Natalie Imbruglia almost quit the music industry for good after losing confidence.

Natalie Imbruglia

Natalie Imbruglia

The 'Torn' hitmaker is returning to the charts with new album 'Firebird' after a six-year break which came about after her self-esteem plummeted and her belief in her musical talents.

She said: "I had a break in confidence and so I took some time out. I was a judge on 'X Factor' in Australia, I went to LA , studied acting and just did some other things."

Natalie - who first rose to fame when she played Beth Brennan on the hit Australian soap 'Neighbours' - was dropped from her record label when her ill-fated album 'Come to Life' failed to crack the Top 50.

The 46-year-old pop star was speaking on UK TV show 'Loose Women' when she made the revelations.

She shared: "I got dropped by a record label. I didn't get a full release for an album I'd spent three years working on and I just thought 'Maybe I shouldn't be doing this.' I guess people would probably be surprised by that when it's something you've done your whole life but that's what happened."

Natalie then went on to admit that she was then scared when trying to make a return to the music scene.

She said: "When I tried to go back to writing, I was so scared that I couldn't sing a note, I couldn't write a word down and it took a while to overcome that."

However, things are now looking up for the 'Shiver' singer, as she gushed about how she is in a "good place" now.

Her new album 'Firebird' became a Top 10 hit in the UK when it was released in September.

She said: "I'm really happy that I stuck at it because I'm in a really good creative place now and I'm flowing and I've got this album that everyone is responding well to. I encourage everybody to just stick at it!"

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