Interview and words: Aulia R. Sungkar (Ollie)
Photos: David Foster‘s collection. Published in PMR S’pore, Oct-Dec 2012.
Behind his romantic lyrics is a beautiful life that David Foster told PMR he found after meeting Yolanda Hadid, the former Dutch model whom he married on the auspicious day of 11.11.11.
At 11:11 p.m. precisely, David and Yolanda cut their five-foot pearl wedding cake wrapped with music notes.
Attended by dozens of celebrity guests, the private wedding party was held at an estate of media mogul Haim and Cheryl Saban in Beverly Hills, California.
A wonderful rendition of “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles greeted the bride and groom as they pronounced husband and wife.
On such a blissful day, David looked bright in his custom made wedding suit, while Yolanda wore a blush coloured beaded gown, crafted by Monique Lhuillier, internationally acclaimed fashion designer from the Philippine.
Earlier, the 16-time Grammy winning producer and composer was on a world tour featuring his last album, Hitman, while bringing along a number of musician friends such as Michael Bolton, Natalie Cole and Peter Cetera.
On their Jakarta tour in late October 2011, exactly on the evening before they left for Singapore, PMR had a warm chat with the couple.
With an amiable smile, Yolanda welcomed us to their hotel room. Beautiful, charming and outgoing are the three adjectives that came up first when describing her the first moment we met. With David Foster soon joining in, our Sunday evening was genially wrapped with a hearty chat while we were having a sip of their favourite red wine, Caymus from Napa Valley. It’s not the fir
st time for Yolanda to be in Indonesia. “I visited Bali in the late 1980s and in the 1990s for modelling purposes. Just like with Balinese folks, I’m really touched with the hospitality and charm of people in Jakarta. And I am so excited to be able to accompany David on his tour that includes Indonesia on the list. ”
The couple decided to tie the knot after a five-year relationship, which set out at their friend’s house. “It was Yolanda’s ex-husband who introduced her to me. Yolanda and I felt an amorous vibrancy at our first sight,” David reminisces while Yolanda expresses her joy with a smile, “The vibrancy was the point that started our long-term relationship. We lived separately for the first two and a half years and we have been living together for the other two and a half years…and we are getting married!”
Yolanda has three children from her marriage to her former husband, real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, while David has five children from his previous marriages. Currently, Yolanda’s children live with them in their house in Malibu, California.“Even though we are no longer married, my ex-husband was supporting our relationship,” Yolanda says. “We even got engaged at his house last winter,” David adds.
Having been divorced three times from his previously marriages seems to have made David more mature and wiser in perceiving life, in which the presence of Yolanda is very significant.
The hitmaker and the former Ford supermodel shared more about their romance… and … their eternal love.
Q: What makes you confident your love will last forever?
D: My last marriage lasted for 20 years, during which we had lots of dramas. All that I went through in the past were indeed a great lesson that has made me become a better person. With Yolanda, I have no drama at all. Yolanda and I are always able to cope with our differences and we instead focus on our strengths. That way our love grows stronger as the world turns.
Y: …and David is becoming wiser by days. He really makes my days brighter with all the happiness that I could not find in my previous life.
Q: Do you consider yourself romantic?
D: My romance comes out in my music. I’m more romantic now with Yolanda because she demands it. (grin).
Q: How about you Yolanda?
Y: My life is driven by Romance, It’s so important to keep connecting on a deeper level with your partner and romance is the vehicle to do so.
Q: What is the definition of romance in your own definition?
D and Y: It’s passion.
D: You need to have passion for whatever you do in life. Likewise, romance is the feeling of excitement that you can associate love with life.
Y: And it won’t be achieved unless you have the passion for.
Q: What is the meaning of life in your own words?
D: I believe that we live for one reason, only to love and to be loved, which is kind of romantic in a way.
Y: I couldn’t agree more.
Q: Let’s talk about fashion. What are your favourite fashion brands?
D: It’s hard for us to answer, as we adore so many brands.
Y: I’m just like David, but my new most favourite fashion brand is Farah Khan. I started to fancy the brand during David’s last tour in Kuala Lumpur. My friend Ariana offered to take me shopping for brands such as Chanel and Gucci.But I told her that I wanted to see good quality local brands…and that’s where I found Farah Khan impressive. Her collections is incredible, it’s a fit for modern women seeking to dress in elegant beauty.
D: Speaking of fashion, Yolanda has the unique ability to walk into any store, be a designer store or that in the flea market somewhere, and her eye will automatically go either to the most expensive thing without seeing the price tag or to the hippest thing.
Q: How do you like to spend your free time?
Y: We like to be alone and not have help in the house on weekends. We exercise five times a week. Sunday afternoons mean spending quality time with our kids. We love to watch movies in our home theatre and I like to prepare my special spaghetti Bolognese while David and the children sit around our kitchen island to paint and reconnect after a week of hard work.
D: We sometimes hold dinner parties. We have lived in our house for about two years, and we have held twelve great dinner bashes with 16 to 20 friends attended each party. There’s always music whenever we throw a party. We like to gather around the piano and make that tune to cheer everybody in the house. By the way, Yolanda is the one who designed our house. (smile).
Q: Do you travel with your kids?
D: Most of our travel is for business, but we do at least 2 trips a year with our children and family.
Q: What is your favourite song of your own?
Y: “The Prayer” is one of David’s favourite songs he wrote, that’s why we were so fortunate to have Andre Bocelli sing it at our wedding.
D: I love the song because I always admire Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. It was my to put those two voices together. I think their voices are among the most diverse today. “The Prayer” is a very interesting song because it’s the most played songs at weddings and funerals. Can you think of how many songs get played at weddings and funerals? I only can think of two, “Ave Maria” by Bach and the other one is “Wind Beneath My Wings.”
Q: How do you react to the fact that people get older?
D: I’m a little more “old school” when it comes to the subject of age. Yolanda is truly my perfect partner in so many ways despite our age difference.
Y: Age is just a number. The older we are getting, the more opportunity for us to be wiser. David is the perfect example. (grin).
D: Yolanda truly believes that we can be together for at least another 30 years…I’ll be 91 thirty years by that time. (chuckle). And she works very hard at keeping me young and healthy by motivating me to exercise everyday and take my protein shakes and special vitamins. She’s really into it and inspires me.
Y: I think that music is also what has kept him young for many years. (smile).
Interview and words: Aulia R. Sungkar.
Photos: David Foster’s collection. Published in PMR S’pore, Oct-Dec 2012.
