded like it immediately belonged on the airwaves. That was the first inkling I got of what Trevor means by ‘the record’.

“ Owner Of A Lonely Heart , the single made when Trevor was in Yes: if that comes on the radio, man, that’s a jewel in the crown. It doesn’t matter what song is on before or after, that song jumps off the radio and is right in your face. That’s great record-making.”

Seal cites his classic, Kiss From A Rose , as a textbook example of the pair’s attention to detail. Each of the hit’s many vocal harmonies has eight tracks, which Seal would record individually, six to nine takes for each track.

“The payoff would be when Trevor would pan those eight tracks from left to right in the studio,” beams Seal. “They’d sound beautiful . I worked with some American artists a couple of years ago, and they were shocked that that’s how I record backing vocals.

“Not just that I don’t use software, but the speed I can do it at. That’s what Trevor drummed into me. He taught me to think big and believe big – to be better.”

It’s an ethos Seal takes into writing songs, and helps explain why it’s been seven years since his last album of new material, 7 . “I’ve never been one for releasing music for the sake of it,” he shrugs. “I don’t need to stay current or stay in the public consciousness.

“I make music when I have something to say. If I don’t, I’ll do something else I’m passionate about. I’ll go play tennis. “Thankfully, I have a body of work that’s representative of things I feel strongly about, that needed to be said.”

Seal might not need to stay in the spotlight, but he accepts he doesn’t return home to the UK enough. His last shows here were in 2018.

“I’m really touched you refer to England as ‘home’,” he says, with a smile that seems to be 6ft 5ins in its own right. “I very much regard England as my home. When I come back to England, it’s the one place I know where I am.

“Not geographically, but where I am in life. If I’m talking to a cab driver, I know where I am with that banter. The missus and I have been talking a lot about spending more time coming back closer to… if not England, at least Europe.”

Seal’s daughter Lou is 13, while sons Henry and Johan are 17 and 16. “The kids are grown up now,” he says of his children with ex-wife Heidi Klum.

• Read more: The story of 1983 in music

“My stepdaughter…” He quickly corrects himself on how he refers to his new wife’s daughter. “Our daughter Imogen goes to a French school, which has annexes all over the world. Moving back wouldn’t be that difficult a transition.

“The older I get, the more I think about coming back. That affects the music I make, as it affects who you come into contact with. And I will be touring England in the very near future.”

Not only does England still feel like home, so does the stage. “The stage doesn’t feel like my only home,” he points out. “Home is where the heart is, and my heart is with my family: my beautiful spouse, my dogs.

“There’s a feeling of happiness and contentment. The stage does still feel like home, but only because right here, where I’m talking to you now, feels like home.”

Of course, that contentment doesn’t quite spread to being wholly at peace with his back catalogue. While Seal has just been reissued as a 4CD and 2LP boxset featuring remixes, rarities and a compelling live show from Dublin, the singer is unfussed about the prospect of additional future reissues… bar one.

“I’d like to remaster Human Being ,” he frets, referring to 1998’s unfairly neglected third album, which disjointed Seal’s career when it only reached No.44 in the UK.

It’s an overlooked Balearic gem in both Seal and Trevor’s careers. “It got compressed twice: heavily in the experimental mix, and heavily again in the cut,” ponders Seal of the album’s sound. “But it’s a record that I’m very proud of.

“During the course of your career, you’ve got to make an album like Human Being : completely uncompromised, made for you and you alone. It was a difficult record to make, but probably my favourite time on reflection. So, that’s one I’d like to have remastered. The others? Nah.”

• Read more: Goldfrapp interview: “I think most bands are too scared to try something different…”

Horn names 2003’s subsequent IV as his favourite Seal album – “It makes me remember happy personal things and is one I had in the car for a while,” he notes – but is slightly wary of producing another with his friend.

Although Trevor’s planning to play bass in Seal’s band on a US tour of the first two albums in full, the prospect of producing a new LP is slightly daunting at 73: “I’d make another album with Seal if it was the right record and the right moment. But I’m getting on a bit, and the hours I put in when producing? I’m not sure I want to do that now.”

