Things sure have changed since Anthony Callea lived in Werribee.
Callea, who shot to fame in 2004 after coming runner-up in Australian Idol, said he had been amazed to see how much the area had changed when he drove into Werribee last week for an exclusive photo shoot with Star Weekly.
The 34-year-old – who went to Corpus Christi Primary School and MacKillop College and worked as a waiter at Raffael’s cafe – said he drove past his family homes and reminisced.
“It was such a surreal feeling stopping my car in front of these homes and thinking back to all the times and moments we had there, the memories that will last a lifetime … I was so tempted to knock on the door and see who was living there!”
He also remembered performing at the Wyndham Cultural Centre and St Andrew’s Fair, as well as impromptu performances in his family home.
“If you lived in Haven Court and were our neighbours, most afternoons you were treated to a concert whether you liked it or not.
“My dad set us up a music room with a PA and between me singing, my brother Matt on the electric guitar and my sister Chris on the drum kit, I’m sure not only our neighbours but the entire street copped an ear full of music from our household.”
Callea is set to release his seventh album,
Aria Number One Hits in Symphony, on September 8, where he has recorded 12 hits – including Bleeding Love, End of the Road and Nothing Compares to You – with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
He promises the album will give listeners goosebumps.
“This would have to be the most epic album I have ever recorded,” he said.
… Charlene Macaulay
