Belinda Carlisle Joins Corey Crockett on CHANNEL Q

Audacy Pop

Rock n Roll Hall of Fame singer/songwriter Belinda Carlisle joined CHANNEL Q's Corey Crockett to help us kick off the holiday spirit.

Transcript

00:00Channel Q joined by royalty.

00:03I do feel very lucky like to have a legend in our midst,

00:06Belinda Carlisle joining us

00:08with a lot of exciting things coming up.

00:10Hi, how are you?

00:11Fine, how are you?

00:12I'm so good.

00:13I wanna start with the big news and I mean, big, big news.

00:18The Go-Go's performing at Coachella in 2025.

00:22Tell me, how did that come about?

00:25We were asked, I mean, I'm turning off my phone.

00:28It's actually ringing, sorry.

00:30We were asked, I mean, we had broken up three years prior,

00:33one of the many breakups.

00:36And one thing I've learned about that band

00:39is you can never say never again

00:41because something always comes up that gets us excited.

00:45And Coachella came up, it was hard to keep it secret

00:49about four or five months ago.

00:51And we just thought it was an amazing opportunity

00:55and you don't turn down Coachella.

00:57I mean, it's like the biggest music festival in the world.

01:00So yeah, so we're doing that and we're excited about it.

01:05You talked about the breakups

01:07and I feel like it was just last year

01:10that there was the impression

01:12that the band may be done for good.

01:13What was the catalyst that made you guys go,

01:16okay, I think there's a little bit more here?

01:19Coachella, because we were planning, we weren't,

01:22I mean, like I said, something always comes about.

01:24We've like disbanded so many times since 1978.

01:28I can't even count, to be honest.

01:30I can't keep up with it myself.

01:32But there was, we had broken up

01:36in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,

01:38got together for that and did some shows.

01:40And then earlier this year,

01:41it was a California Hall of Fame.

01:43We got together for that and performed.

01:45And then this, we really, I mean,

01:48everybody has their own lives.

01:50So this was the catalyst, really,

01:54Coachella and then Cruel World on May 17th.

01:58So, I mean, they're both sort of,

02:01like I said, who turns that down?

02:03Absolutely.

02:04Obviously to have the Go-Go's on the lineup is amazing.

02:08Is there anyone else on that massive lineup

02:12that you're particularly excited to be performing with

02:15or near or to watch maybe if you get some time that weekend?

02:18Yeah, I mean, on our stage,

02:20I mean, I've never seen Go-Go live and I'm a huge fan.

02:23I love Missy Elliott.

02:25Love, love, love, love Prodigy.

02:28I love Green Day.

02:29They're on the following night.

02:32So yeah, there's some, I'm excited about.

02:35I mean, there's so many people

02:36I can't even remember exactly who,

02:41but I know that those artists,

02:42I'm really excited about seeing.

02:44So exciting.

02:45I feel like I've also seen lately,

02:47obviously there's always been such an interest

02:50in your music, in your library,

02:51but I feel like I've seen lately more and more people

02:54on TikTok and social media covering your music.

02:58It's popped off lately.

02:59I'm curious to know, after all these years,

03:02do you still get excited when you hear someone

03:04put a new spin on your songs?

03:07Totally.

03:08I mean, that whole thing that went on with Heaven,

03:11ooh, what's that?

03:12That was everywhere.

03:13Millions and millions and millions and millions

03:15and millions of people.

03:16And I just thought that it was,

03:18I mean, I didn't understand it,

03:21but I thought it was amazing.

03:22You know, it was like, it's like,

03:24I mean, maybe you're not supposed to understand it,

03:26but yeah, but I love it.

03:29And I love it.

03:30And I still love it when I hear my songs on the radio

03:32or Gogo's songs on the radio.

03:33I just turn it up.

03:35Spending some time with Belinda Carlisle on Channel Q.

03:38You've got a really amazing event coming up so soon,

03:40just a couple of weeks away,

03:42your Christmas party at the Legendary Abbey in WeHo.

03:45You, along with Taylor Dane, Sandra Bernard,

03:47Michelle Visage, gonna be there all to raise money

03:50for your Animal People Alliance.

03:52And you're celebrating 10 years of this organization

03:54that you co-founded.

03:55For you, how did you first get into animal advocacy?

03:59Well, I just always was an animal advocate

04:02since high school, actually.

04:03And then, you know, as a young woman,

04:07well, the Gogos were the first,

04:09I'd rather go naked, but wear fur campaign.

04:12That was a very, we were the very first.

04:14And just through the years, I've done lots of anti-fur work,

04:17vegetarianism work.

04:20So I've always had an interest in animal welfare.

04:22It's just the way I'm built.

04:24So about 10 years ago,

04:30oh yeah, we found our way the past 10 years.

04:33We didn't know exactly what it was going to be

04:35because India is so complicated.

04:38And it ended up being,

04:42we do mostly on-site treatments.

04:45Lots of street animals,

04:46lots of animals live on the street in India,

04:49mostly street dogs.

04:51And, you know, we now have operating theater

04:54for more serious cases.

04:58We do rabies drives.

05:01We've expanded into Thailand.

05:02We do rabies adoption, you know, spaying and neutering.

05:08And at the same time creating employment

05:11for people who would normally have a tough time,

05:14either with a handicap or being lower caste like in India.

05:18In Thailand, we work a lot with stateless people

05:21who are marginalized people

05:23and we create employment for these people.

05:25So it's like a two-fold mission.

05:26And since 2014, we've treated almost 90,000 animals.

05:32Wow.

05:33It's amazing, yeah.