Trevor is similarly pragmatic about why he’s produced five of Seal’s albums, smiling: “Hugh Grant was once asked if he gets the pick of any film role he wants. His reply was: ‘It’s surprising how hard it is to find roles for what I do, especially as you get older.’

“What you do works with some people – and it just works for Seal and me. I like Seal’s voice so much, I can defer to it. We’ll change tracks around, but I know he’ll always sound great. Finding people you work with can be hard, so why not keep going with Seal?”

If Trevor isn’t ready to commit to a full album, Seal would need to find another producer to fit with. He’s starting to assemble the songs, at least.

At the start of our interview, Seal excitedly plays the demo of a new track, A Little Lie , that he has written with Chris Bruce, co-writer of State Of Grace from Human Being .

Even over our respective laptop screens, A Little Lie sounds a mighty catchy beast, unusually guitar-heavy. “This is going to be good when it’s finished,” enthuses Seal. “It’s probably an opener.”

With new songs and new love, Seal seems in a good place . He agrees. “Considering how difficult it was in the early part of my life, I’ve done well,” he muses. “Wherever it is we go to in the ether, I’ll look back with zero regrets.

“I’m not just talking career-wise, but everything: kids, divorce, loves lost and found, how active I am physically and emotionally – all of that.

“At 59, I find myself in a position where, if I got hit by a bus tomorrow, I’d think: ‘You could probably have done one or two things better. But bloody hell, what a run!’”

It feels like Seal still has plenty to say. And if not, he plays a mean game of tennis.

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Privacy Overview

Seal is a Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter with an international reach known for hits like "Crazy," "Kiss From a Rose" and "Love's Divine."

Who Is Seal?

Seal scored his first major U.K. hit, "Killer," before releasing his 1991 debut album. He's become an internationally renowned singer/songwriter with albums like Human Being and hits like "Crazy," "Prayer for the Dying" and "Kiss From a Rose," which won multiple Grammy Awards. He was married to supermodel and TV host Heidi Klum for several years.

Early Life and Career

Sealhenry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel was born in London, England, on February 19, 1963, of Nigerian heritage. He was raised in foster care for a time before being brought up by his stepmother and father, a difficult, angry figure who was physically abusive.

Seal earned a degree in architecture and worked various jobs before pursuing music, working with the band Push and traveling to Japan, Thailand and India. By the time he was 23, he had developed scars on his face as the result of a rare form of lupus.

Songs: 'Crazy' and 'Kiss From a Rose'

Though he initially refused to be taken on by labels, Seal scored a major hit back in London with producer Adamski and the single "Killer," which went to the top of U.K. charts. He signed with ZIT, the label of producer Trever Horn, whom would work on the singer's first four studio albums.

Seal made his full-length, self-titled album debut in 1991 and scored with the moody, socially aware single "Crazy," which reached the Top 10 of Billboard 's pop chart. The artist won several Britain-based awards and released his second self-titled album in 1994, a work that was sonically lusher than its predecessor and featured "Prayer Before Dying" and "Don't Cry," as well as vocals from Joni Mitchell .

Another album single, "Kiss From a Rose," was granted a spot on the Batman Forever soundtrack and became a No. 1 pop and adult contemporary hit, also catapulting Seal 1994 into multi-platinum status. The song and vocalist went on to win Grammys for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Seal made a contribution to the 1996 Space Jam soundtrack with a Steve Miller Band cover, "Fly Like an Eagle," that reached the pop and adult contemporary Top 10. His next full-length studio outing, Human Being , came forth in 1998, followed by another self-titled album in 2003 that showcased the single "Love Divine."

Dance Focus

After releasing a greatest hits collection and Live From Paris , Seal dropped System in 2007, the first album in which he didn't work with Horn. He instead collaborated with producer Stuart Price, known for Madonna 's Confessions on a Dance Floor .

System had a more dance/up-tempo feel than its predecessors, though Seal's albums have generally incorporated electronic soundscapes into tunes that blend acoustic pop and R&B. His lyrics, framed by a gravelly voice, have tended to be ruminations on relationships and the ways that we live. He has also cultivated an image of a sophisticate who embraces fine art aesthetics, appearing nude on album covers and sporting debonair fashion.

