Having now entered her sixth decade in the business and just released a new album with a probable italian launch on the horizon, Malta’s most beloved all-rounder chats to Iggy Fenech about the past, present and future over a leisurely lunch at Ristorante La Vela.

Mary Rose Mallia is an icon, yet a lot of people know her by different names. Like ‘Lieni’ from her time on Simpatiċi, or ‘is- Saħħara ta’ Wied Għafrid’ from her song in the musical Taħt Tlett Saltniet… A song which, according to veteran radio DJ Enzo Gusman, remains the most asked for song in Maltese on the radio. 

Mary Rose Mallia.

If you’re from Germany, though, then you may even know her as Mary Charles, who sang the 1985 hit Blue Summer Lies, or even as Pasta Mama from the musical La Piazza, which toured Western Germany for a year and four months. So good was Mary Rose in La Piazza, that no one could find an understudy for her. It was hell for Mary Rose, who couldn’t take a night off, but it did bring her enough opportunities to be able to fashion a 16-year career in the country.

Indeed, Mary Rose’s career in the entertainment business is so varied and so lasting, that she has almost become a canvas onto which different people from different generations and nationalities have placed their own idea of who Mary Rose Mallia actually is.

To me – at least before I had lunch with her at Ristorante La Vela, just off the Marina Gardens in Pietà – she was the voice behind some of the best songs to come out of Malta, the baroness in the 10 part-series Vaganza f’Ħal Bla Ras on TVM, and a gay icon who makes many of my friends go ‘yaasss’ at the mere sight of a picture of her cardboard cutout on Facebook.

“I sang at a gay party recently… Lollipop,” she tells me. “I was so surprised people were excited to see me on stage! The crowd was so young! It was so much fun!”

It may seem crazy that, 51 years after Mary Rose’s career first began, she still has a loyal army of fans, including Maltese millennials, people from Japan, the States, Canda, Australia… But that boils down to her choices over the years, including the fact that she has never shied away from a challenge or been afraid to let her over-the-top personality shine through.

Mary Rose is adamant that her career was only possible thanks to her father, Philip, who was an amateur village actor himself. In fact, it was her father who went on to fund the creation of the Għanjiet minn Malta (Songs from Malta) LP. The album, now a classic of the Maltese canon, included the much-loved Festa (commonly known as ‘Bandalori’), Rajt Raġel, and Fuq il-Pont ta’ Wied Rummiena, written by Friġġieri.

Although her career has always taken precedence, there is one thing that she has never put second – her family. In fact, on the eve of releasing Blue Summer Lies in the UK, she had to fly to Malta to visit her father, who was, by then, on his deathbed. He passed the morning after she arrived, and her dream to enter the UK market with her record never materialised.

Many years later, after her mother, Helen, died, Mary Rose took on the role of mother to her three younger brothers, Joe, Philip and Lino. The siblings are still incredibly close.

“The only thing I would love to have done differently is to have had children,” she reminisces. “I love children… But I am an aunt to three nieces, and that satisfies me. And, let’s be honest, had I had my own children, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do what I have done.”

As our starters are replaced by our mains – fresh grilled tuna for Mary Rose (who is coeliac and lactose intolerant) and pasta for me – the lovely Matthew Mirabelli, our photographer, arrives. A natural at being in front of the camera by now, Mary Rose simply shifts in her seat and continues as though nothing were happening, as photos of her are taken.

Holding her wine glass, putting on and off her sunglasses, and giving us various poses, she has both Matthew and I in fits mere moments after the shoot begins – and she laughs along with us as she recounts stories of past shoots. It’s this indomitable spirit – full of life and joie de vivre – that has made Mary Rose not only one of Malta’s most loved entertainers, but also one of the most respected in the industry, looked up to even by Malta’s youngest divas.

“Always be positive, even when the ship is sinking,” she replies, when I ask her about life advice. “At the very last moment, you can still be saved. As for your career, it’s never too late to do what you love… I’d have never imagined I’d be doing an album at 65!”

But here we are, just two months after the launch of her self-titled album, Maryrose Mallia, produced and mostly written by Michele Centonza, based on stories told to him by Mary Rose. Released under Crisler Music, Mary Rose now joins Mia Martini and Riccardo Fogli, whose music is also distributed by the record label.

“Each song on the album is about, or dedicated to, someone. Wings of a Dove and The Room (written by Paul Abela and Charles Flores) are dedicated to my father, Forever Young and The Music in Me are about me, while Crystal Child (written by Domenic Galea and Ray Mahoney) is about my great nephew, who was conceived after years of trying.” Meanwhile, the album as a whole is dedicated to her father.

Maryrose Mallia also includes Share the Love, a song sung with Renato, Mary Rose’s first love and best friend forever, and Crystal Child, which has also been released in Maltese and in Italian as part of an EP being sold in aid of the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation. “And have you heard me rapping in Fly Away?” she asks, grinning. “I wasn’t sure at first but, then again, I will always consider something which challenges me… It’s not that stimulating for me doing something I’ve already done.”

And she definitely puts her money where her mouth is, as each of the nine songs on Maryrose Mallia also exists in Italian and there’s a chance the album will be released for the Italian market at some point this year. This won’t be Mary Rose’s first brush with Italian music, though, as she has toured the Italian peninsula with Edoardo Vianello for three months before, and she was also on the verge of taking part in Sanremo before the festival abolished its tradition of having a foreigner sing the same song as their Italian counterparts.

The more we speak, the more incredible things I come to discover and it’s amazing how she continues to veer her career, decade after decade. But, maybe, the most surprising is the fact that for all the operettas, musicals, dramas and songs she’s done, she’s never actually studied voice or acting: A fact made even more incredible when you keep in mind that Songs from Malta was recorded in a single day, and continues to be one of her most popular.

“My mind has always been focused on my career,” she tells me as we tuck into dessert and sip on more Prosecco. She then puts down her fork and goes: “It’s probably why I never found the right guy in my life, you know?

“But, whatever happens, I will always remember the advice my dad gave me when I won the first festival I ever took part in: ‘Mer, always keep your feet firmly on the ground.’ Because, at the end of the day, that’s all that matters… At the end of the day, I’m happy my talent brings joy to many people,” she concludes.

After we sip the last of the espresso, we make our way out of the restaurant and all eyes turn to Mary Rose: some because they recognize her and others because they’re wondering everyone around them is looking at this lady in black. And Mary Rose, always the gracious person, smiles, nods and continues about her day, being fabulous.

This article first appeared in Sunday Circle Magazine, available with The Sunday Times of Malta.