Lulu has been around for so long it’s impossible to think of the music world without her. But how fitting it is that the pop legend should kick off her farewell UK tour with her final gig in front of a hometown audience.
Glasgow was the 75-year-old’s first port of call in a series of dates that will culminate at the London Palladium next week.
Lulu sang her heart out for the last time in Scotland amid reports that, like her old friend Elton John, she will ultimately bring the curtain down on her life on the road with an appearance at Glastonbury this summer.
From Bond to Bowie, hanging out with The Beatles, or breaking into the Top Ten aged just 15 in 1964 with debut single Shout, Lulu’s life and times reads like an A-Z of pop culture.
And that’s before we talk about her marriage to a Bee Gee, winning Eurovision with Boom Bang-A-Bang, scoring a US No 1 with the title track of hit film To Sir, With Love, or relighting her fire in the 1990s alongside Take That.
Scottish singer, actress, and television personality Lulu playing live at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow
How fitting it is that the pop legend should kick off her farewell UK tour with her final gig in front of a hometown audience
Lulu pictured alongside her sister and and backing singer Edwina
So the opening night of this career-spanning trip down memory lane to celebrate 60 years in showbusiness was always going to be a bit special.
‘I’ve had the most unbelievable life. And this is where it all began,’ the wee lassie with the big voice who left the tenements of Glasgow’s Dennistoun behind for Swinging Sixties London tells a crowd determined to give one of their own the send-off she fully deserves, on a night charged with emotion.
Which they duly do, each song greeted with loud applause in a two-hour set packed with hits (Relight My Fire; The Man With The Golden Gun) and covers that show pensioner Lulu remains a force of nature, as she bounces around stage with all the verve and vigour of someone half her age.
The star’s ‘wee sister’ Edwina joined her on stage for show opener Shout and Motown classic Heat Wave, and she stayed for the rest of the party.
Fans had been sent into overdrive with the promise of special guests. Would Elton fly into Glasgow? What about Take That or Ronan Keating?
As it was, Mike and the Mechanics star Paul Carrack might not have been quite the A-lister some fans were expecting.
The opening night of this career-spanning trip down memory lane to celebrate 60 years in showbusiness was always going to be a bit special
The star’s ‘wee sister’ Edwina joined her on stage for show opener Shout
From Bond to Bowie, Lulu’s life and times reads like an A-Z of pop culture
As she bade a final farewell to Glasgow, there was a tear in those blue eyes
And the introduction of TikTok sea shanty singer Nathan Evans had some in the crowd quickly googling his name.
Not that superstars were in short supply – on video at least – as a choked-up Lulu looked on as the big screen showed ex-husband and Bee Gee Maurice Gibb join her on a TV show to sing duet First of May.
She also mixed in live vocals on stage to accompany footage of David Bowie singing The Man Who Sold The World, and Tina Turner performing I Don’t Wanna Fight.
With Shout inevitably closing proceedings, and a visibly moved Lulu reluctant to leave the stage as she bade a final farewell to Glasgow, there was a tear in those blue eyes. Many fans in the crowd will have shed a few, too.
