LULU'S last Shout

Star heads out on farewell tour with hints about special guests'

- MARK JEFFERIES

LULU'S most famous hit was Shout and as a gutsy Glaswegian, she is not afraid to speak her mind, but, shh, we can let you into a secret... When she is on tour, you won't hear a peep out of her, let alone a shout, before noon, as she takes a morning vow of silence to keep her voice in shape.

At the age of 75, she is about to embark on her farewell tour, Champagne for Lulu, and ahead of her first concerts this weekend has revealed how she takes care of her voice.

She said: "I'm very disciplined. I have learned to use my vowels and use the whole range of my voice. I exercise my voice, I watch my diet, I exercise.

"And I don't speak before 12 noon when I am on tour. It is not a big deal, I have done total silence for weeks.

"It is all about discipline. I can understand why you might think I'm lying. But no. I try not to come out of my room until 12. It makes it easier.

"I take care of my instrument. It allows me to sing"

It explains why Lulu can still belt out those numbers at 75. Even though her biggest hit involves vocal gymnastics each night, she insisted she would not have it any other way.

She said: "I can still do it, so why would I think I should have something easier? I have thought about this recently as I'm getting older.

"Because I'm working class and I have a very strong work ethic, I don't look for things to be easy, necessarily."

Lulu had to cancel more than 30 dates of her 2023 UK tour due to the lingering effects of Long Covid.

So she will embark on her fair tour, celebrating 60 years of music, with a show in Glasg her home city, next week.