Jordin Sparks Opens Up About the Trip She Waited Nearly Two Decades to Take Again

Jordin Sparks hasn’t toured internationally in nearly two decades—and her return to Australia was nothing short of chaotic, magical, and very, very real.

On What’s Your Spark?, the singer takes listeners behind the scenes of the Fridayz Live Australian Tour, where she opened for a lineup that reads like a 2000s fever dream: Pitbull, Mariah Carey, Eve, Lil Jon, and Wiz Khalifa. 

From lost luggage and last-minute outfit scrambles to holding koalas and watching 35,000 people show up for her opening set, Sparks breaks down every high and low—and reminds us why she’s been a fan favorite since American Idol.

Jordin Sparks Reveals the Trip She Waited 20 Years to Take Again

You hadn’t been to Australia in 17 years. What did it feel like to finally go back?

“So my first time going to Australia was actually in 2008. My first major tour that I did after the American Idol tour was Alicia Keys’ As I Am tour…I got a call a little bit after that, and they said, ‘Hey, we’re going on tour during Christmas in Australia. Would you like to come?’ Of course, I jumped at the opportunity to do that.

So that was my first time there, and the first time I went, it was amazing. And the response was awesome as well to the music and me just being there. It was a really good experience. But that was 17 years ago now, so it’s been a lifetime, essentially, since I have been there. So going back, I kind of was like, ‘I don’t know what to expect. I know it’s going to look different.’ I mean, cities get built up so quickly now that it probably looks completely different, and I was right.”

Brisbane was the first stop. What do you remember most from that opening night?

“The first show was nerve-wracking, as it always is for me. I get nervous every time I perform, and it’s not necessarily because I’m scared. I just get more anxious to get out there, to get on the stage. So when somebody yells ‘Five minutes,’ it literally feels like an hour to me. So I was kind of just rubbing my hands and shaking a little bit and trying to make sure that I breathed…

…So I went on stage, and it was actually really incredible…There were so many people out there when I performed my set. And it was so cool because I started to sing ‘One Step at a Time,’ and I looked to my right and to my left in the way the venue was set up. It was open like this, but there were stairs that came down to the ground level. People were running. They were running down so that they didn’t miss it. And I just was like, ‘What a way to come back.’ Like, I had no idea how people were going to respond to me being over there, and I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was beyond what I could have ever imagined.”

Sydney seemed like a mix of full-circle moments and total chaos. What actually happened that day?

“That was a crazy show because we flew in the day of the show, and we landed with like just a little bit of time to spare, and because I was the first one on, I didn’t really have a lot of time to get ready. We had to drop our bags off at the hotel. We didn’t even get to go up to the room. We go from—in the car, Jen, my girl, who I introduced to you guys on a couple episodes ago, she was doing my hair in the car. Like she’s sitting behind me. The car is moving. We are driving, and she’s like trying to brush my hair and make sure that it looked good because when I got there, it was like maybe 15 minutes before I had to do a sound check…

…I go to get ready, and I go to look down to open my bag, and my bag isn’t there. And I was like, ‘Oh no.’ My one bag that had all of my show stuff. I had my other bags, but the one bag that had like all my performance stuff in it ended up not—it stayed at the hotel, or I didn’t know where it was at the time, so I had to scramble. So Jen is like looking through one bag. I’m looking through another bag to try and throw an outfit together, and we finally do, but that was, oh my Lord, that was so stressful.

By the time I had pulled my shirt on and was putting my in-ears in, they were like, ‘Hey, it’s time to go, side of stage,’ and I was just like, ‘Ooh.’ So that was a crazy moment…but look, the show must go on always.”

Perth took a very unexpected turn—luxury cars, a yacht, and a Lamborghini longboat?!

“Dana found some friends, and they actually hooked us up. This is just, it’s crazy because it’s going to sound so—it’s going to sound so bougie because this is not like a thinking that I typically do. But they were like, ‘Hey, whatever cars you want to drive or you want to be in, it’s up to you.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know. I still like drive my Jeep.’ Like I was like, ‘I don’t know what kind of car I want to be in.’

