If you've ever complained about being compared to someone else, I'm sorry, but Kelly Rowland likely has you beat. As she told a contestant recently on The Voice Australia, "Can you imagine what it’s like being in a group with Beyoncé?"
The former Destiny's Child member turned solo artist called in as a guest mentor to The Voice Australia contestant Chris Sebastian before his semi-final performance. Sebastian's older brother, singer-songwriter Guy Sebastian, won the first Australian Idol in 2003, and has served as a judge on Australian X-Factor and The Voice — including the current season. Chris Sebastian admitted to Rowland that he has felt as if he's always stood in the shadow of his older brother, a feeling to which Rowland said she could relate.
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"I would just torture myself in my head," she said, laughing. "I can’t wear this dress because they’re going to say it’s like B. Or, I can’t have a song like that because it sounds too much like B. They’re gonna compare anyways."
Rowland has released four studio albums and found success in her own right, but for a decade, it felt like there was an "elephant in the room" and "the thing that would constantly be on my shoulder."
"I would be lying if I said no, it’s never bothered me. That’s bull," she said. Sebastian said that his conversation with Rowland was "validating," as he felt that he wasn't alone in his feelings of frustration and insecurity.
Rowland left him with words of encouragement to inspire him before his performance — a perspective that she, perhaps, has benefited from holding herself. "This is an opportunity to carve your own path, even with [his brother] sitting in that chair down there," she said.