Joss Stone: she has a diva-sized voice tucked in a Britney body—better stand back

ELTON JOHN: I remember you once said to me that you couldn't wait to leave school.

JOSS STONE: Oh, God, yeah. I hated school.

EJ: I did too. I couldn't wait to get out. I already knew what I wanted to do, and obviously you did too.

JS: Yeah, I definitely did. I wasn't very good at the academic side of things. I'm more artistic.

EJ: Were you singing already at school?

JS: Not really. I sang in the school plays, but not too much. My music teacher didn't know I could sing. My mum had to tell him because I was really shy.

EJ: Then how did you make an album with the most incredible soul? How did The Soul Sessions [S-Curve] come about?

JS: Well, it's really embarrassing.

EJ: Go on!

JS: I went on the BBC TV show Star for a Night when I was, like, 14. I sang Donna Summer's "On the Radio," and I got my management deal from that and then my record deal. I was writing my own stuff for my first album, but Steve [Greenberg], the guy who signed me, wanted me to do covers. I was like, "Oh, I don't want to," but then he picked really obscure ones.

EJ: And you used musicians like Betty Wright and Little Beaver [Willie Hale]. I think that was a good move. On what instrument were you writing songs when you were 13, 14?

JS: [laughs] I didn't use an instrument. I wrote with people. Sometimes when I listened to something with not too much singing on it, like the Roots, I used to write over that. I can't play anything. There's one song I play on the piano, which is really crap. I just wrote a good song over it, and someone else had to play the piano.

EJ: So, do you think of a melody in your head?

JS: Yeah, sometimes.

EJ: How does your new album compare with your first?

JS: It's more contemporary, but it's still soulful. I write a lot, so I think if I write with good people, it should rub off. Hopefully.

EJ: It would be a shock for people if you put out an album that was totally different from The Soul Sessions. That one's still gaining momentum. It's been out a while, but it's currently in the top 10 in England, and it's still hanging around the top 30 in America. Do you know how many it's sold around the world so far?

JS: Somebody told me 2.2 million. I hope it stays around for a long time.

EJ: It's a classic album. It'll never go away. When is the new album due?

JS: I think September.

EJ: How many tracks?

JS: I think 12 or 13.

EJ: And where did you do them?

JS: I wrote some in England. I did most of it in New York, though, and some in Miami.

EJ: Is it more produced than the last album?

JS: It's still live. I just love the live feel--it's so much better.

EJ: Did you collaborate with anybody, singing-wise?

JS: No. It's just me.

EJ: And you're managed by your mum. The relationship you two have is fantastic. I sat with both of you at the Oscar party, and she's not like a stage mum at all. She's really cool and hip. She's looked after you and managed you very well, because you don't seem to be the kind of artist whose mum is omnipresent, always hovering behind you. [Stone laughs] Parent-children showbiz relationships normally don't work very well because if you look at the history of people who have been managed by a parent, whether it's in the film industry or music or even sport, it usually ends up in tears.

JS: Yeah. But I don't want it to be like that. I love her and Mum's always said that she'd manage me until I'm 18. I want to be an independent woman, but at the same time, I love her to pieces.

EJ: How old are you, 17?

JS: Yeah.

EJ: So, do you love the traveling?

JS: No, I don't. I like going to different places, but I don't like getting on the plane. [laughs] But I want to go to every place before I die. Like, every single place.

EJ: You will if you keep singing. And you love playing live shows, obviously.

JS: Oh, yeah, I do. That's why I do it.

EJ: Do you have any time for boyfriends at the moment?

JS: I was thinking about this the other day: If you're in love with somebody, then you make time. I'm not gonna make time for somebody I'm not in love with.

EJ: That's a great call. And you're still living at home?

JS: Yeah. I'm gonna get a house, though, in Exeter. I'm very excited.

EJ: You come from the west of England, in Devon, but you have not a trace of an accent.

IS: No, I don't! [laughs] I lived in Dover first, which is kind of cockney, then I lived in Devon, which is Devonshire. I don't even know what my accent is. It's just weird.

EJ: How were you brought up? Have you got brothers and sisters?

JS: Two brothers and one sister, but my older brother doesn't live with us. He's 24. My sister's 18, and my other brother is 15 now. God, he's getting so tall. I swear, I thought he was wearing short pants the other day! [both laugh]

EJ: And do you get on with both of them?

JS: I do, yeah.

EJ: Are they musical?

JS: Not at all. My sister's very different from me. We're like chalk and cheese. We used to fight, but now we get on so much better. She's very academic and very clever. She wants to be a barrister, and my brother's very sporty--