'Soul' Covers

In the fall of 2008, Seal released Soul , a collection of covers featuring the works of R&B greats like Ben E. King, Curtis Mayfield and Otis Redding . He worked on the project with super-producer David Foster, and the two would collaborate again on 2010's Commitment . Seal returned to covers of classics—and reunited with Horn—on 2012's Soul 2 .

Seal once again worked with Horn for his next album of original material, 7 , slated for a mid-November release. The singer has lead off with several singles that include swoon-inducing ballad "Every Time I'm With You" and the uptempo "Life on the Dance Floor."

Marriage to Heidi Klum

Seal at one point dated supermodel Tyra Banks during the earlier part of his career. He later married Project Runway host Heidi Klum in 2005. The two, who lived in Los Angeles, sang together on the System track "Wedding Day" and have four children, with Seal adopting Klum's child from a previous union. Klum filed for divorce in 2012 and the couple issued an accompanying public statement, later speaking to the media individually about the split.

QUICK FACTS

• Birth date: February 19, 1963
• Birth City: London, England
• Birth Country: United Kingdom
• Best Known For: Seal is a Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter with an international reach known for hits like "Crazy," "Kiss From a Rose" and "Love's Divine."
• Astrological Sign: Pisces

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• I believe that in all forms of art there has to have been some initial adversity: that is what makes art, as far as I'm concerned.
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• In a world that's constantly plagued by disasters, I think that it is important, however difficult it may sometimes seem, to keep crossing that bridge of peace.
• The song is always larger in the listeners' mind because with it they attach imagery which is relative to their own personal experience. So it is your perception of what I'm saying rather than what I actually say that is the key.
• The thing that I'm most proud about this great woman that I married ... is that together she's given me four incredible gifts, four beautiful children. She's still, in my opinion, the most wonderful woman in the world.

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Jim Seals, Seals & Crofts Singer Behind ‘Summer Breeze,’ Dead at 79

By David Browne

David Browne

Jim Seals , half of the soft-rock troubadours Seals and Crofts, died Monday at the age of 79. Ruby Jean Seals, Seals’ wife, confirmed his passing to Rolling Stone , citing “an unspecific ongoing chronic illness” as the cause. Seals’ cousin Brady Seals, a country singer, also confirmed the singer’s death on Facebook .

“I just learned that James ‘Jimmy’ Seals has passed,” Brady Seals wrote. “My heart just breaks for his wife Ruby and their children. Please keep them in your prayers. What an incredible legacy he leaves behind.”

When the soft-rock boom hit pop music in the early Seventies, Seals and Crofts, which also included singer and mandolinist Darrell “Dash” Crofts, quickly came to embody the era. With their often exotic musical instrumentation, vaguely philosophical lyrics and wailing-wall harmonies, Seals and Crofts singles like “Summer Breeze,” “Diamond Girl” and “We Will Never Pass This Way (Again)” fit in equally with AM pop radio and the more adventurous world of FM. Both their 1972 Summer Breeze and 1975 Greatest Hits albums sold two million copies each at the time. “Summer Breeze,” featuring Seals’ lead vocal and lyrics, would also be covered by many others, including the Isley Brothers and Type O Negative .

Seals did not travel the standard route to strumming troubadour. Born on Oct. 17, 1942, in Sidney, Texas, Seals was the son of Wayland Seals, a Texas oilman and part-time musician. He began playing fiddle at a young age, winning numerous fiddle contests but eventually moving over to saxophone. In a local band, the Crew Cats, he met Crofts, and the two later joined the Champs, known for their instrumental hit “Tequila.” (Seals and Crofts did not appear on the track.) As part of their tenure in the Champs, Seals and Crofts moved to California, where they also played with or wrote songs for a wide range of artists, including the Monkees, Buck Owens, Gene Vincent and Rick Nelson.

For a short time, Seals and Crofts had their own band, the Dawnbreakers, but by 1969 had peeled off into a duo. Their first three albums were commercial duds, but the fourth, Summer Breeze , finally caught on after a Northeast DJ took a chance on the title song. That song finally put them on the charts, and subsequent singles like the even gentler “Hummingbird” and the lounge-jazzier “Diamond Girl” continued their streak; the duo once boasted of the number of high school yearbooks that reprinted the lyrics of “We Will Never Pass This Way (Again).”

