WHEN Marie McLaughlin was 14, growing up in a tough Glasgow neighbourhood, she was taken to a club where “an emaciated man with dyed black hair came on stage and sang the Isley Brothers’ song, Shout”.

“It was Alex Harvey. Looking back, I call that destiny,” says Lulu, who celebrates her remarkable career in new show On Fire, heading for Bradford next month.

Now 70, and a grandmother to Bella, nine, and Teddy, six, Lulu has the energy of a woman half her age. As a live performer she’s a powerhouse. Celebrating 55 years since her debut single Shout, her show is packed with hits, including The Man Who Sold The World, To Sir With Love and Relight My Fire, which she sang with Take That on tour this year.

Accompanied by her band, and a big screen showing personal and career-defining moments, she looks back on her half-century-plus in a career that’s taken her around the world. “It’s a chronological journey, with anecdotes and hits over six decades. It’s the story of my life,” says Lulu.

Starting out, she thought British music was “wet and wimpy”. She and her friend, Dusty Springfield, were “mad for American music”. With few young women in the music industry, the Beatles took Lulu under their wing. “John and Paul were like big brothers,” she says. “I wasn’t the girl they fancied; I was more like their friend’s little sister.”

When Eric Clapton put a protective arm round her shoulder one day, she thought: ‘Oh well, no chance there then!’

“The Who looked out for me too, and Scott Walker was kind. I toured Poland with The Hollies, the first female singer to do so. It was freezing, the walls were scarred with bullet holes. The police patrolled the concert halls brandishing batons, they wouldn’t let the kids stand up. It was scary. But the boys looked after me.”

After the success of Shout, Lulu struggled. “It was a hard act to follow. I kept myself afloat with minor hits for the three years left of my contract with Decca. Then Mickie Most came into my life.”

She’s said in the past that his song choices were too lightweight. “But I’ve revised my view,” she says now. “He gave me hit after hit and while some were pure pop, they consolidated my career. He was famous, rich, successful. Why would he listen to a 17-year-old? Anyway, with The Boat That I Row, written by Neil Diamond, no less, I was back in the music I liked best.”

Her pop success led to a role in 1967 film To Sir With Love, starring Sidney Poitier. “I was in awe of him,” she says. Lulu’s version of the title song topped the US charts for six weeks.

Her show reflects various aspects of her career - even songs she didn’t like at the time. In 1969 she won the Eurovision Song Contest with Boom Bang-a-Bang. “I looked down my nose at it. That was ungracious, I now realise. I wouldn’t sing that song for over 30 years, then I sang it at Gay Pride in Manchester in August and thousands of people sang along. So I’m including it on the tour because it was a moment in my career. If you’re the kind of artist who repeatedly says no to keep your integrity, then God bless you. But it’s not easy.”

She found herself tugged in two directions collaborating with David Bowie. “He was cooler than cool, beyond edgy. Then you look at me: clean-cut girl next door, Miss Saturday Night,” she says. “Almost the first thing he said to me was that my voice didn’t match the image. I was fascinated. He was a genius.”

Bowie produced The Man Who Sold The World. It has been suggested she was in love with him... “Maybe for a minute,” she says. ‘I was dazzled by him. He showed me what I was capable of.”

In 1977 she married hairdresser John Frieda, father of her son, Jordan, and when they split she started songwriting, encouraged by her brother, Billy. “He kept on at me and I realised I’d absorbed so much down the years, I’d got an unofficial PhD in songwriting. I’d been married to Maurice Gibb, for heaven’s sake. The Bee Gees were as good as it gets when it comes to writing hits.”

She co-wrote I Don’t Wanna Fight, which was a hit for Tina Turner - “Someone said I should’ve released it myself but with my business hat on, I could see that Tina would get much more airplay”.

At 70, how demanding is life on the road? “I’m extremely disciplined. I’m a stickler for plenty of sleep and if I’ve performed the previous evening, I won’t talk until midday next day,” she says,

Do performers never tire of performing? “Look at the Stones, Elton. There’s your answer. If you’re passionate about music why stop? But I’d like to do more acting. I’ve had a drama coach for a couple of years. I couldn’t believe it when I was chosen to follow Julie Walters as Adrian Mole’s mum in the TV series. I thought they were having a laugh.”

For now, her focus is on the tour. “I couldn’t be more excited,” she says. “I had to pinch myself starting out. Now I’m pinching myself all over again when I realise how blessed I’ve been. I always said I’ve had angels on my shoulders.”

l Lulu is at St George’s Hall, Friday, October 18. Call (01274) 432000.

Emma Clayton