When Lulu thought she was "going to die" after meeting The Beatles

19 July 2024, 16:52

They certainly had the Midas touch.

Everything thing The Beatles turned their hand to seemingly turned to gold, breaking chart records all over the place.

As we know, they evolved into one of - if not the - most influential band of all time, inspiring countless acts that followed in their footsteps that decade and beyond.

But due to their cultural sway, seemingly anything any of the band mentioned they themselves admired, it had become instantly trendy.

Whether it was the mop tops, the sonic exploration that paved the way for a new era of imagination in the recording studio, or experimenting with, ahem, LSD, The Beatles led where others followed.

• Lulu explains how The Beatles kick-started her career: "I was madly in love with all of them"
• Lulu's 10 greatest songs ever, ranked
• The song George Harrison wrote on the day he quit The Beatles
• When John Lennon and Paul McCartney reconciled and nearly reformed The Beatles

Of course, as musicians themselves, everyone wanted to know what kind of music they were into at the time.

On one occasion, after revealing a song that had caught their attention, it launched the pop music career of a little-known - and little in stature - singer called Lulu.

Being a huge fan of The Beatles herself, when she eventually got to meet the band, she thought she was "going to die".

Long before she became Lulu, Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie had wowed people with her powerful, thrilling voice.

Singing with a local band at the age of just 12, she was eventually noticed by future manager Marion Massey just two years later who orchestrated a meeting with Decca Records.

Having to audition for a record deal, Lulu (and The Luvvers who were her band at the time) sang a song which would eventually become her signature song.

Singing the Isley Brothers' 1959 hit 'Shout', the red-headed teenage firecracker blew record executives away, and immediately signed her.

'Shout' would go on to become Lulu's debut single, but before it was even released, she received a glowing endorsement from The Beatles.

Lulu & The Luvvers - Shout

In an interview speaking on BBC Radio 2's The Tracks Of My Years, Lulu credited the Fab Four for boosting her career prospects in the very beginning.

When asked during an interview on British TV programme, Ready Steady Go, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were asked what their favourite current song was.

To Lulu's surprise and gratitude, they said her rendition of 'Shout' was their song of the moment.

"I really have to honour John Lennon and Paul McCartney, they were on Ready Steady Go just the two of them, being interviewed," she recalled.

"[presenter Cathy McGowan] said to them at some point - then Ready Steady Go, there was nobody in the streets, everybody was in front of the TV screen watching Ready Steady Go - The Beatles were on."

"The whole country was watching and she said 'Do you have a favourite release this week boys?' They said 'Lulu's 'Shout'."

"I think about it now more than I did before but they kickstarted my whole career. So when 'Shout' came out, it came straight into the charts."

Lulu herself - like most teenage girls at the time - was besotted by The Beatles, and was gobsmacked when they singled her out for praise.

During the same interview, she went on to recall feeling lost for words when Lennon invited her backstage at a London gig.

"I remember going to see them at Hammersmith Odeon and standing on the side of the stage and they invited me back."

"John Lennon went, 'Oh it's Lulu' and there was Paul McCartney with that hair, I used to think he had the best hair. He put it under the water and stood up and shook it and I thought I was going to die."

"I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. They're trying to talk to me and I'd try and speak to them, I have no recollection of what was said because I was floating."

Off the back of The Beatles' endorsement, Lulu floated up to number seven in the charts with 'Shout' in 1964, and a singular star was born. Thankfully she lived to tell the tale.