Singer gave up touring with Adele after being told ‘you’re more into your religion than your career’ - The Jewish Chronicle

Singer songwriter Alex Clare claims his record label told him to choose between Judaism or his career.

Speaking to the BBC ahead of the release of new single, Why Don't Ya, the singer, who is from north west London, said he once pulled out of a tour in support of Adele because some shows clashed with religious holidays.

The move led to him taking a break from music all together.

Mr Clare told the BBC that his label at the time Island records were initially "very tolerant" but when he later was unable to record a radio concert for the BBC during the week of Sukkot, he was told to chose.

"They said, 'It seems like you're more into your religion than you are into your career,' and that really wasn't the case," he said.

The 36-year-old told how he was dropped by his label after only one album.

"I really was focused on my career, but personal lifestyle choices, whatever they are, haven't always necessarily been so tolerated. I'm not unique - historically this has been a running theme, not just for Jewish people but anyone who makes commitments elsewhere," he said.

Mr Clare, who grew up in a secular Jewish family before turning to Orthodox Judaism in his early 20s said: "When I signed, they knew that that was happening but they didn't quite understand how serious the rules of keeping the Sabbath are.

"And for some reason every piece of promo that came in was seeming to fall on a Friday night or Saturday morning, and I was turning down opportunity after opportunity."

He also claimed that music industry bosses "thought i was nuts" for turning down the potentially life-changing chance to tour with Adele.

An Island spokesman told the BBC they had "reached out to apologise directly to Alex.

"What was said to him 10 years ago was wrong and does not in any way represent our views or policies."

After being dropped by his label, Mr Clare said that he gave up on music altogether.

However months later he released a single Too Close, which appeared on a Microsoft advert leading it to be selected for radio playlists and ended up in the UK singles chart in April 2012.

In 2013 the song was nomiated for best single at the Brit Awards - he lost out to Adele with Skyfall.

Reflecting on his career he told the BBC: "We have a saying in Hebrew called Gam Zu L'Tovah, which means 'This too is good',

"We say that when something goes really badly wrong. It's like the most crazy statement to have enough faith and say, 'This right now is a really bad situation but ultimately God is good and life is good and this is for a greater good' - whatever that might be.

"And in my case it really worked out that way. I got dropped by the label but months later I had a top 10 hit all over the world, selling [double] platinum, and obviously got a much bigger record deal second time!

The singer said his latest single marks the end of a five year break from the "soulless" music industry.

The song is an ode to his wife, who he "ran away" with to Israel in 2015.

The pair, who have three children, went with their firstborn to "focus on spirituality" and study the Torah and the Talmud.

He said the song was his way of telling her it was ok to "acknowledge her feelings" following the death of her grandfather.

Around the same time one of their children was sick in hospital, he explained.

"Some people are not necessarily taught how to express those feelings or have those feelings validated for whatever reason. Life is complicated and emotions are complicated."

He said he hoped the music industry he left 10 years ago had "changed significantly.

"I'm sure it has in the last 10 years, but it's very fickle. It's very flavour of the month and just as someone can be out of favour one minute the next minute they can be back in.

"I hope people are more sensitive. Everyone really just wants to have their sense of oneness and sameness - that's what people relate to and what people connect to. And the more that we can see our similarities with each other, as opposed to all the divisions and things that separate us, the better.

"Hopefully we are making a better world."