Beverley Craven: Tour return is 'prize' after cancer treatment
- Published
Beverley Craven says going back on tour with fellow singers Julia Fordham and Judie Tzuke is her reward after months of arduous cancer treatment.
"It's been what's kept me going," she told the BBC. "It's been this prize at the end I've been focusing on.
"It'll be so good to finish the second leg with a bang," she continued.
Craven is going back on the road in June after undergoing a double mastectomy, lymph node clearance and a five-month course of chemotherapy.
The British singer was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time last year, and had a double mastectomy in September.
She then spent November on tour with Fordham and Tzuke, an experience she said had been "pretty tiring".
That initial leg included a performance as part of BBC Scotland's Quay Sessions in Glasgow.
The musicians had been due to resume their Woman to Woman tour in March, but the dates were put back to June to accommodate Craven's treatment.
The singer said she was "excited" and "proud" to be performing again, despite the occasional bout of "chemo brain".
"I lose my train of thought quite often, so I'm hoping I can remember my lyrics when I'm on stage," she admitted.
She also expressed regret that her recovery entailed swearing off alcohol, saying: "I do miss a gin and tonic but it has to be done."
The Woman to Woman tour resumes on 2 June at Buxton Opera House before taking in 11 more venues in England and Wales.
It follows last year's release of the Woman to Woman album, which saw the trio collaborate on new material as well as versions of each other's earlier tracks.
Craven, 55, is best known for her piano ballad Promise Me, which reached number three in the UK singles chart in 1991.
The following year she was crowned best British newcomer at the Brit Awards, beating such acts as Cathy Dennis and Seal.
Her last solo album, Change of Heart, was released in 2014.
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- 9 January 2019
