During an appearance on The Wikimetal Happy Hour , Sharon Den Adel of Within Temptation spoke with Nando Machado about her beginnings in music and some of her early passions and influences.
According to Sharon, her parents were very musical people and started giving her a small allowance when she was 4 or 5 years old that could only be spent on records. Heeding advice from her older brother and her mother, she was introduced to bands like ELO , Eagles , and The Moody Blues , but her first love in music was a woman.
“I remember really wanting to buy [an album by] my first love, which was Grease ,” she says. “I fell in love with Olivia Newton-John ; I remember thinking she was an angel with a beautiful voice. I was completely enchanted. For many years I bought all her albums until I was about 15. I listened to music every day.”
Sharon remembers this as one of the first records she acquired, as well as the Moody Blues album that contained the track "Knights In White Satin," influenced by her brother. "It was the worst choice in the world because it completely scared me the first time I heard it," Sharon says, giving a short performance of the song. "Actually, nowadays it seems to fit really well with the sound of Within Temptation [laughs]." The singer also revealed that her first concert was to see Bruce Springsteen with her father. Watch:
READ ALSO: Sharon Den Adel says she's "lucky" not to have experienced sexism in the metal scene.
