Love & Fame

When Seal was born, he says he was sent to live with a white foster family in Rumford, a suburb of London. For the first four years of his life, he was raised as a member of their family. Then, when he was 4 years old, he was taken out of their home by his biological mother.

Two years later, Seal—known as "Henry" at that time—moved in with his biological father. "[I was raised] extremely poor and not in the most harmonious household," he says.

For 40 years, Seal says he wondered what happened to the people who knew him during his formative years. Then, last year on his birthday, Heidi called from Germany with a surprise. "She says to me, 'I think I found your parents,'" he says. "And I go, 'What?' She goes, 'Yeah, I put an ad out in the Rumford Chronicle, and it was answered. These people sent me a picture, and it kind of looks like you, but I'm not sure.'"

Heidi immediately sent Seal the photo over e-mail. "I'm sitting in the studio and all of a sudden, l literally start streaming with tears," he says. Seal recognized himself as the little boy in the picture.