Lulu talks ahead of Shrewsbury show

From Frank Sinatra to David Bowie, from the Rolling Stones to The Beatles, from the Bee Gees to Take That, the woman who sang a James Bond theme, won the Eurovision song contest, closed the Commonwealth Games and enjoyed a hit with Shout at the age of 15 has lived an extraordinary life.

At the tender age of 68-years-young, Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie could be forgiven for slowing down. After all, she's nothing to prove. A sunny veranda somewhere warm with a glass of something fizzy might be just what the doctor ordered.

But instead she's just announced her biggest ever UK tour. That's right. Her BIGGEST EVER. At the age of 68. Bonkers. Surely.

Lulu laughs. The Grammy-nominated singer can't wait to play 40-dates during October and November, during which she'll perform hits like Shout, To Sir With Love, Relight My Fire and The Man Who Sold The World.

After all, in the autumn of her career she's enjoying a renaissance. After a 10-year period of relative inactivity on the live scene, the release of Lulu's most critically acclaimed album to-date, 2015's self-penned Making Life Rhyme, sparked the most prolific touring period of her entire career, leading to sell-out dates in both 2015 and 2016.

Lulu says: "I absolutely love playing live and can't wait to be out on the road again in autumn this year. My life has always been all about the music, so come and join me again or for the first time and let's have a great night of music."

She's not kidding. For the umpteenth time in her career, Lulu's become big box office news. Her tour will bring her to The Hafren, in Newtown, on October 14; Theatre Severn, in Shrewsbury, on October 25 and The Grand Theatre, in Wolverhampton, on October 29.

"The tickets are really selling well. The promoters are really happy. I haven't really decided on what I'll be doing in terms of the set. But the fans will be getting some of the things they expect. I'm also going to America for four weeks."

Busy. Busy. Busy.

"I love it. You know I love it. This is what I live for. I always knew this is what I was made for. It's what I do. It's very gratifying that so many people want to see me and it makes me feel quite humble. When I was a teenager starting my career, I was always breathing very shallow. I was very excited and nervous. Now it's very different. It's a bit more serene. I have my feet on the ground and I'm sitting in the pocket these days. I'm more in the moment. In the past, I was always running ahead. And while I still think ahead, these days things are very different."

Indeed they are. As well as being driven from venue to venue, Lulu finds time to pass on the lessons she has learnt. The kid who got her first break when she left Glasgow and her heavy-drinking father to work for Decca Records and her manager-cum-mentor Marion Massey is sharing her wisdom with the next generation.

Informally, she provides a sounding board for kids who want to avoid the mistakes that she made; who are intent on avoiding the pitfalls so that they can enjoy a similarly starry career path.

"I work with a lot of young women and mentor them for all sorts of things. As you get older, you realise that you cannot buy experience. No matter how deeply I thought I knew everything when I was younger, I realise it wasn't possible. But working with younger women is great. It excites me because they have progressive ideas and their youthful experience is inspiring. The experience I go on stage with today, stands me in great stead. I don't think about things any more, it comes so naturally. I'm a much richer performer because of my experience. And that's what I try to explain."

Her spectacular career has been matched by an equally remarkable love life. There was the affair with David Bowie – great thighs, apparently – the marriages to Bee Gee Maurice Gibb and John Frieda and 'the thing' with Take That's Jason Orange, among others.

"I say sometimes on stage, when it comes up, that the men have come and gone but the music has gone on and on. It's great to be able to stay that because I say that with a smile. There's no agenda or bitterness. It's tongue-in-cheek. It's just the way of life. Of course there are sacrifices you make when you have a career like mine, you have to.

"You go through the discovery of how sad or upsetting or frustrating those sacrifices are. But I've learnt to live more in the moment, not the past or the future. I don't regret the things I cannot change."

If she could sum up her philosophical approach to life, it would be simple. After years of therapy, meditation and self-help, she's settled on Reinhold Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer. "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."

She draws breath. "I think there's a lot to be said for that. You cannot buy the life I've been through and had."

And what a life that's been. She's been serenaded, made movies over five decades, hung out with Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney and travelled the world. An actress, TV personality, songwriter, singer and businesswoman, she's been one of the entertainment business's most successful women for half a century. Her initial chart hits were in the mid 60s, a time filled with many high points. From touring Poland with The Hollies in 1966, which made her the first British female to appear behind the Iron Curtain, to making her film debut a year later in To Sir With Love, of which her song with the same name was a number one in the USA and sold more than a million copies.

There were the TV series in the 1960s and 70s, when she shared a billing with Dudley Moore, Jimi Hendrix and more.

