Belinda Carlisle talks career 'disaster' amid long-awaited comeback and she looks amazing

Belinda Carlisle, after over a two-decade hiatus from pop music, is ready for her comeback, and nothing is holding her back these days.

In May, the singer, 64, released her first solo pop record in nearly 30 years, Kismet, and over two decades years after she was dropped by her record label, MCA Records, upon turning 40.

Belinda first found fame in the early '80s as the lead singer of the Go-Go's — which today remains the only all-female band in history who wrote all of their own songs and played their own instruments to achieve a number one album, 1981's Beauty and the Beast.

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Speaking with People about her career trajectory, and what's next, the "Heaven is a Place on Earth" chanteuse recalled: "I was dropped by my record company when I turned 40 and singing was the only thing I really knew how to do."

"Of course I was mortified and panicking," she admitted, before adding: "But then I thought, 'Well, who am I?' It began like the most interesting part of my life – I'd always been defined by what I do, so I knew that there was more to that."

Despite the humiliation she felt, today she can maintain: "What I thought at first was a disaster ended up being a huge gift."

The move on behalf of her record label freed her to explore what she really wanted to do, and she further told the outlet: "I thought, 'I want to do something that I want to do. I don't care if it's commercial, I don't care if anybody hears it, I want to do what I want to do.'"

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"This whole process is summed up by the title of the EP, Kismet. It's been magical and just happenstance," she said of her new record, for which she collaborated with legendary tunesmith Diane Warren after Belinda's son, James Duke Mason, bumped into her at a Los Angeles coffee shop, and Diane later convinced Belinda to come by her studio to work on new content. 

"I mean, I wasn't planning on doing this," Belinda confessed, adding: "So this whole thing was quite a surprise to me – and a nice surprise for my fans, actually."

She continued: "I had no expectations. I was just doing it for the joy of doing it… But of course after we finished it was like, 'I want to promote this and I want people to hear it, because I'm proud of it.'"

Regardless of its success, Belinda maintained she's still keeping her laissez-faire attitude when it comes to what's next, and said: "I think I'll just play it as it goes, I'm just going to wing it as I go along like I've always done."

She added: "I have no plans, but at the same time I'm not going to say never, because every time I've said never again I've been proved wrong."

After living abroad across different countries, including France and Thailand, since 1994, Belinda has now settled down in Mexico City with her husband Morgan Mason. The two have been married for 37 years, since 1986.

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