She may be beehive-less these days but singer Mari Wilson - aka The Neasden Queen of Soul - still has the voice that made her famous with the song Just What I Always Wanted.

Speaking of her latest tour, which comes to Maidstone’s Pizza Express in Earl Street on Saturday, June 1, she said: “I love singing these well-crafted familiar songs and feeling the reaction from the audience because they’re songs that spark memories for a wide ranging generation.

“I take great delight in not only singing but also storytelling and I have a story for every song.”

It was in 1982 that Mari Wilson arrived on the music scene, with her iconic beehive hairstyle that was only matched by her iconic vocals.

With her talented 12-piece band, The Wilsations, her live show was talked about as an event of pure entertainment and they became a regular on Top of the Pops. Just What I’ve Always Wanted reached the Top 10 and remains a song she is proudly known for and still performs to this day.

She still has a following today with her signature vocals and charm. Pop Deluxe was released in 2016 and featured reinterpretations of songs from the likes of Cilla Black, Petula Clark and of course Dusty Springfield, the artists that inspired her as a child. As a result, she was invited to sing with Heaven 17 on their UK tour, and joined Soft Cell at the O2 to perform her duet with Marc Almond.

She plays the first of her 2019 dates in Maidstone at Pizza Express on Saturday, June 1. Book at pizzaexpresslive.com

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