SHE’S been around the world and now Lancashire lass Lisa Stansfield is coming home to the North West next month for a special outdoor show at Haydock Park racecourse.

Rochdale’s most celebrated singer since Gracie Fields, saw her soulful pop songs top the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, and duet with George Michael and Queen.

Her mega hit, All Around The World, earned her global recognition, sold two million copies and reached number one in 10 countries.

Before her summer show, she answered a few questions

Lisa, you celebrated your 50th birthday this year - and you’re still going strong in the music industry with a new album due to be released soon.

How has the music business changed in that time?

When I started out, aged 14, blimey I didn’t even think about being 50.

Fifty, well that sounded like an old aged pensioner to a teenager wanting to sing with all her heart for a living.

Sure, certain aspects of the music industry have changed, but there was always a lot of rubbish attached to it, with this phenomenon and that phenomenon and I suppose it still is.

The music business is in a bit of turmoil, but I think it will all sort itself out eventually.

Times have changed, sure.

I’ve very happy memories of those early years, though. I remember going to my local record shop in Heywood and buying my favourite vinyl 45s.

I’d go home and play them on my tiny dansette and you’d have one of those little triangular things in the middle of the record to keep the single stable on the turntable.

It was like an adventure buying a record and hearing a song.

Now it isn’t because you can just download anything you want.

But that’s why kids loved to buy vinyl because owning a vinyl record you adored was a tangible and special thing.

What was that fame like when, for example, your hit songs People Hold On And All Around The World proved such huge success.

People think you must be riding on a cloud of success when you get a hit single, but it can be a quite a different experience for the artist.

Don’t get me wrong, it is brilliant, and it does feel like you are riding on a cloud when people love your music, but my experience was that you get very tired and very skint first.

The accolades arrived, the first album got a Brit award and a Grammy nomination, but we didn’t see any money.

We kept working and working. I was going backwards and forwards to America and making the next album and I wasn’t earning a penny at the time.

No money whatsoever, so you think, ‘Oh well, we’re just getting awards. We’re not getting any money'.

What was the driving force then and wanting to continue when the financial rewards didn’t come in those early years.

Do you know what, I think what kept me motivated was the fact that it seemed that the whole world was looking at me – and I had to do something about it.

And there is nothing that feels like that.

And it’s unbelievable and incredibly exciting.

It can be quite scary too, but it is thrilling standing up on stage and singing songs that you love and getting that love and devotion back from your fans and it still feels like that whenever I step on stage.

You eventually enjoyed worldwide success as a solo artist.

It’s funny, I really didn’t think about it at the time because I thought it was the same for everybody else.

So, it was like I became really successful and I suppose if you’ve never been through that experience before then it is hard to imagine.

But it was an incredibly special time in my life.

The most exciting thing for me is writing another really lovely song and that makes me feel joy and I want other people to be excited by it too.

Certainly writing songs, singing and coming up with ideas is simply a beautiful experience.

I absolutely love it and I will never get bored by that.

You have played concerts all over the world, but have you ever sung at a racecourse.

No, I’ve never done anything like it.

It will be lovely coming back to the North West, close to Rochdale where I grew up and, hopefully, a lot of my friends will be there.

I’ve been to race meetings, to parties and stuff but never performed at a venue like this.

It quite exciting, actually and do you know what I’d love, though?

I’d like all my fans to Facebook me, or Twitter me to put a bet on.

I’ll definitely have a bet on the horses at Haydock though.

Lisa, you have also performed several acting roles, including the movie Swing and an appearance in The Edge of Love starring Keira Knightley.

I’d love to act more because I really enjoy it.

You would never imagine how long and drawn out it is, though.

You spend most of the day sat in a trailer. And then you have to run to the set and do whatever you have to do.

Acting is an unforgiving experience, though, and you do find out a lot about yourself.

People sometimes ask me, ‘Lisa, what is your biggest achievement?'

It is that I can still do what I do and people still want me to do it.

I think that is my biggest achievement. It’s lovely.

An Evening at the Races with Lisa Stansfield at Haydock Park, Friday, August 5. Tickets from thejockeyclublive.co.uk or 0344 579 3006.