Deacon Blue singer, Lorraine McIntosh says the band now appreciate their success more than ever – as they know every album and tour could be their last.
McIntosh’s backing vocals on hits including Dignity and Real Gone Kid have been central to the band’s identity and success over almost 40 years.
Deacon Blue have just released their acclaimed eleventh studio album The Great Western Road, and launched a major UK and Ireland tour at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on Sunday night.
McIntosh, 60, who is married to frontman Ricky Ross, told the podcast, A Kick Up The Arts: “When you’re young and driven it takes a while to learn to appreciate things as they happen.
“We appreciate things a lot more now. You’re older, you realise these things don’t just keep coming round.
“This might be the last record we ever make, this might be the last tour we ever do, who knows?
“Tom, our manager, will say ‘we’re going to push back Australia until January 2026’, and I’ll say ‘Tom, you do realise how old we are? We can’t really keep pushing things back another year’.
“God willing, we’re all here, but you just can’t take them for granted. It’s great, as things happen, to appreciate them as they happen.”
Deacon Blue released their debut album, Raintown, in 1987, and had their first top ten hit the following year with Real Gone Kid.
Their second album, When the World Knows Your Name, went straight to number one in the UK charts in 1989, knocking Madonna’s Like a Prayer off the top spot.
Further hits have included Fergus Sings The Blues, Love and Regret, Queen of the New Year and Dignity, which is regularly voted one of Scotland’s favourite pop songs.
Frontman Ross, 67, admitted when the band recorded their debut album Raintown, he wasn’t even thinking about singles success.
He told podcast host Nicola Meighan: “We were in the middle of making Raintown and I remember someone saying about singles and none of us had given it any thought.
“Jon Kelly, our producer, said, have you got any songs that suit 12 to 14 year old girls, because they’re the ones that buy singles’.
“We didn’t think we had. I thought ‘well I want to go in and just have something that goes on the radio’.”
Deacon Blue’s new album The Great Western Road, was released on March 21. Their UK & Ireland tour, The Great Western Road Trip, started at the Usher Hall and finishes with two dates at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on 10-11 October.
