Tina Arena first won the nation’s heart when she appeared as ‘Tiny Tina’ on Young Talent Time at just nine years of age, and over the years has gone on to become one of Australia’s highest-selling female artists, with her total album sales topping 10 million copies! Now celebrating the monumental achievement of her 40th anniversary as a recording artist, Tina Arena has released a new album titled Greatest Hits and Interpretations – an anthology of her most popular English songs mixed with their reimagined versions performed by other talented musicians.

I grew up in… Melbourne, between Moonee Ponds and Keilor East.

If I could be better at anything it would be… de-stressing or switching off my thoughts. When you become a parent it changes the ballgame altogether.

When I’m not working, I… cook a lot and I love to read. I’ve just started painting a little bit with watercolours – I’m no Leonardo Da Vinci, but it’s a good de-stressing point for me and I really enjoy it. And I have a growing little boy who has a very active schedule between school and activities and sport, so that keeps his father and I really busy.

My hidden talent is… cooking. I love it! My mum’s a really good cook and we’re an Italian family so we love our food.

The qualities I most admire in other people are… brutal honesty and the ability to be vulnerable.

If I could repeat one moment of my life, it would be… giving birth. I would have loved to have given Gab (Gabriel) a little brother or a sister, but it just didn’t happen. But my experience with motherhood and pregnancy was really beautiful.

The highlight of my 40 years in music is… surviving. Overall there have been so many wonderful moments but I think the fact that I’ve hit 40 years is remarkable in itself. I’ve had some great experiences, amazing collaborations and very unique moments, amazing encounters personally and professionally, and I’ve gone to some incredible parts of the world and performed. To have seen vinyl, to cassette, to CD, to digital – it’s just incredible.