Willa Ford explains why she left the music industry
Ford originally said the attacks on 9/11 stalled her career.
— -- In a recent interview with Billboard magazine, singer and designer Willa Ford revealed why she left the music industry in the early 2000s.
"A lot of people don’t realize this, but my second single was released on Sept. 11, 2001,” Ford told Billboard. “Everything that happened that day froze; the world stood still, as it should have. My second single didn’t do well because anything that launched that day kind of got canned. I know that sounds silly, but on radio they slate things, but it really fell to the wayside. I didn’t think it was a big deal because we were making a new album anyway. The record company I was with at the time got acquired by another record company, and the president of our record company left the company. So, I ended up in no man’s land."
Now the singer, whose hit "I Wanna Be Bad" was a mainstay on MTV in the early 2000s, is attempting to walk back her comments.
"In a recent interview ... I stated ‘Everything that happened that day froze; the world stood still as it should have,’" she told People magazine in a statement Thursday. "During the past day, other news outlets have taken the liberty to say that I somehow blamed 9/11 for my song not taking off … this could not be further from the truth.”
Ford said that the quote -- which also included her leaving the pop scene because of her classical music background, her sister having a baby and more -- was "meant to be an inspirational piece about how the universe sent me in a new and different direction, one that has led me to success and joy in other areas of my personal and professional life."
Ford is now an interior designer and businesswoman with her company, W Ford Interiors.
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