For Sharon Corr it was never going to be anything other than a career in music.
When she should have been in home economics classes, she was taking violin lessons, weekends were spent tapping along to covers played by her parents in local bars, and Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs Robinson was a favourite at just four.
One quarter of the famous Irish singing-siblings sensation The Corrs, Corr says looking back has made the group's massive success feel even more unbelievable.
"We were naive enough for it to be possible," she said on Wednesday, looking out across Meydan's racetrack. "My brother, Jim, was touring long before we finished school. So it was his idea to put a band together. If you knew too much about the world and how difficult it is, you probably wouldn't have tried. That's how I feel when I look back. We knew nothing more than music and each other, and it worked. Musically, we gelled and it just worked."
Taking centre stage as a solo artist, Corr plays at Meydan on Thursday to celebrate St Patrick's Day in style.
Oozing Irish class, the 40-year-old, who recently launched her first solo album, is every bit as beautiful as she was when she burst onto the international music scene with her sisters Andrea and Caroline and elder brother Jim in 1996, following a performance at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
"It was seamless," she said. "My parents were both musicians, apart from their daytime jobs. My mother was at home and my father an accountant. They also played at venues on the weekends. They did covers of The Eagles and The Carpenters, so that was our basis. We were always immersed in music. We didn't know any different. It was kind of normal, even though it was extraordinary.
"I remember being four and my parents were having drinks downstairs and I remember hearing this song — Mrs Robinson, by Simon and Garfunkel. The little tape recorder switched off and I went downstairs and put it back on. I remember being so hugely moved by music from a very early age."
Raising families
Amid the usual media speculation — giant family feuds, bust-ups and arguments reported as reasons for a split — The Corrs announced they were on hiatus in order to concentrate on raising their respective families.
Corr married Gavin Bonnar, a Belfast barrister, in 2001 and the couple have two children, Cathal and Flori Jean.
But it wasn't long before her need to write, play and sing was back and a solo career beckoned. "I make music, that's what I do," she said with a giant smile.
"I love to perform, write, sing, play, and I've always wanted to make a solo album. We all took a hiatus to have children and stop touring, get off the road. But in the couple of years I was having my children, I was very inspired and wrote a lot of music. It was a very organic, natural process."
The violinist and songwriter's first solo album is Dream of You, a collection she says has a familiar sound to The Corrs but is different at the same time.
A family girl at heart, Corr says while her solo project is hugely rewarding, it's wrong to think there won't be days when she misses her brother and sisters. "It felt like the right time to create an album of my own, but there are moments when I wish Jim, Caroline and Andrea were here to feel this, experience it with me.
"Just before I get on stage I have terrible nerves and I go ‘Oh, I wish my family were here.' But then I get out there and it's no problem. It's all about changes in life. Change is how you grow and I think this is a good change for me. It's something I wanted to do but it's also very natural."
A warmth radiates from her as she recalls fond memories from years gone by. "The other night, I was looking for an Irish tune to play here and was looking at some old Corrs footage, it was Landsdown Road in Dublin and I was like ‘wow', because only now I'm taking in the size of the audiences we played to. Glastonbury was incredible. It's beautiful to look at and a great sense of pride for me that we achieved that."
Life on the road with half your family has the potential to go one way or the other. Luckily for The Corrs, there were more ups than downs. But, as with everything, at times the only perfect harmony was on stage. "It was unique, but could be pretty combustible as well," she laughed.
"You know, there are upsides and downsides to doing it with your family. When you grow up together as well, you have each other stereotyped and stuck in little boxes.
"You imagine this person is still the child they were that you knew your whole life and so allowing each other to grow up was a very important part of how we moved forward musically. But of course there were advantages and disadvantages. In other bands there wasn't the same impetus to stay together, because they're not family but there is the freedom to breathe and have your own independence.
"I think one of our biggest achievements was actually being able to manage that, because it's hard. You could be walking out to massive audiences and you've just had a row — a family row — but you get out there and come together. I suppose the backbone of our family is what held us together."
‘Incredible moments'
With more than 30 million record sales to their name, The Corrs reached the top of their game and were once known as one of the biggest bands in the world.
Conversation around the family dinner table in the Corr house is rarely dull. "We've been so lucky to meet amazing people. Meeting The [Rolling] Stones was amazing. Playing with them... You really want to pinch yourself when you're in a room with Mick Jagger, Ronnie Woods, Keith Richards. Performing for Nelson Mandela and getting to meet him on a more personal level... We stayed on a game reserve with him. Absolutely incredible moments. We performed for the Queen, at The White House. Mum passed away in 1999. She [was] so proud. My parents are and were the type of people who encourage you to follow what's in your heart and chase your dreams. And that's exactly what we did."
Ahead of her first gig in the Middle East tonight at Meydan, Corr says she'd be silly to say she wasn't a little nervous about meeting her Dubai audience. "The nerves are a very important part of the process. It's what gets you out there and makes the performance extra special. I feel very blessed to be able to do this for a living. It's an incredible thing to be able to do what you love and music is everything to me.
"It's immense to be in Dubai," she added. "It is exciting for me because I have travelled all over the world, so it's very exciting to come to somewhere new."
And for fans still hoping to see the Corrs back together on a stage before too long, Corr has some encouraging words: "We haven't broken up. You can't break up a family. We will get back together at some stage and make music. You can't just turn off the magic that we had."
Don't miss it!
Sharon Corr will be supported by Declan O'Sullivan, "The Paddyman" as he's popularly known, from 8pm. Arrive early to enjoy discounted food and house beverages from 6.30-8pm. Tickets, priced Dh150 for general admission, are available from Virgin Megastores, boxofficeme.com and from the Meydan Box Office.
