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[STANDFIRST] Eighties pop singer Tiffany rose to fame aged 15 with her global hit I Think We're Alone Now. As she prepares to release a new album she speaks to Andrew Arthur about her new rock sound, meeting Dave Grohl and how personal loss inspired her to return to touring.

As far as musical experiments go, former teen pop icon Tiffany doing a rock album seems an unlikely development.

"I'm in New York - I apologise if there are sirens and it gets a little loud," the singer says down the phone, excited to discuss her surprise creative direction.

"I've been up doing interviews and working the record. I'm just like a kid in a candy store!"

The 1980s star, full name Tiffany Darwish, has ditched the sugary synths of her early career for distorted guitars.

She is currently on a lengthy tour of gritty, smaller venues across the UK and the US.

"I've always been a big fan of rock music. I wanted to record rock music when I was 14-15 but I was too young, it would have been ridiculous.

"Stevie Nicks has always been the person who's inspired me, Ann Wilson from Heart, Led Zeppelin. So the pop girl has always had a little edge to her!

"It's just taken me a while. I just celebrated 30 years in the music industry which I'm very proud of. It's time for me to do the stuff that I feel I want to push myself with. I want to grow and show what I've always had. What do I have to lose?"

Tiffany admits her previous life as a bubblegum pop pin-up meant producers she previously worked with were reluctant to help develop the new sound she craved.

That changed after she teamed up with British record producer and musician Mark Alberici from punk band The Killing Floor.

The pair have written a collection of songs that have won the endorsement of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl.

"I got to meet Dave Grohl this year. He so inspired me with his work ethic and music, it was the highlight of my year really.

"Just to be able to sit and talk to him about my new album. I'm going to send it to him and I'm very thrilled by that. He was just wonderful to me and so encouraging. Artists like me really need that.

"He's always up to something and doing music that he loves. That's the vision I have for myself. If it's going to make you happy, go for it - life is short."

It's clear this new creative pursuit holds personal importance for Tiffany, who has put her family first during a difficult period in her private life.

"It was like a five-year span where the bottom fell out. A lot of people in my world got sick unexpectedly. My dad passed away from cancer, my tour manager passed away from cancer.

"My cousin passed away from addiction, my mom passed away. I had another good friend have cancer and pass away, and she was in her 30s.

"It taught me life was fragile. All of these people had plans for later on. Always 'later on' or 'one day'.

"I think I learned: don't wait. If you're able to do it, why not do it?

"That really did encourage me to go and tour full time again and do an album that really reflects what's in my head and heart."

Tiffany admits her busy new schedule has come at a price. She is currently estranged from her husband, British businessman Ben George.

"I'm going through a separation right now, I don't know what's going to happen. For the sake of me being able to do this full time it does cost you a lot, it is a business.

"I just really wanted this for myself. My husband and I talked about it and he was like, 'You need to do this.'

"It's more out of respect that we have kind of paused our relationship for a minute to see where we're at."

Tiffany likes to challenge perceptions people have of her. She has previously released a country record and lent her vocals to dance tracks.

Yet most people still associate her with 1987 international hit I Think We're Alone now. Aged 15, she became the youngest female artist to top the US Billboard albums chart with a debut release.

Yet Tiffany is quick to dismiss any notion that she is sick of her signature number.

"That's my beginning. It's a big part of me, I'm very grateful. You will never come to a Tiffany show where I don't play that song. I don't deny the hits, even with the edgier rock sound.

"But I have to say that song is resilient. Over the years, I have done it acoustically, country-style, punk, ska. That's when you know you have a great song, when it can live in all of these different forms."

Tiffany regularly plays 1980s retro shows in the UK and relishes performing alongside her peers from that era. She has been based in Britain while working on her record.

"I look at the UK as my home right now. It's a little more open-minded here, especially for me as a retro artist.

"I love how people here still celebrate your success. It's great to be standing next to Big Country, Kim Wilde and Rick Astley.

"I'm a big fan of Rick and he's always been a wonderful guy. I'm so thrilled for his success. I grew up watching these people, but now I'm friends with them.

"I was just a kid when I met them, so to be talking shop with them as a musician has given me a lot of encouragement.

"Whereas in America, it's like, 'That was yesterday'. We are so five minutes and that's it. We don't have the attention span."

As our time runs out, I ask Tiffany how she plans to manage the rowdier crowds her rock sound potentially may attract.

"Well, I am a redhead and was a tomboy for many years. I'm actually the one who jumps into the crowd. I have to be close to people. Moshing is a little different, but we'll see what happens!"

- Tiffany's new album Pieces Of Me is out on September 21.