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Behind Seals’ goatee and caps and Crofts’ mandolin, what often distinguished the duo were the exotic musical accents in their songs; despite Seals’ country music background, their music incorporated unusual tunings and time signatures beneath the duo’s keening harmonies. “I think our music is a combination of the Eastern part of the world and the Western,” Seals said in 1971. “We’ve had people from Greece, Israel, England and France, China, everywhere, listen to our music and say, ‘Oh, it’s music from the old country.’ And it really seemed strange to us because we didn’t realize it ourselves until we started comparing our work with, for example, Persian music, which, when you listen to it, is really very close to ours. And we had no knowledge of this at all beforehand. So it’s just something that happened.”

By the mid-Sixties, both men had also converted to the Baháʼí faith, a Persian-rooted religion founded by the nineteenth-century Persian prophet Baháʼu’lláh. In a 1971 interview, Seals went on to explain of Baháʼí that it “claimed that all religions were looking for the return of a messiah or world redeemer, and that Baháʼu’lláh  was the One.” (Added Crofts, “The Baha’i faith teaches the unity of people of all races, creeds, religions, politics, and truths.”) Seals’ song “Traces” told the story of ten Bahá’í women who were executed in Iran in the Eighties. But those same beliefs led to controversy with 1974’s “Unborn Child,” an anti-abortion song that was banned by some radio stations (while embraced by others). “The Baháʼí faith professes that life begins at the moment of conception,” Crofts said in 1975, “and it was written to the mother and the baby, not to take this life so lightly.”

In 1976, Seals and Crofts rebounded by shifting to a plusher, pop-R&B sound for “Get Closer,” which helped usher in the yacht-rock era. But they were never able to successfully follow up that hit. Subsequent albums weren’t nearly as successful, and pop’s shift to disco and New Wave essentially doomed them. After one last album, 1980’s The Longest Road , they were dropped by their label, Warner Brothers.

Seals and Crofts reunited in 2004 for a new album, Traces , which included remakes of their classics. By then, Seals and his wife, Ruby, had been dividing their time between Hendersonville, Tennessee, and Costa Rica, where Seals ran a coffee farm. Seals’ brother Dan, half of the soft-rock duo England Dan and John Ford Coley, died in 2009 from cancer. In 2017, Seals suffered from a stroke, which essentially ended his singing and touring part of his life.

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Celebrity News July 06, 2012

Seal spotted with new girlfriend.

It appears that singer Seal may have a new girlfriend. A bikini-clad brunette was spotted getting cozy with Heidi Klum's estranged hubby on a yacht in Italy this week.

In the photos obtained by TMZ , the two look like they're having a great time, laughing and cuddling. The boat ride was about more than just canoodling -- Seal got a good workout, too -- jumping rope and sparring with a trainer.

His mystery woman definitely has some moves too. She can do a headstand!

Meanwhile, Heidi, who filed for divorce three months ago, isn't doing so bad herself. The model/mogul tweeted a bikini pic of her rockin' bod on the Fourth of July, just days after telling the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, “I don't know if I'll get married again.”

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Smitten with Seal! Erica Packer shares a lingering kiss with her new British singer beau as they continue to sail their love boat around Europe

By Jason Chester and Jade Watkins for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 05:02 EDT, 5 August 2015 | Updated: 08:05 EDT, 5 August 2015

View comments

They have barely left each other's side in the last two weeks as they sail around Europe on a luxury yacht.

And Erica Packer and Seal continued their love fest on Wednesday.

The 38-year-old ex wife of billionaire casino mogul James Packer looked completely smitten with the British singer as they moored at Formentera island in Spain, with the pair sharing a lingering kiss. 

Scroll down for video  

Smitten! Erica Packer and Seal shared a lingering kiss aboard their luxury yacht as they moored at Formentera, Spain on Wednesday

Sporting a seasonal black vest and tiered miniskirt, Erica gazed up at the towering British singer while holding him tightly around the waist. 

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The mother-of-three only had eyes for Seal - real name Olusegun Olumide Adeola - as they idled on the deck of their luxury yacht. 

Meanwhile the Kiss From A Rose singer pulled Erica close by wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they locked lips. 

