Taylor Dayne Says Performing Live Is 'Humbling' After Colon Cancer Diagnosis: 'Gratitude Is Immeasurable' (Exclusive)

Taylor Dayne is ready to get back on the road.

Two years after what she described as a “dark” journey with colon cancer, the Grammy-nominated singer tells PEOPLE she’s busy preparing for an international tour set to kick off next March — not to mention a Sept. 7 performance alongside fellow Pop icons 80’s Tiffany at Agua Caliente Casino in Cathedral City, California.

“I’m known as a singer’s singer, so it’s really important to me to tell a story in a way that takes fans on a journey, but also reimagines me,” Dayne tells PEOPLE of her preparations for her upcoming live shows. “You want to be in the artist’s head.”

Dayne’s resilience is, frankly, astounding. After being diagnosed in July 2021, the singer underwent surgery to remove 10 inches of her colon. Although she was immediately declared cancer-free, a postoperative infection put her in the hospital for almost a month. But she returned to the stage in late August of that year and has continued to perform consistently over the past two years, releasing a new EP, Chapter sessionlast April. She wrapped up her recent Love Me Tour in July.

Taylor Dayne is performing on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2024.

Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty

Taylor Dayne reveals ‘dark’ colon cancer battle: ‘It challenged me mentally and emotionally’

“I made a decision,” Dayne says. “I was in the hospital after the operation. I got really, really sick and it gave me a new sense of purpose. I said, ‘I’m not ready to go. I will fight this.’ ”

Being able to perform live for the past two years, he says, has been “very humbling.”

“The gratitude is immense. By the end of treatment I weighed 98 pounds. I even walked strangely. But that is one trial and tribulation. It’s not a story,” says Dayne.

The 62-year-old singer knows that her songs have been the soundtrack of her fans’ lives, and she wants to give them that experience at her performances. But while songs like “Tell It to My Heart” can act as time machines for her audience, taking them back to their youth, that’s not the case for Dayne when she performs live.

“I don’t think so,” she says. “I’m completely in the moment. I work hard, I’m here. I see people living it and I say, ‘Let’s go!’ ”

Taylor Dayne performing in 1988.

Bernd Mueller/Redferns

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Her concerts, she explains, “are carefully selected to get the most powerful punch and reinvent it. So you’re not listening to stale 35-year-old music.”

“Let’s be honest,” Dayne adds: her audience wants to hear the hits. “But my job is to challenge that mentality and do it creatively and take them on a journey with me.”

Of course, Dayne is not immune to nostalgia either. But the work of other artists is needed her back in time. The eclectic soundtrack to Dayne’s life includes Depeche Mode, Boy George, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, “Can’t Hide Love” by Earth Wind & Fire, “Close to You” by The Carpenters and “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers. ”

“Play ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ today for me, for John Mayer, for Chappell Roan — we’re all going to cry!” she says. “Because that’s the power of such a great song.”

And Dayne is well aware that her music has the same effect on her audience. “I play ‘Love Will Lead You Back,’ and people just stand there and cry,” she says. “But it’s your job to get them there.”

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Taylor Dayne.

Erez Sabag

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After nearly four decades of her career, when fans tell her about the place her music has had in their lives, she says, “Now I just keep my hands on my heart. And I say: ‘Thank you.’ And I say: ‘I understand.’ ”

It’s all part of her journey of gratitude for still being able to do what she loves.

“I’m a lot more present and a lot more vulnerable now,” Dayne says. “I went through hell and came back, but it’s not the first hell. It probably won’t be the last. But, I tell you, I keep my hand on my heart, I look at my audience and then I go. I’m going for a loop. that’s me That’s what you’ll see on stage.”

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Source: HIS Education