SHE'S a Brit Award winning singer who has sold more than four million records worldwide - but Beverley Craven no longer lives for chart success.
Because the Beaconsfield-based singer-songwriter, who shot to fame in 1991 with power ballad Promise Me, has a new found sense of enjoyment from performing.
The Sri Lanka-born songstress popped her head back into the musical landscape last year following a ten-year hiatus with the low-key release of her album Close To Home.
And that's just how she likes it – no fuss and lots of freedom – allowing Craven to enjoy her work following a “soul-destroying” decade with a major music label.
She said: “I recorded the album at home, a friend mixed it and away we went. It was low key and that's the way I want to keep it I think.
“I'll never been in the charts again, I know that, it's all about enjoyment now. When you're signed to a massive label, you don't get much out of it and it's soul destroying.
“My dad used to say he was envious when I told him I was jetting off somewhere and I used to say 'don't be', because you have no time to write music or see the sights – I used to spend days trapped in hotel rooms, airport lounges and TV studios.
“But now I go out with my little band and we play the smaller gigs, but it's always fun, I never stop laughing. When I left the label, I thought that might be it, but now I don't know when I'll stop.”
Craven, who scooped the Best Newcomer at the 1992 Brit Awards, bravely battled against breast cancer in 2005 and received the all-clear the following year.
She said her fight against the illness gave her a new lease of life, which inspired her to write new songs and tinker on her piano keys once again.
And she will be tinkering away at the Iain Reenie Hospice at Home's Silver Celebrations on September 4 in the picturesque setting of West Wycombe Park.
The event - which will also feature show-stopping sing-along performances from Abba Forever and the Pepper Show, along with a firework extravaganza – marks the charity's 25th anniversary.
The mother-of-three, who is married to songwriter Colin Campsie, says she loves “living in the bubble” of south Buckinghamshire and cannot wait to play the gig in support of the “wonderful charity”.
She said: “I love it here, it's much more civilised than London. We originally moved because of the terror attacks as I was worried about my children on the tube.
“Iain Rennie is a local charity and a friend of mine who is involved with it was telling me about their work and asked if I would be interested in playing the gig, and I said yes almost immediately, it's a wonderful charity and it should be a great event.”
Silver Celebrations in the Park gets under way from 4pm on September 4 in West Wycombe Park. Tickets are available from 01442 890222 or www.irhh.org/silver Book now for Early Bird tickets, which cost £50 for a family, £25 for adults, £15 for visitors over 60 and children aged between 12 and 16-years-old. Under 12s go free.
