Thursday, March 29, 2012 2:19pm ET by  
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Emeli Sandé on her start in music: "People didn't know what to do with me"

Emeli Sandé has opened up about her transition from medicine to music and revealed that at first, the industry simply "didn't know what to do" with both her ability and how she packaged herself as an artist.

Speaking to Billboard.com's The Juice, the 'Heaven' songstress explained that being alone with a piano was confusing to managers and labels alike at the beginning, and her background as a songwriter only added to the uncertainty:

"It was a long kind of journey to get signed. As soon as you get reputation as a songwriter everyone sees you as that... You really have to believe in what you have to say and why you want to be an artist. People didn't know what to do with me. It was just me and the piano. It was very stripped. It was very different than everything that was out."

Sandé studied for a degree in neuroscience from the University of Glasgow and while she confessed it was a passion of hers, she was more driven to pursue a career in music as her heart was truly in it and she added:

"People would say, 'I dreamt about being a doctor since I was four. That made me think, 'I love medicine, this is very interesting, but what is the one thing I wanted to do since I was four? What's the one thing I can really put my heart into?' And at that point, I was like, 'Well I think I should really pursue my real passion which is music.'"

 

 

 

Watch Sandé perform 'Next To Me' live here: