As a multi-platinum-selling music artist and Grammy winner, Joss Stone has made a successful career out of being creative – and it seems her two-year-old daughter Violet is a chip off the old block.
"Violet doesn't really care for too much else other than making art," Joss tells HELLO! as we join her with her long-time collaborator, Eurythmics star, songwriter and producer Dave Stewart, for our exclusive shoot in London.
"She is obsessed with her ukulele – she runs around the house pretending to play it and sing – and she loves paints and colours." Another thing keeping little Violet amused is being big sister to her baby brother Shackleton, who turns one on 18 October.
"I saw them making each other laugh for the first time the other day. It was great," says proud mum Joss, 36, who shares Violet and Shackleton – known by his nickname, Shack – with her partner Cody DaLuz.
Joss Stone and Dave Stewart's musical The Time Traveller's Wife
Joss may be a mother of two and a globally renowned star, but she still feels like a "big kid" at heart, saying: "We all just want to play, really, don't we?"
And it feels more like play than work when Joss and Dave catch up for our shoot. The pair, who both have bases in Nashville (Dave also has houses in Los Angeles and the Bahamas), are in town for the West End debut of The Time Traveller's Wife – a new musical for which they co-wrote the music and lyrics. "We're like two kids in the sandbox," says Dave, 71, who remembers first meeting Joss backstage at the Brits "years and years ago – when she had purple hair".
"Joss and I have been noodling about for years," the Sunderland-born musician adds. "You know when you meet somebody and you go: ‘I'll probably get on with that person'… we became really good friends."
The pair's latest creative adventure had its opening in London's Apollo Theatre last Saturday, after some previews in Chester last year.
Adapted by playwright Lauren Gunderson from Audrey Niffenegger's internationally bestselling novel of the same name, The Time Traveller's Wife follows the story of sculptor Clare, who falls for a man named Henry – but their love story traverses decades as the pair are flung apart when he unwittingly travels through time.
"I was in floods of tears when I heard the script read-through," says Joss, whose behind-the-scenes role writing the songs makes a change from being on stage herself. "It gets me because it's such a human story, when you look beyond the magic and illusion of the time travel."
"Because the musical puts a strong, independent woman at the centre, I thought I should write it with a strong, independent woman. I knew Joss would be really good. She does everything her way," he says.
Dave Stewart's tour
Now that they get to enjoy the fruits of their labours, Joss and Dave are enjoying turning their talented hands to other exciting projects.
Next month, The Eurythmics Songbook: Sweet Dreams 40th Anniversary Tour comes to the Sunderland Empire on 10 November and the London Palladium on 17 November, marking the first time in 24 years that fans can enjoy live outings of classics made famous by the pop duo, which Dave formed with Annie Lennox in 1980.
Joss Stone's tour
Meanwhile, Joss is marking an anniversary of her own – 20 years since her debut album, The Soul Sessions, came out. The 20 Years of Soul tour that she took around the world earlier this year is now being made into a live album, thanks to popular demand from her legions of fans.
And there are big things happening in Joss's personal life, too, with she and Cody looking to expand their brood through adoption. "We're trying to do our home study [the assessment process for prospective adoptive parents]. I hope we get to do it," says the star, who has her heart set on a big family. "I want, like, 25 kids," she tells us with a laugh.
For tickets to The Time Traveller's Wife musical, visit timetravellerswife.com.
To book Dave's The Eurythmics Songbook: Sweet Dreams 40th Anniversary Tour, visit livenation.co.uk.
Photographer: Dave Hogan
Styling: Arabella Boyce
Hair: Alex Price at Frank Agency
Make up: Kirstin Piggott at Julian Watson Agency using Westman Atelier
To read the full article, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale now. Subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.
