Nearly 60 years after first performing in the North East, a legend of soul music is set to return to the region.

Queen of soul PP Arnold is to appear at The Fire Station, in Sunderland, on Thursday, September 14 after first visiting the North Nast in 1966 as an Ikette with the Ike and Tina Turner Review on a Rolling Stones tour.

Then she played Newcastle City Hall, and returned to the same venue a year later as part of a Roy Orbison tour which included the Small Faces.

The same year (1967) she moved to London from her native Los Angeles and launched her own solo career, having big hits with The First Cut is the Deepest and Angel of the Morning.

In further appearances in the region, she performed with the likes of Eric Clapton at Newcastle Town Hall in 1969.

She didn’t play the North Nast again until 2011 when she appeared at Darlington Arts Centre, but in the meantime had chalked up a big hit with Sunderland band The Kane Gang – she sang on their debut album The Bad and Lowdown World of the Kane Gang in 1983.

Kane Gang founder and lead signer Martin Brammer said: “Pat sang on our cover of Respect Yourself on our first album and did an amazing job.

"I’ve got an interview with Mavis Staples where she says how much she likes our version, so I think we need to thank Pat for her valuable contribution.

“Strangely the first time we met her was when we performed Respect Yourself on Top Of The Pops. She was a good friend of Pete Wingfield who produced the track and we had a timing conflict on the day she sang her part, so Pete recorded it without us there.

“Years later, after she’d had some success collaborating with Ocean Colour Scene, my publisher arranged a lunch together in Chiswick so we could talk about working together on a new solo album for her. She was really nice and we got on well but nothing ever came of the plan.“

In recent years, PP has been a regular performer at Sage Gateshead.

She said: “The Sage is a favourite of mine. I’ve played there several times. In 2015 I played there on a Silver Sixties tour bill with Billy J. Kramer, Chris Farlowe and the Merseybeats, in 2016 I played there as special guest on The Manfreds Maximum R&B Tour and I also played there on The Sandy Denny Tribute tour.

“So as you can see, I’m not a stranger to the North East and I’m looking forward to performing my September show in Sunderland.”

Through her long and distinguished career, PP has recorded and collaborated with most of the biggest names in pop and soul music.

She was a friend of Mick Jagger and recorded and toured with the Small Faces, providing backing vocals for Itchycoo Park and Tin Soldier. During the same period she duetted with Rod Stewart on Come Home Baby - produced by Jagger - and also sang on Chris Farlowe’s version of the Motown classic Reach Out.

She went on to record solo albums as well as records with bands such as the Blue Jays and Nice.

In the 1970s, she performed on the musical stage, helped record the original soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar and in 1986 she was a backing vocalist on Peter’s Gabriel enormous hit Sledgehammer. She then changed musical genres to also have a hit with her collaboration with The Beatmasters on Acid-house hit Burn it Up.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, PP worked with Primal Scream, Ocean Colour Scene, Roger Waters and the Blow Monkeys.

PP said: “I love to sing and I absolutely adore collaborating with other artists. I love doing things that I've never done before. I love working in the studio, it's an art that I’ve developed over time and I absolutely love it.

“However, performing ‘live’ is where I grow and keep developing my voice and grow as a performer - communicating directly with my fans. It's what I was born to do. ´Live´ is where I get the opportunity to really inspire and uplift which is what being a soul singer is all about to me.”

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PP’s autobiography Soul Survivor was Uncut and Rough Trade’s Book of the Year last year – the same year she released a Christmas single, It Won’t be Christmas Without You.

Tamsin Austin, Venue Director at The Fire Station, said: “PP Arnold is a living legend – not only for her longevity at the top of her game, or the major collaborations with such an array of late 20th century and early 21st century musical talent, but the sheer quality and range of her amazing voice.

“We’re lucky to be hosting such a rare and much-loved talent, and I hope our Sunderland audience gives her the welcome she so richly deserves.”