Liza Minnelli had to sing through pain to make new album

The 65-year-old star recently recorded her new album Confessions but said she was in a lot of pain while recording because of a knee injury that she'd picked up.

Minnelli has since had a knee replacement and said it was difficult to work.

She said to UK newspaper Daily Record: 'I had to have a knee replacement. It was so painful for the two weeks before the operation I had to lie down.

'After surgery I couldn't walk for a further six weeks and I couldn't just lie there and do nothing. So I said to my music collaborator, Billy Stritch: 'What do you wanna do? Why don't we record something.'

'We recorded the whole thing. Half of it before I went into the hospital and the other half when I came out. I was propped up in bed or sitting in a tall chair.

'The music took my mind off the pain. It was so intimate, just like when I sing at home - all hanging around the piano. There were a couple of times when the producer would have to say 'cut' as I screamed 'ow' during a line of a song.

'I'm very happy how Confessions turned out. It's the first record I've made in a long time that you can put on while you're having dinner. It's not a performance that builds - it's just easy listening and I like that.'