You're going nowhere: Seal ensured Erica stayed close by wrapping an arm around her shoulders 

Summer lovin': The pair giggled during a highly tactile display as they idled aboard their luxury yacht on Tuesday

Seasonal: Hunky Seal sported a white T-shirt and tablecloth print shorts 

SEAL-ed with a kiss: The British singer couldn't keep his hands off mother of three Erica during their latest appearance 

Confirmed: Seal's latest display with Erica all but confirms a blossoming romance following a series of affectionate appearances on the Mediterranean

At one point Erica giggled into Seal's broad chest as they shared a private joke, before wrapping her warms around the singer's hips. 

Their latest display all but confirms a blossoming romance following a series of affectionate appearances on the Mediterranean, where they are holidaying with Erica's three children - Indigo, seven,Jackson, five, and two-year-old Emmanuelle. 

The couple later tore themselves apart as they departed the boat on a small dinghy and made their way to a nearby beach on Balearic island  Formentura.

Let's go: The couple later tore themselves apart as they departed the boat on a small dinghy and made their way to a nearby beach in Spanish coastal town Formentura

So close: The couple were hand in hand as they strolled across the beach after arriving on the Balearic island  

Zest appeal: Seal sported a vibrant orange T-shirt over black shorts, while Erica sported the same black vest an tiered miniskirt 

While Erica sported the same vest and skirt, Seal changed into a vibrant orange T-shirt and baggy black shorts for their visit to the picturesque holiday destination. 

The inseparable pair were hand in hand as the strolled across the sand in their bare feet before mingling with a group of pals. 

Seal has children of his own - Henry, nine, Johan, eight, and Lou, five - with his supermodel ex-wife Heidi Klum. 

News of Erica and Seal's relationship comes just weeks after her estranged billionaire husband revealed his new relationship with American songstress Mariah Carey.  

Good times: The inseparable pair strolled across the sand in their bare feet before mingling with a group of pals

Share or comment on this article: Erica Packer shares a kiss with British singer Seal on boat around Europe

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Seal Spotted with New Love on board Superyacht Lady Linda

The loved-up couple were spotted cruising in Sardinia on board  the luxury yacht Lady Linda , which boasts a helicopter landing pad, movie theater and an art deco interior with bespoke furniture, murals and stonework!

It would seem that Seal has a certain type that he goes for as this new girl is definitely another beautiful leggy blonde! The mystery woman (not thought to be a celeb) showed off her impressive figure and some even more impressive diving skills during their trip. The pair seemed to be very much enjoying each other’s company and spent some time having a romantic picnic in Porto Cervo.

If you like what you see and fancy renting a superyacht like Seal and his new lady, superyacht Lady Linda has a weekly rate of over $400,000… Seal really must have wanted to impress her as this is a high price to pay – but sometimes, only the best will do…

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What happened to Seal’s face? His medical condition detailed

• by Chege Karomo
•  – on Sep 02, 2022
•  in People

The scars on Seal’s face have been the subject of many rumors – and at least one song lyric by Kanye West – but they have a relatively simple explanation. Seal, a Grammy-award-winning artist and seller of millions of records worldwide, wears them with pride, having never felt inclined to hide them. 

Seal’s scars result from a medical condition dubbed discoid lupus erythematosus, which causes sores and skin inflammation and can potentially leave large scars if treated late. It’s a type of lupus – a disease characterized by the immune system attacking healthy body cells. 

Seal’s condition started in his early 20s and is in remission

Seal wrote in  The Guardian  that he refers to the marks on his face as battle scars. “I tell my children I sustained them when I was fighting to defeat evil demons,” Seal continued. 

The singer-songwriter said his discoid lupus appeared when he was 21. He struggled with the condition because he didn’t understand what it was. Seal got treatment nearly six years after the condition showed its first symptoms.

The medication worked, but by then, the scars on his face had become permanent. He wrote:

“I went to a doctor in Harley Street and he knew exactly what it was and prescribed tablets and the lupus went, but it left me with scars – which I am quite proud of, actually, because they became a bit of a trademark.”

Seal’s ex-wife, Heidi Klum, said she saw fatherhood potential in Seal

Seal and supermodel Heidi Klum started dating in 2004 and married on 10th May 2005. The singer wrote that Heidi was initially attracted to his bottom:

“My wife likes my mouth – and my bottom. Contrary to popular belief, when my wife first saw me – in my cycling shorts – it wasn’t my front bottom she liked, it was my bottom!”