"I wonder at it myself. It's not just blowing my trumpet. But working with people like Bowie or Elton or Paul McCartney or making a movie has been . . ." she pauses. "But whatever. There's been a number of things, like a song my ex-husband wrote. It's all happened."

Though every generation is doomed to believe the era in which they grew up is the most exciting of all – even those who endured the absurdity of 1970s glam rock, misery of 1980s pop or cul-de-sac of 1990s indie. Yet, in Lulu's case, it was true. For, culturally-speaking, no generation in modern times has been as inventive, dynamic or downright exciting as the 1960s. And Lulu not only lived through it. She was at its epicentre.

"Funnily enough all the people I mentioned, like the Rolling Stones and The Beatles, all had a love of exactly the same kind of music when we were very young. And that's the same for women, as well as the guys. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about the Rolling Stones or The Beatles, the Animals or The Who, we were all influenced by the great black American guitarists and songwriters.

"That generation was so exciting. There were other girls who I related to, like Dusty, but some of the others were different. For us, for the ones into that type of music, there was so much to explore. I was into Motown and Ray Charles, Ben E King and BB King, The Drifters and Otis Redding.

"I just loved that rather than bubblegum, girlie music."

It's no surprise, therefore, that she's always found a home in America. From hitting the top of the charts to appearing as a mentor on American Idol, Uncle Sam has always made her feel welcome.

"I've always felt really comfortable in America. I remember Marion, my manager, saying the Americans would eat me up. But they didn't."

That fascination stemmed from her parents, who only liked American music. It became ingrained from an early age. "They thought the Brits were just a pale imitation. So I was turned on to all of that long before the British revolution."

Remarkably, the hits and the fellas are not the most noteworthy aspect of Lulu's career. The quality that has set her apart is her longevity. She's a survivor, a woman who's taken the knocks, pulled herself up by the bootstraps and gone again. From the failure of her too-young, too-soon marriage to Maurice Gibb which floundered because of their careers and his heavy drinking, to her divorce from celebrity hairdresser John Frieda; and from the car accident that almost took her life after a performance in Margate in 1979 to the inevitable periods of inactivity or commercial decline, Lulu has shown an uncanny ability to bounce back.

Watch her video for Shout here:

"Not many people are still around who were there in the 1960s. And to think that I was 15 when it started is extraordinary. For a long time after the 60s I thought it was weird that everyone wanted to talk about that decade. You know, for me, I was in the eye of the hurricane. So after it was over, I thought 'we've done that and we're now here'.

"But reel forward and I now get it. It was an extraordinary time. It was literally a British revolution. We took over the world through art, through fashion, through music all the arts – and music, particularly. We just ruled the waves, so it was a great time for Great Britain.

"And there was I, a wee lassy from Glasgow, who had no idea about anything. I just wanted to make music. Marion really looked after me. I don't know I would still be around today and if it wasn't for her I might not be. She was like a guardian. She believed. She was one of my biggest champions. You know, I had an incredible protector and director. People wouldn't take advantage of me because I was always there. She kind of put me quite high up in her own life."

The influence of the protective and savvy Marion can't be overstated. The duo were together for 25 years and were equal partners in their enterprise. My career had a lot to do with her. She guided me and we were a team so I wouldn't want to let down the other half of my team."

While Mick and Keef were busy snorting their way around town, or John and Paul were smoking their pipes of peace, Lulu was relatively clean-living. Not, perhaps, to the extent of a Sir Cliff Richard, but she kept her nose clean and stayed out of trouble.

"I think that was partly because of honouring my partnership with Marion. If I'd have been with a young, cool male management company, who managed bands, I would have led a slightly different life.

"But I was afraid of getting into trouble. I was mindful of doing my best. I didn't want to let anybody down. I was a kid. That was part of it too, probably. If I'd have been a little bit the other side of 15, say 19, I'd have gone out late and lived it up. But as things were, I was pretty sheltered."

It's served her well.

And later this year she'll return to what she's always done as she hits the road and prepares to belt out Well-ell-ell-ell-ell-ell. You Know You Make Me Wanna . . . Shout.

"I love being on the road. It's hard, you have to be disciplined. You have to learn not to overdo it and you have to make sure you don't waste time."

And if you do that – and do it well – you get to live the life of champions and keep on rockin' and Boom-Bang-a-Bangin' long after the rest have fallen by the wayside.

Lulu plays The Hafren, in Newtown, on October 14; Theatre Severn, in Shrewsbury, on October 25 and The Grand Theatre, in Wolverhampton, on October 29. For tickets go to www.ticketmaster.co.uk

By Andy Richardson