British pop/soul star keeping it honest

She may sing like a diva, but soft-spoken British pop/soul star Natasha Bedingfield sure doesn't talk like one.

That's not to say, however, that Bedingfield's nice-girl image is without any chinks. Last year, she caused a huge media stir in the U.K. with her tongue-in-cheek dance/hip-hop number "I Wanna Have Your Babies." So much so that the controversy-shy Bedingfield decided to leave the song off this year's U.S. retooled version of her second album, Pocketful of Sunshine (titled N.B. overseas).

"I'm not obsessed with fame," the 26-year-old pop/soul singer said in a phone interview this week. "So if I'm going to get attention, I want it to be for something great, not for something silly."

Despite the more than six million albums sold and headlines declaring her "The U.K.'s biggest female pop star," Bedingfield - whose full-bodied voice easily moves from tear-drenched balladry to full-on rockers - seems (and sounds) decidedly grounded. She is, after all, the same person whose career was launched in a Christian electronica/dance group with two of her musical siblings, Daniel Bedingfield and Nikola Rachelle. Even now, Bedingfield is deeply involved in charitable work through "Global Angels," an international children's charity founded by her mum.

"I won't let myself get too caught up in the image-making aspects of the business," she said. "Ultimately, I believe people are drawn to my music because it's a true reflection of who I am."

Bedingfield has earned both praise and criticism for her sometimes diarylike R&B-flavored pop songs, whether it be 2005's chart-topping "Unwritten" - penned for her younger brother as a birthday gift - or the more recent why-am-I-alone ballad "Soulmate," which charted in nearly a dozen countries.

"I'm challenged every day to be honest in my music," she said. "And sometimes that honesty can be a double-edged sword."

Joined by a four-member band and two backup singers, Bedingfield says she's "totally thrilled" with her first headlining tour of the States - "especially getting to play these more intimate venues."

"I think my music never sounds better than with a live band behind it," she said. "The energy when we're onstage - it's really quite electric."