As Heidi got to know Seal, she saw fatherhood qualities in him. At the time, she had one child with ex-boyfriend Flavio Briatore; the couple would welcome three children of their own. Heidi told the  Independent :

“When I first met Seal he had a kindness and compassion that was so sincere I knew he’d be a good father. He has infinite amounts of love and patience for our kids. He puts me and the children first.”

Seal and Klum renewed their wedding vows annually. In a 2010 interview , he said, “Each year, Heidi and I get remarried. It’s a great party, but for about an hour, we go off on our own down to a private beach. We sit with the kids and read vows to each other as the sun sets. It’s a very special moment to us.”

The couple finalized their divorce in October 2014 and remain close. 

Seal was recently linked with his former personal assistant Laura Strayer. “I literally had no idea that Seal was dating Laura until I saw these photos,” a family source told Page Six .

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Seal Says He Thought He Died After Seeing All His Friends at Surprise 60th Birthday Party

"For a split second, I literally thought, 'Oh, this is what they talk about,'" the singer said on the Jennifer Hudson Show

Seal thought he died the other day, literally.

On a new episode of the Jennifer Hudson Show , the musician opened up about a recent 60th birthday surprise in February, and how seeing all of his closest pals in one place made him believe he died.

"There was just 200 of just everyone that has meant something at some point or another in my life," Seal said about opening the door to his friend's house and being surprised. "A real cross section of people. And I just had this thought. I was like, 'Oh, I know what's happened. I've died.' Literally, for a split second I thought, 'Oh this is what they talk about, you die and you see all the people.'"

The surprise party went down the way most normally do: Seal's partner took him to his friend's home, made him think he was going to a restaurant to see his children, and instead greeted him with hundreds of loved ones behind a door. "How she managed to keep it a secret from me for so long, I just don't know," he said.

The whole ordeal was captured on TikTok , showing the singer look stunned as he held his chest and saw all of his pals. Of course, after a while, he realized he was — in fact — alive.

"Luckily I'm still alive," he said. "I just lost it. You saw me burst out into tears there. I just couldn't hold back the tears because we're all so good at deflecting compliments and deflecting love when it's thrown our way... We're all so good at that."

"But when you see roughly 200 of the people that are really meaningful in your life — people that you've met, you know very well, you've known for a long time and some that you've met in passing but have had an effect on you. When you see them all there, it's like this undeniable wall of love. And then you ask yourself the question, why are they all here? There's only one answer why they're all here and it's because they care. When you accept that, it's really overwhelming."

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During a two-part interview on the Think About It podcast back in August, the musician opened up about receiving love — specifically the kind that his fans have shared with him.

"It's like the love that I always wanted from my parents," he told host and tennis star Victoria Azarenka at the time. "The love that I wanted my father to show me. The kind of putting his arm around me and telling me, 'You know, Seal, you did a great job.' Like, I never got that from my father, even on his deathbed."

Over time, however, the musician — whose real name is Henry Olusegun Adeola Samuel — learned that love from his fans. "But every time I get a compliment from a fan or from someone, that is like that proverbial hand around my shoulder, telling me, 'You did well.' That is my drive," the "Kiss From a Rose" singer said. "But it only works if I am authentic, and if it initiated from me, for me. The fact that some other people happen to like it is a wonderful by-product."

Elsewhere during the interview, Seal also reminisced on the first time he sang publicly and the emotions that came with it. "I'll emphasize that my parents had never heard me sing. They didn't even know I could sing. But anyway, they were in the audience," he recounted. "I was so afraid and I kind of dragged my feet onto the stage, and I remember walking onto the stage, looking out at all of the parents and teachers in the audience, my parents included. And it being the scariest, loneliest place, and I just wanted the stage to open up and swallow me, and I just wanted to disappear."

He continued, "And I remember being so afraid, and closing my eyes and getting through this song and being lost in it, and finishing it. And it was like, one of those scenes in the movie, where you could hear a pin drop. And at the end of it, everyone clapped, and I opened my eyes and my parents are like, they'd never seen anything like that."

