'I Wasn't Staging A Comeback... I Did This For Me'

Award-winning music artist Tima Reece, 35, talks to Julia Bain about past hurts, love at first sight, and how we all have the ability to change lives

Tima Reece was nominated for the South African Music award (SAMA) for Best dance Single for her song Crazy ’Bout You in 2001, when she was just 18 years old. But it was in 2004 when she really shot to fame with the release of her debut album My Body’s Crying, which was also nominated for a SAMA. After a nine-year break from writing music, Tima released her second studio album, 9, in 2016, and she subsequently landed her third SAMA nomination. When she’s not producing music through her production company, BluBerry entertainment, Tima is the vocal director for Idols SA, as well as one of the show’s musical directors. She lives in northriding with her husband, Kurt Herman, and their sons, Ariel Joshua, six, and Levi Michael, four.

My biggest musical inspiration as a child was Whitney Houston – I grew up listening to her music.

It was when my mom first heard me singing Whitney’s Saving All My Love that she thought, ‘This girl’s going to be a singer one day.’ I was only two years old at the time and I would sit in front of the radio, happily singing along. Obviously, I couldn’t pronounce the words properly but my mom said I’d sing my own lyrics to the melody. So my career started with Whitney!

My parents have always been my biggest supporters.

I grew up in a home where, even though we weren’t well off, there was lots of love. While my dad was the primary bread-winner, my mom nurtured my talent. She started taking me to singing competitions when I was nine years old, and that’s really how my music career started. My dad was there as much as he could be, but my mom was with me every step of the way.

Music can be incredibly therapeutic.