During that time there was so much speculation, so much gossip about you – why you were losing weight, what was going on – all while you were going through this intensely private trauma. I thought about it a lot towards the end of the book too when you discuss your cancer diagnosis and the health journey you went on. It’s a lot of sacrifice of myself, of my personal life, but yeah, it’s something I’m used to but will never be used to, if that makes sense. And it’s overwhelming at times too, to be honest.

I love my job, I love singing, I love performing, I love acting and that I have these outlets to be creative, but just everything else that comes along with it – it’s always going to be a weird thing. Y’know, just the fact that everything I do and everything that I am is now kind of up for grabs for anyone to say anything about me. Umm… weary? Skeptical? It’s something that I’ve gotten used to, but it’s something I’ll never get used to. What is your relationship with fame like now? Early on in it, one of the things that jumped out at me was when you talked about the moment fame found you – that you’d been Stan Walker your whole life, but now you were ‘Stan Walker’ and how much that was to process.

I loved being still and taking a break – it made me realise that I need to do that a lot more.Īnd congratulations on your book. It’s been incredible to be honest! The first two-and-a-half weeks of lockdown I was having a bit of a meltdown, a bit of a freak-out, but then I just came to terms with what was happening and the fact we had no choice about it… and I ended up loving it. How has 2020 been treating you? How did you go over lockdown? I’ve got my book coming out, so I couldn’t feel any better about that. I’m really good!! Feeling a little bit tired, but I’m feeling good. Warning: this story contains discussion about family violence and sexual abuse. We gave Stan a call to discuss the book, fame, forgiveness and the next chapter in his life in which he hopes to start a family of his own who will not carry the scars of intergenerational violence and abuse. In it, Stan speaks candidly for the first time about abuse and addiction, hardship and excess, cancer and discrimination. It’s raw, it’s intense, it’s brutally honest and completely heartbreaking, but it’s such an important book to read. But it’s also an incredibly difficult read. It’s brave and beautifully written – a story about forgiveness and a journey to redemption. Impossible: My Story, written by Stan Walker, is one of the most incredible books I’ve ever read. Check out previous chats with people like Hayley Holt, Roseanne Liang and Prime M inister Jacinda Ardern. In our story series ‘How Are You Today?’, we have a meandering, mental-health focused chat with some of our most well-known New Zealanders.

Impossible by Stan Walker