Singer-songwriter uses her voice to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s

When singer-songwriter Alexis Strum was told last year that her mother had only days to live, she started making plans for the funeral and booking the rabbi. But she also started swimming. Every week she would do 160 laps of her local pool as an escape from the reality that her mother was ill with advanced Alzheimer's.

“It was too stressful,” she says. On one of her swims, Alexis saw a woman in her 60s or 70s having a swimming lesson next to her, which reminded her that her mother was never able to swim. “It really pulled me out of myself. I thought: ‘My mum's going to die in a few days, and she never learnt to swim.’” It sparked the idea for a new song. “A lyric came into my head at that point, and I went home and started writing.”

While her mother did survive – but is non-verbal and living in a care home – Alexis is now using her emotional pop song, Swim, to raise money for the charity Alzheimer’s Society. In September, she will also complete a five-mile swim and a Memory Walk to raise more funds. Her other goal is to spread awareness of the disease, which affects an estimated 55 million people worldwide.

“It took a really long time for us to get my mum diagnosed, and that meant we lost precious time with her,” she says, describing the treatments that can stabilise sufferers with the condition and avoid its progression. “Early diagnosis is super important.”

She recommends anyone who spots symptoms in a loved one, or feels they are themselves forgetting things, including words when they speak, to go to their GP who can refer them to a memory clinic.

“It's not a life sentence to have Alzheimer's. A lot of people can stabilise for a period of time, but it's getting that early support and finding ways to live with it. We just didn't know anything about Alzheimer's, and I remember noticing changes in my mum and, later, feeling guilty about it.”

Alexis, who grew up in Chingford where her father still lives, and is now based in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, describes her mum as “a typical Jewish mother”.

“I never lifted a finger. Everything was cooked for me. My stuff was ironed. I didn't have to think about anything. She was always well turned out and very glamorous,” she says.

Alexis says music is “therapy” for her, and this was very much the case when writing this song. But she also hopes her song, Swim, which will appear on her album coming out in September, will help others and be a positive outcome from her own upsetting experience.

“Sometimes when you're under immense pressure, you come up with these gifts,” she says. “You feel really helpless when you're going through something this traumatic. So, to feel that I'm doing something and making some good out of it is lovely. Also, I've had a lot of messages from people, saying: ‘I think my mum's going through this,’ and I feel like I can signpost them. It feels amazing to be able to help. And I hope the song comforts people as well.”

Alexis says that music is like ‘therapy’ for her, and this was the case when writing this song

Alexis has a successful background in music, dating back to the early 2000s, when she was signed to major labels and wrote songs for the likes of Kylie Minogue and Rachel Stevens. It wasn’t to be, however. Alexis was left “stunned” when she was dropped from the labels and her first two albums were never to see the light of day.

After quitting music, she returned to songwriting in 2023 and is now working on her third album, 15 years later. Recently, she talked about her pop comeback on Woman's Hour.

“It feels incredible to be back into music again,” she says. “It's like when you get your heart broken and you give up on love. That doesn't mean you don't still want to be loved. I gave up on music, and I still wanted music in my life, but I didn't know how to approach that. Now I can do it in a way that suits me.”

Returning to music in her 40s, Alexis can see how things have improved for women in the industry.

“Pop stars look different now – they don't all look like supermodels. In the early 2000s, there was a lot of pressure to be slim enough, good looking enough, wearing the right clothes, whereas now I feel like I could do whatever I want. I'm happy being in my 40s. Now I'm seen as a bit of a heritage artist.”

Alexis Strum’s album, Sexy/Sad, will be out in September

alzheimers.org.uk