05:34Wow, it's almost incomprehensible

05:37how large that is.

05:38That's incredible.

05:39Congratulations.

05:41Yeah, we have amazing teams in both India and Thailand.

05:46Yeah, I'm very proud of them.

05:47Tickets to the event at animalpeoplealliance.net.

05:51Tell me, what can we expect from the big party?

05:54Well, first of all,

05:57I'd like to say that admission is tax deductible

06:00because we're a U.S. registered charity.

06:02So, but that night I'm performing, of course,

06:06Taylor Dane's performing.

06:09Sandra is the emcee of the evening.

06:11She's a really old friend of mine.

06:12We've been friends like 40 years.

06:14So she's running the whole show.

06:17Michelle Visage is gonna be doing her thing

06:20and probably getting people to bid

06:23for a lot of the things we have at auction and our raffle.

06:26And it's a really fun evening.

06:28At the end of the evening,

06:29what we've done before is we auction off a song

06:33so somebody out there gets to do a duet with me.

06:35Usually it's a Christmas song.

06:37Oh my goodness.

06:38That sounds fun, but also intimidating.

06:40Like, I don't know if I, I mean,

06:42I would be so excited, but ooh.

06:44No, I mean, the people that have gotten up on stage

06:47for me are not intimidated at all.

06:49So that's not an issue at all.

06:54But yeah, it's a super fun evening.

06:56Very festive.

06:58Yeah.

06:59I mean, we do it every other year, I'd say.

07:04It's a lot to do annually

07:05because we also have a fundraiser we do in London as well.

07:09So yeah, so come on down.

07:12Amazing to have an organization

07:14with such international reach to be so accessible in WeHo.

07:18December 12th is the date, is that correct?

07:20Yes, it's December 12th.

07:21It starts at, I think, 7 p.m.

07:24Beautiful.

07:25Tickets again at animalpeoplealliance.net.

07:27I wanted to ask you too,

07:28you had spoken so many times

07:31about your connection and practice of Buddhism.

07:36It's something for us here at Odyssey,

07:38we're so connected to mental health.

07:40And so I'm curious to know how that's impacted you

07:42in your life and meditation in particular

07:44and how you take care of your mental health.

07:47Well, I mean, I always say it's really hard to be normal,

07:50to be stable, you know, without a lot of work.

07:53And I started my Nichiren Buddhist practice,

07:59God, before I got sober, like three years ago,

08:02but 23 years ago,

08:03because I'm sober for almost 20 years.

08:06So that was intense because it brings up a lot of stuff,

08:12you know, and then I got sober.

08:14And since then, I mean, I really am a big advocate

08:17for the power of chanting and meditation and breath work.

08:21I spend every morning,

08:23I get up at 3.30 or four in the morning, every morning,

08:26and I start, that's when I start.

08:28And it's a big commitment

08:31where I start with like a great teacher,

08:34like a Ram Dass or an Eckhart Tolle

08:37or Sadhu or someone like that.

08:39There's a great new teacher called R.J. Spina

08:41who I'm obsessed with, he's Californian.

08:45And then I go in and I chant,

08:48and I chant and I do tons of breath work.

08:51My practice has gone more from Buddhism,

08:55it's more of a kundalini practice now,

08:58which it's still chanting

09:00and the same sort of non-violent principles, exactly.

09:07Yeah, it's exactly the same.

09:09So it, for me,

09:11if I didn't have a spiritual foundation and a practice,

09:17like chanting, it's not airy-fairy, it's scientific,

09:20because you activate your meridian points

09:23and they roof your mouth.

09:25It changes everything.

09:26It changes your perspective on things.

09:29It's changed my world completely.

09:30I mean, I always say,

09:34I mean, I'm pretty stable and pretty solid,

09:38but if I didn't have this,

09:40I would be just like I used to be,

09:41all over the place, lashing out, angry,

09:45because that's my base is anger.

09:47I mean, I operate from,

09:49I mean, I was born angry for whatever reason.

09:52So my practice sort of tempered that

09:55and I just, I can't say enough about it.

09:58You know, I'm glad you bring up the scientific aspects,

10:01because I think one of the barriers

10:02to getting people involved in things like that

10:04is that they think it's like foo-foo.

10:06I think the other thing is that people realize

10:09once they start that it's hard.

10:11You have any advice for people getting through

10:13and feeling like, oh, I can't handle this.

10:15Like, this is difficult.

10:16Wow, well, you get people saying, I can't meditate,

10:21because it's like, well,

10:23I didn't ever thought I could either, to be honest.

10:25But I would say start, I mean,

10:28I think the easiest meditation in the most

10:30is probably following your breath

10:33and start with like three minutes.

10:35You know, you don't have to do too,

10:37like I do like an hour and a half, two hours a day.

10:40That's how my work, that's why I get up so early.

10:43But, you know, start with five minutes, three minutes

10:45of closing your eyes, following your breath,

10:49and then it's like, it is not airy-fairy.

10:55And then like pranayama and like alternate nostril breathing,

10:59all that heavy breathing.

11:00I mean, that is like, and that's scientific also.

11:04I mean, that's really stabilizing.

11:09You know, like I said, I can't imagine,

11:11I do it every day, so I can't imagine my life without it.

11:14Linda Carla, I have enjoyed our conversation so much.

11:18It's been lovely to chat with you.

11:20You've got big things coming, Coachella 2025,

11:22Go-Go's reunion part 15,

11:24and then the Animal People Alliance party in WeHo.

11:30Tickets there at animalpeoplealliance.net.

11:33Thank you so much.

11:35It was so nice talking to you.

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