GRAMMY nominated living legend Lulu is singing her way across the country towards the Cliffs Pavilion.

Saturday November 25 is when she will stop at the Southend theatre, the final one on her All About the Music Tour.

The lady will be performing hits from a career spanning over 50-years, so fans can expect to hear hits such as Shout, To Sir With Love, Relight My Fire and The Man Who Sold The World.

After a ten year period of relative inactively 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 tours in both 2015 and 2016.

Lulu said: “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.”

Visit southendtheatres.org.uk for booking details

All About The Music Tour celebrates six decades in the music industry. How do you keep the magic alive?

Six decades is amazing! You know the weird thing is I have to say “It's really been that long?” They say time passes really fast when you are having fun and I could apply that to me. It's happened without me even blinking because this is what I live for, I live for music. It's a blessing in my life.

How do you keep the shows exciting for you and the audience?

First of all I’ve only been with this band for around four years and that’s helped shake things up. They’re all younger than me, so there's a young energy which I love. We keep it fresh and new and the great thing is these guys are influenced by the same music that I was and still am but they have a new slant.

I've heard you exhaust them?

That’s what they say – haha! If it's not fun it's a slog, and who wants to do anything that's a slog if you don't have to? Sometimes in life one has to do a slog but generally it's fun.

Onstage you tell stories between songs. How do you pick which tales to share with your fans?

Well, you have a set list and certain songs evoke certain memories. The rest just flows.

What can go wrong?

Almost anything, but when you have been doing this as long as I have you learn to use it. It keeps it real, keeps me humble and gives the audience a bit of a laugh when you’re all in on it together.

What was the first concert you went to?

I remember going to a really dirty club to see Alex Harvey when I was just about 13. I don't know if that was my first show but I was not allowed to go to those places because I was so young, but my mother wangled it so I could go. I used to sing in a band at the weekends, so the boys in the band had to look after me. Alex came backstage dressed in black leather and jet-black hair and he sang Shout. It was the first time I ever heard it and I went out the next day and bought the record by The Isley Brothers, and the rest is history.

You famously toured with Take That around the Relight My Fire hit. Did the boys have as many cosmetics in their dressing room to prepare for the show as you?

They actually had a hairdresser who toured with them who did make up, too - but they needed very little, they were so young.

Do you think today’s young female bands and artists are under too much pressure to look good?

Yes! Now it's world domination or nothing, and that is tremendous pressure - and you'll be dropped like a hot potato if you don't sell a certain amount of records. It was different back then.

How were you affected when you needed vocal surgery in the early 80s?

It was pretty scary but thank god it all turned out ok. So now while on tour I don't speak for 12 hours after a show. This makes sure I’m in peak condition for the next show. With all the travelling and the talking that needs to be done, I’ve learnt to pace myself. Sometimes you have things happen to you in your life which shape you, and if you recover and learn from them it's not a bad experience. It's actually a good experience, ultimately, because you learn what to do to prevent it happening again and it gives you humility. So from that experience I have a lot of gratitude that I’m still doing it and doing it good.

In your experience, what gets easier as you get older?

Most things become easier because I live from a position of having gratitude. I've become philosophical, and as tough as it is for me not to knee-jerk into a negative place when things go wrong, I always have a way of getting back and looking at acceptance of what is and what I can't change. It doesn’t happen in a flash; it’s a process, and I now have the support and the tools to process.

And what gets tougher?

Maintenance. It’s a bitch…ha-ha! There's a big piece of acceptance in growing older. I look at myself and go 'oh my God’. You never really thought this would happen. When you have success at a young age, the pop star sort of thing, you think you’re invincible, so it’s a shock to see that you are not.

Do you compare notes with your contemporaries?

Yes. I saw Ringo Starr the other day and we were very pleased with ourselves. I said, “You look great”. And he said, “You look great, Lu”. It was all “Oh my God, we are still here!” There's an appreciation of how we've managed to keep our heads above water. I know he has the same philosophy as me. We follow the same school of thought, in that we are very grateful for what we've got and we both love touring. Macca’s the same, Jagger’s the same. That’s all we talk about. We all say we love it.

Who has given you the best advice about your voice?

I met Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas and he asked if I made it a habit to warm up my voice and if I did vocal exercises before a show, which I didn't back then. I was there with Maurice (Gibb) and Frank offered to teach me, but I never followed it up because I was too shy. And then of course I went off and hurt my voice, so now I am religious about looking after it. So, yes, Frank, I eventually took your advice.

What was the best advice Maurice gave you about singing?

Maurice never gave me advice, he thought everything I did was great! Bless his heart.