3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Greed and desire: Gala's ‘Freed from Desire' has gone from 1990s dance hit to global sports anthem, but a contract robbed the singer of her royalties
Twenty-eight years after it was first released 'Freed from Desire' is still ringing out at stadiums across the world, and its singer is still fighting to be paid
Gala Rizzatto hadn't yet turned 22 when Freed from Desire, a Euro-dance earworm for the ages, became the biggest radio smash in Europe. Released as the first single from her debut album Come into My Life, Gala's ubiquitous pop banger topped the charts in France and Belgium, peaking at number two in Ireland, and in her native Italy.
With an estimated 1.8 million sales in the UK, Freed from Desire was the 17th best-selling single of 1997. This, as you may recall, was the year when Hanson invented MMMBop; when Aqua unboxed Barbie Girl, and when Natalie Imbruglia sang about heartbreak in Torn.