And so they pulled up with three different luxury cars, and they were beautiful.

And I was like, ‘Of course, I’m going to go with the bright purple one because why not?’ And so they were like, ‘Okay, get in.’ And they drove us, and they kind of drove us around, and they were like, ‘Okay, we’re going to go to this yacht.’ And I was like, ‘Wait, what?’

So we end up—they drive us down to the water. We get in this Lamborghini longboat, which guys, listen, I can see the faces you’re making already. I just, I already know, I can feel it already because that’s the face I was making to myself. Like, ‘What am I doing right now?’ But it was really cool. I was like, ‘You know what? These experiences are super crazy. I’m in Australia. Like, when am I going to be back here? Like, let’s do it.’ And so we go to this yacht, and they give us a tour on this yacht…

…And then we go upstairs. There’s a DJ playing, and they’ve got hors d’oeuvres and snacks. And then I look over, and somebody’s grilling amazing ribeyes down at the bottom. And I’m like, ‘Who am I? What is happening right now?’ It was the coolest thing.”

You pushed through getting sick mid-tour. How did you keep your voice working?

“I actually started feeling not very good while I was [in Perth], and it was weird. It wasn’t like a full-blown cold, but it wasn’t a full-blown sinus thing. But I had sinus pressure and then a headache. And then my neck hurt, and then like my throat was tight, and then I was exhausted. I was so tired, but it wasn’t from the shows necessarily. My body was just like—it was fighting something, basically. And so I really, really, really had to push myself through that Perth show. As pretty as I felt with that gorgeous wig on, I really had to push myself to get the energy out because my body just was  dragging…

…So I always have my tea with me, which is—there’s one called Throat Coat, and there’s one called Throat Comfort. And one is by Traditional Medicinals. That’s Throat Coat, and Yogi Tea is the Throat Comfort. And those are the ones that I have been drinking for, I mean, since the beginning of my career…They have saved my voice, and I’m just grateful. I was chugging that like nobody’s business. And then whenever I’m in doubt or whenever something feels crazy, I get pho. Always. Every single time. The broth will cure anything. That’s what I feel like.”

Okay—the koalas. The people need the story.

“By the time we were leaving, somebody was like, ‘Hey, do you want to hold a koala?’ And I said, ‘What?’ I was like, ‘There’s koalas here. Where are they?’ They said, ‘Yeah, there’s like a petting zoo around the corner.’ I said, ‘There’s a petting zoo here right now? What are you even talking about? Take me there immediately. Expeditiously.’ And so we walk around, and there really was a tent with Australian animals just like all out…

…And then the crème de la crème of the two koalas that they had there, I couldn’t even take it. And I was very pleasantly surprised because they were awake, and koalas sleep for like 17 hours a day, 17 to 20 hours a day. So normally, when you see them, they’re sleeping, but she was wide awake, and they put her in my arms, and her little claws just like latched onto my shoulder. And I thought I was going to weep. Oh my gosh…I think I’m Snow White, you guys. To be honest, I will talk to any animal. It doesn’t matter. A lizard, a jumping spider, squirrels, dogs, cats, koalas, snakes. Like, I love to talk to them.”

And then Melbourne—your biggest show. How did that moment land for you?

“That final show, there were 35,000 people there when I stepped on stage. I couldn’t even believe it. They said they checked the count, like the counter for the—I think the turnstiles or whatever for the show—and they said, ‘This is like a record for how many people have shown up at the very beginning of a concert.’ And I just was like blown away. So Australia, thank you so much for the love that you showed us while we were there. Thank you for the love that you showed me as the opener coming over there and not having been there for so long. I am so, so grateful, and I cannot wait to come back.”

What did you take away from this whole Australia run?

“My takeaway from this episode is to keep dreaming. I have been wanting to go back to Australia for a long time, and even though it took a long time, it was worth it to get there. So keep dreaming because it might not come at the time that you think, but it’ll come.”

To catch every detail from her Australia tour, listen to the full episode of What’s Your Spark? wherever you get your podcasts.

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