In an effort to mend broken bridges, singer Kelly Rowland set out to find her biological father three years ago. Reportedly, Rowland had not seen nor heard from her father since she was eight-years-old. Unsure of his whereabouts or if he was even alive, the singer was determined to replace her memories of a father who was drunk and abusive to her mother with something else.
Now it seems that her father is the one attempting to track her down. 65 year-old, Christopher Lovett recently spoke with UK Mirror in hopes that Rowland would hear his cries for her to forgive him. Lovett expressed that he has not seen his daughter in 13 years and admits that it was his extensive alcohol abuse and out-of-control temper that caused their estrangement. In an attempt to redeem himself, Lovett also pushes the fact that not all memories with his family were bad ones as he relives times he and Rowland would sing together.
Excerpts from Lovett’s interview are below:
On his memories of Kelly Rowland
“Kelly, I love you with all my heart. Please forgive me and let me be your dad again.[…] I loved her from the moment she took her first breath. I remember as clear as day Kelly and I singing together, from the moment she could talk. Our favorite songs were by Stevie Wonder. I would put one headphone in my ear and the other in hers and we would sing and sing, so happy to be together. But then I lost my job at a transportation company, sank into a depression about money and began drinking more and more. The failure to provide for my family fueled an anger that I will be ashamed of until my dying day. It wasn’t physical between me and Kelly’s mom, but there were many days and nights when Kelly would be bawling her eyes out, clutching my leg begging me, ‘Please daddy stop shouting at mummy’. That image of her howling, begging me to stop will haunt me forever. I really hoped I would get to make it up to her. Sadly I am still waiting for that day. But I can’t give up hope. That’s why there is a room in my house which I have decorated especially for Kelly, just in case she comes through the front door.”
On the Development of His Alcoholism & Anger Issues
“I am a proud man and wanted the best for my family so when I lost my job I was utterly ashamed and hid from that shame with drink. When Doris Âchallenged me, I would just lose it. No parent should scream and shout in front of their child, and I am sorry to say there were too many times to Âmention that Kelly heard me screaming abuse at her mother. Sometimes she would run to her bedroom screaming, others she would cling to my trouser leg begging me to stop. When the electricity was cut off and we received an eviction letter we agreed for Doris to take Kelly to her aunt’s house while I sorted things out.”
On His Leaving & Never Seeing Kelly Again
“Little did I know the day they left would be the last time I would see my wife and daughter ever again. Every time I phoned her aunt’s house she told me Kelly and her mom were out. I had no job, no money, no car and just no way of getting the 20 miles to where they were staying. When six months had passed I begged a friend for a ride to her aunt’s house and she told me they had moved to Texas. I begged her to give me an address, but she flat-out refused.”
“I knew I had to stop drinking, get a job or I would never see my daughter again. And I did. But by then it was too late and they were gone, the two people I loved with all my heart and that tore me up and still does today.[…]I had heard she was doing well singing, but I didn’t know how well until I turned on the TV and saw her performing [with Destiny’s Child]. I cried and cried, with sadness but also with pride at what a wonderful, talented young woman Kelly had grown into.”
On Going to a Destiny’s Child Concert & Leaving Kelly a Note
“I sat for the whole concert in one of the cheap seats at the back with tears of joy and utter despair rolling down my face. I wrote a note and begged a security guard to pass it to her.”
“It said, ‘Darling I have been looking for you. I am so proud of you and I love you so much and I just long to tell you that in person. Love Dad’. But no matter how much I begged the guard he would not believe I was her father.”
On Wanting to Reconnect
“I own a big home now and have retired so I don’t want any of Kelly’s fortune, I just want her love. I just hope she does not become such a big star in England on X Factor that she forgets about her dad completely. I’m getting old now â I just hope she reads this and doesn’t leave getting back in touch with me before it is too late.”
It seems all too coincidental that his interview with UK Mirror comes around the same time that Rowland’s career is finally taking off. While his attempt to reunite with his daughter may be genuine and he claims money is not the issue, the timing of it is quite interesting. Is it too late for a reunion between Kelly Rowland and her father? Should she forgive and forget?
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