Acclaimed singer-songwriter Beverley Craven heads to Crawley

Beverley became a household name in the early ’90s with the release of her debut album, which became a worldwide hit, selling more than two million copies.

Her debut single ‘Promise Me’ became a huge hit, reaching number-three in the UK singles charts and also charting across Europe.

Further hits followed, and in 1992 Beverley received a Brit Award for Best British Newcomer and was also nominated for Best British single and album of the year.

After a break to raise a family Beverley is back performing.

“I am just thoroughly enjoying it now,” she says.

“I used to have a real problem playing live. I used to have terrible nerves being signed to a huge corporation like Sony.

“It’s a can of worms, but in many ways that all heavy production schedule and pressure does kill it. When you have got a record company breathing down your neck, you just have to go on and sing – but it does kill the joy at the end of the day.

“What used to really get me was going to do TV shows and not actually singing and just miming at a dummy piano. It was soul-destroying really.

“But there were fantastic times with Sony. I did a show with Audrey Hepburn and Roger Moore. We were playing with orchestras.

“There were moments when you just had to prick yourself,” recalls Beverley.

Things didn’t take off straight away for her: “The album was released in ’89 or early ’90 and not a lot happened in the UK. A couple of DJs picked it up but it really only took off in Europe.

“It started really in the Netherlands. I was out there promoting for a year, and then they re-released the album in the UK a while later and then second-time around it took off.

“I was in the eye of the storm, really. I was just working my **** off really. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that it hit me. I just had to get on with it. But then I fell pregnant with my first child.

“It was just as I was about to promote in the States. I was on a flight to JFK. I just thought this is the longest travel sickness I have ever had, but it wasn’t. I was pregnant – and that put the kybosh on the whole States thing. But I had worked so hard in Europe and the UK. I got back to the UK and had to tour when I was five and a half months pregnant. And then it was time to focus on becoming a mother. I had two more children after that.”

But now she’s back, with renewed enjoyment: “If somebody said to me what would you like to do, it would be doing this!”

Tickets cost £22.50.

Call The Hawth box office on 01293 553636 or visit www.hawth.co.uk.

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