Bowie collaborator Emm Gryner on the Healing Power of Singing

This Saturday on my Bowie YouTube channel, I’ll be joined by Emm Gryner, a singer-songwriter whose career stretches far beyond her time with David Bowie. Many fans know her from the Hours…-era tour and Glastonbury 2000, but she is also the author of a book that blends memoir, practical advice, and a philosophy of creativity: The Healing Power of Singing.

In our conversation, Emm describes how the book grew out of difficult periods in her life and how singing helped her through them. She reflects on the physical and emotional dimensions of voice, calling breath the foundation that can transform us not just musically but spiritually. What began as a manual on how to use your voice became something deeper, a meditation on resilience and the way music can help us rebuild ourselves.

She speaks candidly about how her own challenges—losing a record deal early in her career, personal struggles, and moments of self-doubt—shaped her outlook. Rather than letting setbacks silence her, she found strength in her voice and a desire to pass that knowledge on to others. Through Gryner Voice, her vocal training program, and through her writing, she has sought to give people tools not only to sing but to connect more fully with themselves.

Our discussion also touches on her sense of gratitude for music’s unifying power, whether in choirs, on stage with Bowie, or in her own solo work. For Emm, singing is more than performance—it is a way of living with purpose and presence.

I wanted to include a video of one of Emm’s more recent songs, “Rise Up to Fall,” recorded with her metal band, Ovary Axe—the video is embedded in this post. If you watch it, you can get a sense of how singing in that way can be cathartic. There is much more to The Healing Power of Singing than this, but how could I post about a book with that title without showing the author demonstrate what she’s writing about?

Join me this Saturday on my Bowie YouTube channel for my full interview with Emm Gryner, where she shares the insights behind her book and explains how singing became both her craft and her guide.