Scottish pop singer Lulu is preparing for her final tour, but fans shouldn’t expect to hear a word from her before midday.
The celebrated musician, actor, and TV personality, born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, skyrocketed to fame in the mid-1960s at the age of 15 with her rendition of the Isley Brothers’ “Shout.” Since then, she has enjoyed a remarkable career marked by numerous hit records, a Eurovision victory, and even a James Bond theme song.
Her farewell tour, titled “Champagne for Lulu,” pays homage to a memorable line spoken by Jennifer Saunders’ character Eddie in an episode of Absolutely Fabulous, in which Lulu made a cameo appearance.
During her tour stops in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, and London this month, Lulu will be joined by “special friends.” She has disclosed that she takes her performances very seriously and intends to preserve her voice by refraining from speaking until the afternoon of each show.
“I don’t speak before 12 noon,” she revealed to the BBC. “I can understand why you think I’m lying. But no, I’m very disciplined. I exercise my voice, all that stuff. I watch my diet. And I don’t speak before 12 noon when I’m on tour. It’s not a big deal. I’ve done total silence for weeks.”
Despite encountering situations that might make her “want to shout,” Lulu remains committed to maintaining silence until noon on show days. “I try not to come out of my room until 12,” she explained. “It makes it easier. I take care of my instrument. It allows me to sing.”
With her upcoming tour prompting moments of reflection, Lulu reminisced about her experience representing the UK at Eurovision in 1969, where her performance of “Boom Bang-a-Bang” resulted in a first-place tie with France, Spain, and the Netherlands. Five years later, she lent her voice to “The Man With the Golden Gun” for the James Bond film of the same name, starring Roger Moore as 007.
As she looks back on a career spanning seven decades, Lulu admitted that she never anticipated reaching this stage. “To be honest with you, if when I was 15 years old someone had suggested I’d be doing a farewell tour at 75, I’d have said, ‘You are having a laugh,'” she reflected. “I think to be living at 75 is an achievement, and to still be able to sing.”
