Seal's happy to be back in the spotlight - but don't call him a celebrity

Seal says he is happy to be back in the spotlight for the right reasons, after revealing he hates the attention his personal life receives “with a passion”.

The 52-year-old London singer, who has won three Brit awards and four Grammys, will release his new album, 7, next month, his first since 2011.

But the star found himself in the headlines in 2012 when he divorced supermodel Heidi Klum after nearly seven years.

He told the Standard: “I hated that, I got to tell you. I will be candid – I hated it with a passion. I’m not a celebrity, I detest the word celebrity.

“I’m a musician. I’m not someone who’s doing rocket science or saving lives – I’m an entertainer. The whole celebrity thing and the personal life, it’s absurd.

“It’s absurd to think I’m different from you because the publications say so. I’m different because I write music and I can sing, but then there are a lot of different things about you that I can’t do.

“So I just think that the whole celebrity thing and being in the press for the wrong reasons, I never liked it.”

7 is a collection of personal songs about love, and Seal says he found the creative process “cathartic”.