Lulu shares retirement plans after celebrating milestone birthday

10 December 2023 , 07:00

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When Lulu turned 75 last month, her celebrations were low-key.

“It was very chillaxed with my closest family,” she tells us. “Not a big deal and just very easy and sweet.” But if you think this means the singer is slowing down, you can think again. She was merely saving herself for “one hell of a party”, as she’s lined up a string of spectacular live performances next year to mark both her milestone birthday and six decades in the music industry.

“It’s going to be really special,” she says. “The way I celebrate best is when I’m on stage.” The Champagne For Lulu tour starts in her hometown of Glasgow – where else? – and ends at the London Palladium an unbelievable 60 years to the day since the release of her first hit, Shout.

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Lulu, pictured here in 1970, first became famous in 1965 with her hit song, Shout (Getty Images)

The tour name was inspired by a line from her cameo appearance in the hit comedy series Ab Fab, which Lulu calls “the greatest gift Jennifer Saunders could ever have given me”. “No matter where I go in the world – walking down the street in Sydney or Los Angeles or Spain – people shout ‘champagne for Lulu’ at me,” she explains.

The star promises to wow her audiences with all the hits from her chart-topping career, and there will be plenty of anecdotes and stories about her life and loves, too. “We are throwing everything we’ve got at it, pulling out all the stops,” she says. “I want everyone to party with me. I’m going to have special guests – people I have met along the way – to come and celebrate.” And considering the famous faces Lulu has shared a stage with and recorded with over the years, that could mean audiences are in for some very special shows.

Strictly's Molly Rainford and Tyler West fuel romance rumours while on tour

So who could we expect? From Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, and Neil Diamond to Westlife and Atomic Kitten – there’s an impressive list of collaborators for Lulu to call on. Fans will also be hoping she reunites with her great friends Take That to perform their hit Relight My Fire, especially as she was guest of honour at their Hyde Park British Summer Time show in July.

She also tells us she received a standing ovation when performing at the Hollywood Bowl with
Boy George just a few weeks ago. Lulu will be belting out hits such as The Man With The Golden Gun, The Boat That I Row, and no doubt a storming version of Shout that will bring the house down. “As they leave the theatre, I want my audience to feel full of joy,” she says. “For me, that would be the ultimate birthday present.”

The singing legend is set to kick off her tour in Glasgow (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

With the life force and energy of a far younger woman, Lulu says meditation has done a lot for her body and mind. She’s been practicing it for more than four decades and believes what she calls her “spiritual regime” is crucial to a healthy way of living. "It puts you in touch with your inner wisdom. I love that. And the amazing energy that we all have inside.”

It’s clear that having recently been working on her second no-holds-barred autobiography, Lulu, who shares son Jordan, 46, with her hairdresser ex-husband John Frieda, has been reflecting on her amazing life. Now, she says she’s ready to share some of her best stories with audiences.

“I will be able to speak about things I don’t normally get a chance to talk about,” she says. And when the star, who married Bee Gee Maurice Gibb at 19, had a rumoured dalliance with David Bowie, won the Eurovision Song Contest, and received an OBE from Queen Elizabeth spills the beans, you can be sure it will be enthralling.

Despite her long career in showbiz, Lulu has no plans to retire. “People say, ‘Is this gonna be your last tour?’ And I think, ‘Wow, that’s a question.’ But yes, actually. Possibly.”

But the real reason she might hang up her mic is because she wants to concentrate on another
of her talents instead. “I want to focus on my acting,” she tells us. “I always think, ‘What am I going to do next? What’s coming up? What am I going to plan?’ I got into the film business when I was 16 when I starred in To Sir With Love, so it feels like it’s come full circle.”

The National Treasure has admitted her latest tour could be her last (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

We’ll soon see Lulu in Sky movie Arthur’s Whisky, with Diane Keaton and Patricia Hodge, as well as listening to her hilarious turn in Radio 4 sitcom Bob Servant Says Cheerio, a two-parter recorded with her old friend Succession actor Brian Cox.

In the meantime, Lulu is looking forward to enjoying the festive season at home in London before starting rehearsals in the new year and taking her show out on the road in April.

“I’ve got a lot of things on my mind at the moment,” she says. “It’s weird to say, but really I feel this is a new beginning for me in many ways. I mean, I don’t feel it’s the end – it feels like I’m still waiting to be discovered.”