By Laura BennettThursday 27 Jun 2024UNDISTRACTEDMusicReading Time: 3 minutes
Since her debut album How Can it Be in 2015, Grammy winner Lauren Daigle has brought joy, soul and seemingly boundless energy to stages globally.
Key Points:
- Lauren’s hope was borne out of a faith in God that was cemented during years of illness in her teens.
- She remembers saying, ‘God if you get me out of this, I’ll tell the world about the hope that I’ve found in You.’
- Fame “is not fulfilling in the way that a lot of people think that it would be”.
After a five-year break, her self-titled third album brought a refined definition to her sound, articulating her identity as an artist.
It’s marked an era of intentional grounded-ness for Lauren and as she’s taken it on the road with The Kaleidoscope Tour – arriving in Sydney in November – the scope of her songs’ impact has only become more apparent.
“I never knew that the songs would go the distance that they have in people’s hearts and in people’s stories,” Lauren told Hope 103.2’s UNDISTRACTED podcast.
“I didn’t realise the capacity that a song could bear, and that’s something that I’ve learned from, and I’ve grown from, since the beginning of wanting to share hope.”
Lauren’s hope was borne out of a faith in God that was cemented during years of illness in her teens.
The hope that Lauren talks about is borne out of a faith in God that was cemented during years of illness in her teens. Lauren was housebound at 15 for almost two years with illness, and rejected her mother’s offer to quit her job and stay home as carer because she knew she “was encountering God”.
“I missed a lot of my high school, a lot of the fun times,” Lauren said.
“But there was period in that where [I felt like] God was doing something in my heart that if [my mum] came home, I felt like it was going to interrupt or distract that.
“Something was built inside of me in that season.
Lauren remembers saying, ‘God if you get me out of this, I’ll tell the world about the hope that I’ve found in You.’
“I remember saying, ‘God if you get me out of this, I’ll tell the world about the hope, I will sing about the hope, that I’ve found in You.'”
Almost 20 years later, Lauren’s ambition to share hope is coupled with a desire to tell the truth about fame, and this generation’s unquenchable thirst to attain it.
“Fame can be a complete and total mirage,” Lauren said.
“It’s a brilliant and beautiful platform that you can impact lives in the most positive way, and it also comes with a world of responsibilities that kids don’t necessarily dream of.”
Her song Ego points to the fact that fame “is not fulfilling in the way that a lot of people think that it would be”.
“If we continue the celebration of fame and fortune in this generation, we are going to ruin the next generation,” Lauren said.
To keep her own ego in check, Lauren has a made a rule to come home every two weeks while touring to an environment where she isn’t pampered, her time is not totally accounted for and where she can “just be Lauren”.
“It’s really vital”, Lauren said.
Fame “is not fulfilling in the way that a lot of people think that it would be”.
“True love is important to come around. It’s important to not just be the person that provides for everyone in certain ways.
“When you’re not grounded, if you find yourself experiencing pride or arrogance or any of that, it’s so isolating.
“Nobody wants to be friends with the person who thinks they’re better than everyone else [and] I like people way too much.”
Lauren Daigle’s Kaleidoscopes Nights Tour will be in Sydney November 14.
Article provided with thanks to Laura Bennett. Laura is the host of Hope Afternoons and producer of a number of our podcasts, including UNDISTRACTED with Laura Bennett.