"That place that was the scariest place in the world for me to be [in], [and] all of a sudden, [it] became home, it became the warmest place," he concluded. "Because of the adoration and the love and the acknowledgment, that thing of being seen, I felt something at that point."

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All Seal Needs Is Love

Embarking on a tour celebrating his music career’s 30th anniversary, the singer and songwriter explained how tennis, Joni Mitchell and ChatGPT have inspired him.

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By Jeremy Gordon

The singer and songwriter Seal is one of modern music’s most ardent believers in the power of love, but that doesn’t mean you should look to him for romantic advice. “You’re headed for disaster if you ask me,” he joked, before immediately providing what sounded like a practical perspective on how to make a relationship work. “I’ve found that it’s most productive when both parties see themselves, and then there’s this third entity which is like a plant. That plant needs water every day, and you love that plant because you — both as an entity, and as individuals — are all that it has.”

This type of focused dedication was on Seal’s mind as he prepared for a tour celebrating 30 years of his music career, an anniversary that prompted some reflection. “I can’t believe how fortunate I am to still be here,” he said in a video interview from his home studio in Los Angeles. “Every day above ground is a great day, as far as being a musician is concerned.”

He emphasized his good fortune, like when the film director Joel Schumacher gave new life to “Kiss From a Rose,” which hadn’t made any commercial impact with its 1994 arrival, by incorporating it into the 1995 film “Batman Forever.” Upon rerelease, the song hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart and won Grammys for record and song of the year. “It was exactly the same song that failed the first time. That’s a big, lucky break.”

But Seal, 60, isn’t fixated on the past. He cited Travis Scott’s 2020 performance inside the video game Fortnite as a potential model for how artists may reach fans in the future, remarking that “it won’t be long before we’re at a YouTube concert, virtually rubbing shoulders.” Still, he’s excited to see real-life fans on his tour this spring, which starts in late April. “Any time I get to play live for people, it’s like going on a date for the first time,” he said. “There are no bad audiences — only mediocre performances.”

As he prepared to hit the road, Seal spoke about 10 of his beloved cultural inspirations. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

It’s always on my mind. If you’ve listened to my music, I’ve been singing about that out of the gate. Every situation is almost certainly different when you choose to lean in with love; it doesn’t really matter what it is. Of course, love requires a degree of vulnerability. The ultimate kind of love — what we’re trying to achieve — is unconditional. I think that’s its purest form, and I also think that’s the reason for our existence. This is all an experiment; the point of it is happiness. Without unconditional love, I don’t know if it’s possible to achieve that — certainly not on this earth.

I love tennis because it’s an allegory for life. I love the discipline; I love the work; I love the problem solving; I love how, in the most incredible way, it relates to singing. In order to play tennis well, you have to go against everything your body wants; you have to relax, you have to almost relinquish control. I know that’s contrary to popular belief, but that’s singing: You let yourself, rather than make yourself.

Leica M Camera

I saw this director, Mike Figgis, at a candlelit dinner; he was taking pictures, and I was intrigued how he wasn’t using a flash. The next day, I went into a store and bought the exact same setup. That’s where the love affair began. It’s the one camera that gets out of the way between the subject I’m trying to capture and myself. By virtue of its design, the person can still see your face when you’re taking the picture; you still have that engagement and connection, opposed to the viewfinder being in the middle.

Joni Mitchell

One of my great memories of Joni was performing “Both Sides Now” with her in the audience. It’s one of the highlights of my life, the ability to work with someone who had such an impact on your growing up. [Seal sang on Mitchell’s 1994 song “How Do You Stop.” ] It’s the stuff dreams are made of; I just remember pinching myself to make sure it was happening. She’s quite remarkable; she’s a great storyteller, and authentic to the core. To see her onstage singing , after everything she’s been through, was amazing.

Necklace From My Daughter Lou

She gave it to me on my birthday, and that’s everything. Anyone who has a son or a daughter, when they give something to you — whether it’s their love, or a valuable lesson or something like a necklace — it’s not so much what it is, but the spirit and the soul of the person behind it. They start out as kids, and they end up as these people with their own outlook and philosophies on life, so the gift is more about their thought process, and who they are behind it. It’s both beautiful and heartwarming — you realize they’re their own people with their own views on the world, and what’s important to them.

