Wendy Shay has opened up about her early life in Germany and how the experience helped shape her music career and personal identity.
Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey, the Shay Gang boss revealed that she moved from Ghana to Germany alone at the age of 14 to reunite with her mother after years apart.
According to the singer, the journey came with excitement and emotions because she had missed living with her mother.
“I was happy that I was going to live with my mother,” she shared.
Wendy Shay explained that she first landed in Frankfurt before her mother drove from Stuttgart to pick her up. She also recalled how a German man she met on the plane helped her during her first flight experience.
“He even taught me how to put on my seat belt,” she revealed.
The musician noted that adapting to life in Germany was easier than expected because she quickly learned the language through television and everyday interaction.
She further disclosed that her stage name, “Shay,” was inspired by the popular TV show iCarly. According to her, one of the characters, Carly Shay, influenced the name she later adopted as an artiste.
“I wanted to be the main character in my own life,” she explained.
Despite living in a country where entertainment was not as dominant as in Ghana, Wendy Shay said music remained part of her life. She revealed that a mayor in her town once heard her sing and later helped her secure a scholarship to a music school.
“She heard me sing and gave me a scholarship,” the singer recounted.
Wendy Shay said she spent four and a half years in music school learning vocal control and how to properly use her voice.
She also learned how to play the piano during that period.
After music school, she later trained as a nurse in Germany before fully pursuing music professionally.
According to the singer, nursing and music both connect to her desire to help people.
“I still heal people through music,” she stated.
The musician added that moving between cultures also forced her to adapt socially and linguistically.
She revealed that after returning to Ghana, she intentionally learned Pidgin English to communicate better with people in the music industry.
“I had to sound like them for them to relate to me,” she explained.