When it comes to guest vocals, Patti Russo has been a Queen favourite for years, singing with the legendary band at various occasions around the world. Ahead of her solo UK tour – which kicks off this Thursday, 10 April, at The Brook in Southampton and will feature Queen’s very own Spike Edney on keyboards - QueenOnline has published an exclusive interview with Patti about her gigs and plans for the future.
9th April 2014
Exclusive: QueenOnline Interview with Patti Russo
(Please note: Contains lots of energy!)
QOL: Hello Patti. QueenOnline.com calling. Lets get to it, what is your connection to the Queen Family?
PR: Divine Intervention! Ha! I’ve been a huge fan for ages. I’d even warm up to their music before every Meat Loaf gig. Met Brian one night at Wembley Arena, when he got up to play with the band. From that moment of meeting Brian, it really has been a kind of magic! I mean shortly thereafter while I was still in London, Brian phoned me up to see if I’d be interested in auditioning for Roger for a musical that they were about to embark on called We Will Rock You!
It was very exciting to be a part of a musical from the baby years and even more exciting that I was able to play Killer Queen in Las Vegas. The rest is, as I said…a kind of magic!
QOL: You also performed Under Pressure with Roger at our AIDS benefit a few years back, it was awesome, your voices worked really well.
PR: Thank you very much! Talk about dreams coming true! I still hold that day performing with them at the Queens Day Festival in Amsterdam as one of my proudest moments.
QOL: Queen, Meat Loaf and Cher… heavy weight names indeed to have performed with, any others on the bucket list?
PR: Oh, man. I’d love to work or even write with Annie Lennox. Or just meet her! She is absolutely incredible! I totally missed the boat on a meeting with Garth Brooks at a charity event a few years ago. He had a lot of nice things to say about my singing and I never got around to getting a contact number. I’ve written quite a few country tunes as well, and one of them called, “If You’re Thinking About Leaving, I Think It’s About Time” needs to get to his ears!
QOL: So why are we talking now?
PR: Ummmm. AGAIN. Divine intervention!? Your guess is as good as mine, but I’m chuffed to bits, as you say here! Did you mistakenly dial the wrong number?! Lucky for me! Seriously though, I’m in the country that I love, getting ready to embark on a solo career that has been a lifelong dream of mine. And yes you can say that I am absolutely mad to start this so late in the game, but because that’s the way I roll! I never followed rules before and at my age, I am not about to start now! Ha!
QOL: Going solo at this stage in your career…pretty ballsy!
PR: What can I say to that? I didn’t plan it to be this way, but to quote Forrest Gump, it happens and I found myself at a crossroad and I didn’t want to look back and say that I never tried. I’m just ticking off the boxes of my bucket list and the other list I have which rhymes with bucket….hahahaha!
QOL: So these live shows in the UK, from what I have heard, it’ll be nothing but a good time…fair comment?
PR: That’s what I want to have and that’s what I want to give out to whoever comes to see me! I will be performing some of my own songs as well as songs from the artists that I work with, which of course includes my favorite band of all time, which are Queen! And no, I’m not saying that to you because I’m speaking to you at this moment. They are, and always will be number 1 for me…and there are millions of fans that would agree!
QOL: There is another Queen angle there too, with Spike on keys…
PR: Love Spikey to bits! He was going to be a part of it, but with the upcoming Queen dates in the US, we thought it best if I got someone else on board, just in case he’d have to bail at the 11th hour. Next time!
QOL: So what can people expect from Patti Russo solo penned material?
PR: For these UK dates, things started happening at such a fast pace that I didn’t have time to get into the studio and record some of my newer material, so I opted to fine tune some of my demos that the fans had already put out on You Tube. Having said that, I as able to get a proper recording of my song, Bring Me A Bible And A Beer, finished.
QOL: When will it be available to for people to get hold of it?
PR: Fingers crossed they’ll be ready for my first show!
QOL: And after that, a full album, more shows, another crazy chapter?
PR: Oh, God, I hope so! All of the above, yes!!!
QOL: You are one hell of character Patti, just fizzing with energy….I have to go and lay down!
PR: I’m still a little jet-lagged…imagine me when I’m not! I can make,even myself , dizzy sometimes! Go on then, have a kip! hahaha! Thanks so much for the chat!