Surreal, tear-jerking moments as Blu 3 revisit their past with Kanyomozi

"You should never meet your heroes," goes the proverbial caution that always lingers on in the minds of many, when a chance to have a one-on-one with their idols avails itself. The fears behind this are always that one may never emotionally recover from a possible shattering of what they always thought of their idol. 

For the Blu 3 divas - Cindy Sanyu, Jackie Chandiru and Lillian Mbabazi - the proverb meant nothing in the direction of disappointment, when they had a sit-down with their idol, songstress Juliana Kanyomozi, on a Youtube podcast on May 30, 2024.

From the very first minute of the podcast, all three girls could not hide their elation, childish excitement to be in the presence of Juliana, expressing how they have always looked up to her and held her in the highest of regards. 

While the podcast kicked off on a cheeky note, it would quickly dive into a rather emotional state, when Kanyomozi tasked each of the girls to narrate what it took for them to get back together after such a long time. 

Citing egos and immense anger as the thickest barriers between their reunion, Cindy said they had actually tried getting back together twice, but failed terribly at both attempts. 

"At the end of each of those meetings, we always never agreed to disagree, to put misunderstandings aside and get back together. It was always egos and sentiments of one being bigger than the other and, therefore, not needing the other for anything," Cindy said

For Chandiru, their third attempt had to work out. She remembers all the dark times she had gone through, and despite being the toughest in the group, she felt the need to tone down and share a table as friends once again. 

"I felt like if the tough Westniler in me can break down and decide to lower my guard down, I knew that Cindy and Lillian would do the same eventually. Whatever had happened between us was not too big for us to keep holding on to it forever." Chandiru says

Lillian, on the other hand, emotionally revealed that it was Chandiru's trials and tribulations related to drug addiction, and how she recovered from that dark place, that encouraged her to commit to a reunion with her friends. 

The room became even more emotionally draining when Juliana asked the girls to recount their solo lives and careers over the years. Presumably the most embattled or the three - Chandiru - went first. 

On the surface of the story, Chandiru described how she attempted suicide six times, the last attempt almost taking her life. 

"At that time, my family blamed the music industry for getting me to that life-threatening place, yet, for me, the industry is everything I had. All my friends were in there. I always felt vulnerable, scared and envious of fellow female musicians because they were doing well and I wasn't," Chandiru tear-jerkingly narrated

She added that at some time, her manager Julie Erusa beat her up because she was frustrated with her never-ending drug situation, and that "made me feel like everyone was tired of me", to which Mbabazi responded, "we weren't tired, we just worried and scared of what might happen to you," 

Mbabazi, too, spoke of her grief for the loss of her children's father - the late singer Moses Radio. "I still miss him. My children still miss him and ask me about him every time, to which I say, he is in heaven,'" said Mbabazi.

To make the moment lighter, less sombre, Juliana asked the girls about their fondest memories during the original Blu 3 girls.

Cindy quickly said: "Backing you on the Say Yes concert was our biggest day as a group".

This sent all three divas into excitement and a loud laughter, sounding like high school girls who just remembered their first day in school. 

"I remember we were taken backstage where we found a team working on your nails and hair, just like a star. You didnt even notice that we were there because you probably did not know us then, but we were excited about how everyone was taking care of you and we only wished we would reach that level some day." Cindy recollected the memory

Kanyomozi responded with a chuckle, saying: "Girls, I was probably ahead of you then, but I was also just starting out in my career."

The conversation couldn't end without talking about record producer Steve Jean. All four divas in the room, including Kanyomozi, owe their success to Steve. Until their breakup in 2008, Blu 3 was managed by Steve.

For Juliana, a lot of her old music was produced by the Fenon Records boss, which is why many always struggled to differentiate who, between Juliana and Blu 3, sang Say Yes. 

Of all the four divas, Chandiru and Mbabazi seemed to have the fondest of memories with Steve. Mbabazi remembered how when she post Radio, Steve flew in her entire family to attend the burial, something that touched her deeply

Ahead of their forthcoming reunion concert slated for June 22, at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel, Chandiru shared her fears of being judged by the fans basing on her previous troubles, but reassured her crowd of her resolute to give off an energetic performance.

By the end of the podcast, the moment was still surreal for the Blu 3 girls; to imagine that they were in the same room together, laughing harder than they had done in years, cracking jokes for old times sake, teasing each other in front of their all-time idol.

"This is magical," they unequivocally said