Damian Lewis has revealed he felt a sense of comfort when releasing his debut album Mission Creep last year – which included lyrics about his late wife Helen McCrory.
The actor-turned-singer’s wife Helen died in April 2021 aged 52 after being diagnosed with cancer, and Damian was sure to pay tribute to the Peaky Blinders star in his music.
Damian, 53, is currently touring with the album and reflected on the writing process during an appearance on Tuesday’s This Morning.
Asked about the writing process by host Cat Deeley, he explained: “If I had written a song it would have been recorded on a record. I wrote 10 songs and it was hard enough.
“I looked back at some of my old songs and they were so horrible! »
Damian Lewis has revealed he felt a sense of comfort when releasing his debut album Mission Creep last year – which included lyrics about his late wife Helen McCrory.
Damian’s wife Helen died in April 2021 aged 52 (pictured in 2020) after being diagnosed with cancer, and Damian was sure to pay tribute to the Peaky Blinders star in his music.
Damian continued: “But I felt comfortable with Mission Creep. There are some personal songs in there, people will know my late wife Helen.
“So there’s some personal stuff there.”
The Billions star and Helen shared daughter Manon, 16, and son Gulliver, 15, who, Damian revealed, supported his decision to end his acting career and pursue his musical career.
He explained: “They are really nice about it and they are very talented musicians themselves.
“I think it might be a bit annoying that your dad is doing music when that’s what you want to do, but they’re more talented than me so I told them to keep going.
“There’s no chance they’ll ever (play) with me.”
Although Damian hasn’t confirmed which songs are about Helen, his emotional track She Comes appears to be about her heartbreak.
Lyrics include: “She comes like a blackbird, she comes like a fox.” She sits at the window, she sings on a rock.
“She is the moon by day and the sun that shines in the dark. She rests in me and she rests in the shadows. She is my joy, she is my pain and she rained on me.
Damian, 53, is currently touring with the album and reflected on the writing process during an appearance on Tuesday’s This Morning (pictured March 2023).
The Billions star and Helen shared daughter Manon, 16, and son Gulliver, 15, who, Damian revealed, supported his decision to end his acting career and pursue his musical career (photo from 2018).
Damian began writing the songs during lockdown, while Helen was ill, and told the Cambridge Independent: “It’s quite a personal collection of songs.
“A lot of people know I lost my wife about three years ago. This album was written at that time. So obviously, there is a reflection of this era in the songs. One or two of the songs are undeniably directly about Helen.
“The rest is storytelling. I like to tell stories through songs. Little news about imaginary or real events.
“The very first song I wrote was She Comes. It’s sort of the anthem of the album. This is the one that came out and kind of sank.
Before becoming famous as an actor, Lewis roamed the streets of London with an acoustic guitar and still plays the instrument as a hobby.
He was undoubtedly also inspired by another musical presence in his life, his girlfriend Alison Mosshart, best known as the lead singer of rock bands The Kills and The Dead Weather.
The couple were first spotted together in the summer of 2022, with Alison’s mother Vivian giving the relationship her seal of approval shortly after.
She told MailOnline: ‘They have mutual friends. I don’t know exactly how they met, but I’m okay with that. If she is happy, we are happy.
The romance blossomed a year after Damian’s wife of 14 years tragically died following a secret battle with breast cancer.
When Helen died, the actor revealed how his late wife pushed him to find love again, telling him and their son and daughter that she wanted “dad to have lots of girlfriends.”
Damian added in the social media post: “She died as she lived. Without fear. God, we love him and know how lucky we are to have him in our lives. It shined so brightly. Now go, Little One, into the air.
He was undoubtedly also inspired by another musical presence in his life, his girlfriend Alison Mosshart, best known as the lead singer of the rock band The Kills.