The former Loose Women presenter may be known for her cover songs, or Cruising With Jane McDonald but so many forget that before all of this, she was known for her music. Before becoming a telly regular, the 61-year-old toured across the country, performing at pubs and clubs before landing a job on a cruise ship – this is where she found her true calling.
Many of you will know her for her Channel 5 programmes or her famous cover of DNCE's Cake By The Ocean but Jane is a successful singer in her own right. Having bagged four Top Ten albums, as well as performing at The Royal Albert Hall and the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas – no biggie then.
But Jane's music just has a way of lifting your spirits up, well, even her witty jokes can do that. She has a unique charm that appeals to everybody. My nan, grandad and I would speak on the phone every Friday after watching Cruising with Jane, just expressing our love for her and how much positivity she brings.
When I was offered the chance to go and see her on tour, I instantly leapt at the opportunity (my response may have given it away that I was extremely excited). Now, I've always known Jane was a good singer and now I can confirm she is up there with the best I've ever seen live. Now, I've seen the likes of Beyoncé, Adele, Harry Styles and Liam Gallagher live and I can happily say Jane is up there.
But it wasn't just her live performances, it was her cracking anecdotes. Although, when I entered the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on Thursday night, I hadn't expected to hear Jane talking about personal grooming – but you know, take things with a pinch of salt and all that, it certainly cracked the audience up as everybody was in tears of laughter.
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Daniel Bird)Back to the performance though, with covers including the famous DNCE track, Cher's Believe, If I Could Turn Back Time, The Shoop Shoop Song and Strong Enough – perfect music for a night out and that is just what it was. However, Jane also ensured that she took fans on a journey. Opening up about her song The Hand That Leads Me, the singer revealed she had written the song for her mum – who instantly fell in love with the song and told Jane it reminded her of her own mum (Jane's gran). This is something that really resonated with me.
"Even when I'm low and feeling down, darkness turns to light when you're around," is just one lyric that really hit home and reminded me of my own nan, who like me absolutely loved Jane. My nan and grandad will always be my best friends and the only people who manage to drive me insane but also fill my heart with so much love and warmth. Jane really meant it when she said "bring your tissues," because let me tell you, I had tears.
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Another top moment was seeing Jane on stage with her beloved best friend, Sue Ravey, who many will know from Cruising and of course, Celebrity Gogglebox. The pair are inseparable and Sue also worked as a backing singer for Jane. In a moment that touched everybody in the arena, Sue came on stage to cover For Good from Wicked with Jane. I wish I could put it into words but it was beyond mesmerising.
While Jane has suffered heartache following the break down of her marriage to 'The Great Dane', Henrik Brixen back in 2002 – she told us how she lost a fortune in the divorce – but in a playful swipe laughed that one song alone has made her more money than she lost. Henrik has now moved on with a "much, much, much younger" woman, according to Jane.
Although she was initially heartbroken after divorcing her best friend, husband and manager – reflecting on this, she explained it was probably one of the best thing she had done. I didn't have Jane down as the philosophical type but she had a way of explaining that after heartache and pain, there will always be a way to Let the Light In (pun intended).
Opening up and letting the crowd in to her personal life, Jane touched on her relationship with her beloved partner Ed Rothe who sadly died in 2022 after bravely battling lung cancer. It was moments like this which made you feel you were just sat with your close friend, belting out some incredible songs after one too many drinks – before snapping back into reality and realising you are actually seeing Jane McDonald live.
Again, back to the music. Having not felt the best recently, Jane belting out Doctor's Orders was definitely the serotonin boost that my own doctor would have recommended and I can see why. But one song in particular had me up on my feet, dancing and singing like there was no tomorrow. The term 'Dance Yourself Dizzy' was done, quite literally. Although the song was originally sang by Liquid Gold (the band Ed was in) – Jane really made sure we left "the world behind".
I went with a friend who only knew Jane from TV and not as a singer and even she was left blown away by Jane's live vocals which again, can only be described as out of this world. All in all, having waited years to see Jane live – it was certainly one of the best concerts and probably one of the best nights of my life. Although Jane is from Wakefield, West Yorks, she has the ability to stray my heart from Sheffield, South Yorks – which I didn't think was possible.
