Bette Midler can’t wait to play her first shows in the UK in 35 years.
The 68-year-old diva is gearing up for the release of her new album It’s The Girls and she’s announced plans to headline five arena shows in Britain in July.
“I have always loved visiting and working in the UK. It will be a thrill to finally do a proper UK tour and be back performing here,” she told UK newspaper The Mirror. The Wind Beneath My Wings hitmaker last played in the UK in 1980, the outlet notes.
Her tour is scheduled to launch July 9 at Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena, followed by a performance at the Manchester Arena July 11, at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro July 13, at Leeds’ First Direct Arena July 15 and finally London’s O2 July 18. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale Friday via Live Nation.
News of the tour follows shortly after Bette revealed plans to reissue her 1980 memoir, which she believes stands the test of time.
“I read it again about six months ago and it’s really charming to revisit [that time],” she told People magazine earlier this year. “In a funny way, it’s the diary that I would have written if I had lived in wonderland.”
In it, she opens up about the diva image she’s cultivated over the years, which she admits is quite different from her off-stage personality.
“People’s picture of me is so extraordinary and it’s so far from reality. It’s not as flamboyant as it is in their imagination and I don’t want anyone to know that because I really like what I created,” she explained, musing: “I think I didn’t have enough celebrity sex to make it really the book that people mostly want to read these days.”
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