A Higher Calling
Discover how a brush with death deepened Russell Watson’s faith and convinced him of an afterlife
Russell Watson may be best known for his powerful tenor voice and chart-topping albums, but his story is far from a typical tale of musical success.
Leaving school at 16 with no qualifications, Russell spent nearly a decade working in a factory making nuts and bolts. A career in music was never on his radar – singing was simply a side gig to earn extra cash.
Everything changed in 1999 when Manchester United chairman, Martin Edwards, heard him sing at a charity event and invited him to perform at Old Trafford. The performance launched Russell into the public eye. He was soon offered a record deal, and his debut album The Voice was released in 2001.
Since then, Russell has performed for royalty and world leaders, sold out concerts, and earned top accolades in the music industry.
While his professional life soared in the 2000s, Russell’s personal life took a different turn, with the tenor singer experiencing significant health challenges, including two brain tumours and a near death experience – an event that transformed his belief in God into a deep, active faith. “Faith gave me strength during a very difficult period,” Russell told Premier Christianity magazine. “That was when I really began to pray hard, for the first time in my life.”
Near death experience
In 2005, Russell Watson began experiencing severe headaches and noticed his vision deteriorating. Doctors soon diagnosed him with a brain tumour. He underwent extensive surgery in 2006, but the tumour returned the following year.
“I’d gone to bed, and the tumour growing in my skull haemorrhaged and was bleeding into my brain,” he shared with the Church Times. “I didn’t wake up the next morning, and my assistant found me and called an ambulance.”
Wheeled into an MRI scanner, he drifted in and out of consciousness. Amid the doctors’ concerned voices, a searing pain in his skull, and the relentless clatter of the machine, Russell experienced something that would transform his life.
“There was a singular moment when it felt the noise of the scanner began to drop,” he explained to the Church Times. “The pain stops. And it felt like I was leaving my body. I could see a visualisation: I was sat in a dark room, and there was a door in the corner, with a sliver of light.
“Then I felt like I was leaving to go wherever – hopefully, heaven. And I imagined myself walking to the door and opening it, and, if I did, I would never be returning to my body again.”
The thought of leaving his two children filled Russell with panic – he wasn’t ready to die. Then, suddenly, the noise and pain returned – and from that moment on, he was never the same.
He explained to Premier News: “There’s two ways which you can go with faith when you go through difficult and trying times – you can move away from faith and think ‘Why me?’ or it can draw you closer to faith.
“Mine was the latter and I felt closer to God and was drawing on that strength that was coming from something spiritual to help me get through that difficult period.”
Choosing joy
Surviving such a critical health crisis has helped Russell prioritise what matters most – family, faith and spreading joy through his music.
Recently, he seized the chance to sing at a care home where his daughter works. “What better thing can you bring than happiness to others? Whether it’s 92,000 people in a stadium or 90 in a care home, the smiles and responses – that’s the real payback for me.”
Russell Watson’s story is one of second chances, resilience and a spiritual awakening. While he admits that he still fears death, the singer has found a higher calling that gives his life purpose and meaning.