Carol Christian Poell

I don’t like to call him a designer, because he’s more than that — he’s an artist much in the same way that a musician or a painter is an artist. I’ve been wearing his clothes since he started, and I just love the way he sees things — his attention to detail in the silhouette and the shape. I can spot somebody wearing a Carol costume at 100 yards. He doesn’t do bad stuff; that’s why he’s my favorite.

It’s a large part of who I am — you can take the boy out of London, but you never take London out of the boy. I like walking around where I grew up, just triggering those memories, but I also love the West End — anywhere in London, to be honest. I love my city, warts and all. It takes about two weeks of that dreadful weather to bring me to my senses and remind me why I left, but I’m lucky enough that I’m able to go back fairly regularly.

To not be curious about it would be akin to being a Luddite, or an ostrich with your head stuck in the sand. It’s here , and it’s part of our evolution — for that reason, you can’t fight it, and you can’t really see it as this enemy that’s going to be the end of mankind. My experience with it is I started out by thinking it was a machine, but once I started to relate to it as though I were talking to a person, this incredible collaboration started — I would ask maybe one or two questions, and it would spark my imagination and ability to create. I think it’s incredible, and I think we’re at an amazing point in our evolution as a species.

Goodall Acoustic Guitar

Sometimes a melody I’m writing is in my head, but more often than not, it’s on a guitar. I think handmade instruments are just beautiful things; they’re transport mechanisms to convey this phenomenon known as music. I love acoustic guitars, and Goodalls are my favorite. It’s all subjective — Martins are great to record with, but I’m pretty heavy-handed and Martins typically don’t like when you bash them. Goodalls, you can play them loud but they’re great at lower volumes, and of course the craftsmanship is extraordinary.

Do I sit and meditate every day? Probably, but not in a way that you might imagine. If it’s not sitting down in a kumbaya position and breathing — which I rarely do — it is playing tennis, which is a form of meditation. Having a degree of focus whilst being in a state — it’s a form of meditation. The thing I enjoy most is the balance, and the slowing down of the mind. That’s really important.

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Is This Why Heidi Klum And Seal Really Got Divorced?

British singer-songwriter Seal and supermodel Heidi Klum became one of the world's hottest celebrity couples when they tied the knot back in 2005. However, after having three children together and adopting a fourth, the couple announced their separation in 2012 after almost seven years of marriage (via Newsner ). A few months later, Klum officially filed for divorce from Seal. But, what was the real reason behind the pair's sudden split? 

As People reports, a statement released by the couple at the time read, "While we have enjoyed seven very loving, loyal and happy years of marriage, after much soul-searching we have decided to separate." The statement continued, "We have had the deepest respect for one another throughout our relationship and continue to love each other very much, but we have grown apart." 

Following the split, the pair remained fairly tight-lipped about what had actually led to their divorce. During an interview with Elle in 2012, per People , Klum explained that she didn't want to talk "positive or negatively" about the "ups and downs" of her marriage. However, according to TMZ , Heidi filed for divorce due to Seal's "inability to control his anger."

Rumors of infidelity later began to circulate

According to one source at the time, the end of the pair's marriage "was a long time in coming," and Seal's alleged anger issues were becoming problematic especially with children in the house. As reported by TMZ , the couple's professional lives were also a deciding factor in the divorce, as their increasingly busy work schedules had created "distance between them."

Shortly after the announcement of their separation, rumors surrounding alleged infidelity between the couple went into overdrive, especially when Seal himself appeared to accuse his ex-wife of cheating "with the help." Speaking to TMZ back in 2012, Seal commented, "I would have thought that Heidi would have shown a little more class and at least waited until we separated first before deciding to fornicate with the help. However, in a later statement to People , the British musician clarified that he "was not implying his wife was cheating on him while they were together," but rather "pointing out that they are separated and the divorce is not final." According to Us Weekly , the divorce was eventually finalized in 2014. 

As Vogue reports, Heidi Klum later tied the knot with Tokio Hotel singer, Tom Kaulitz , during a private ceremony in February 2019. A few months later, the couple exchanged vows for a second time on a yacht just off the island of Capri.

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