After a 40 plus-year career on stage and screen, you could forgive Patti Boulaye for putting her feet up now she's in her 60s. Instead, the Nigerian-born star is warming up for a new show, is about to publish her autobiography and continues to be actively involved in charity work. She even lectures business students at Middlesex University.
Having got her big break in the musical Hair, her book 'The Faith Of A Child' takes a look at Boulaye's upbringing, which was by turns privileged and poverty-stricken. The Biafran conflict looms large, but alongside the violence and tragedy, faith runs through her story consistently. 'Music is the fruit of the Spirit, she says, 'that is for sure'.
Brought up as one of nine children, Patti credits her mother's firm faith as the core of everything she's gone on to achieve, including nine albums, 25 singles, TV shows, films and even an OBE. "I'd just survived a genocide,' she says, matter-of factly, while sitting in a genteel West London café. 'My mother never allowed us to look back.' Boulaye says the reason for her mother's resolve was simple: 'Jesus was her best friend... When she said "my good friend, the Good Shepherd," we knew who she was talking about... She supported three churches, three denominations, it was incredible.'
It's hard to believe she's been in the spotlight for so long – her eyes gleaming as she talks about her long career – she looks 15 years younger than she actually is. She credits her longevity and her youthfulness to clean living, and the wisdom she sought from God at a young age. "On my 17<sup>th birthday, the crazy cast [of Hair] laced my champagne with LSD and baked a cake of marijuana. I have a good guardian angel, that's all I can say... I just looked at the cake and said, "no"....
Again, her mother looms large in the story. 'Every morning she'd ring the bell for prayers. That had an incredible affect on me... I remember one year, my sister was reading the prayers. It said the greatest gift of all was wisdom. I remember thinking as a child, "well I don't want anything else. I want this gift. I just thought, aww, God you're awesome!"'
Having spent a lifetime in show business, it's unsurprising Boulaye has a contacts book full of celebrity names. She recalls asking her friend Cliff Richard to help her with a charity concert she'd organized at the iconic Royal Albert Hall in London. When he arrived at the sound check, Sir Cliff was reluctant to rehearse in front of the 3,000 gospel singers Boulaye had assembled to back him.
He needn't have worried. She recalls that once he'd started singing, he caught her eye, 'As he started singing and the choir started singing, he couldn't believe it. He held out the microphone and he looked at me down the ramp and [mouthed] "heaven".'
It's not just the show business names who've been captured by her dedication to charitable work and performing. After that same gig at the Royal Albert Hall, she remembers how former Conservative Leader Iain Duncan Smith appeared backstage and said, 'It was amazing!... I don't know what it is but it belongs here [she points to her heart] and I'm taking it with me.' Her response? 'My God is truly awesome.'
Boulaye has known some of the very biggest names in the music world. In fact, one of them is partially responsible for her decision to tell her life story now. She was a guest at a wedding where pop icon Michael Jackson was due to be the best man. When he was late in arriving, she got talking to the woman next to her. When she began to hear some of Boulaye's life story, she said, 'You've got to write this!... My first impression of you was this charmed life. Look at you – glamourous - you've never had a care in the world. You've got to write it! There's something very spiritual about the book you're going to write.'
Growing up witnessing the violence and poverty of the civil strife in Nigeria meant Boulaye had seen some horrific sights by the time she moved to London and started her career. She's hung onto these experiences through her life and is convinced they shaped her into the person she now is.
On one trip to Africa, she recalled how children with AIDS were being buried alive. This horrified her to such an extent that she gave up performing for nearly 15 years and dedicated herself to fundraising. Her work has directly contributed to thousands of lives being improved through clinics and treatment centres.
She also found inspiration for her latest project by reflecting on some of her tougher experiences. This month she's beginning performances of a show based on the work of Billie Holiday, the legendary African American singer whose own life was marked by tragedy. 'I started looking at her life... My husband said, "you know what, there are a lot of similarities in your early lives".' The show has uplifting moments, too, though. She says, 'Billie's song are quite dark. I do Etta James "At Last" as well.
Along with her youthful looks and her versatile voice, the thread running through Patti Boulaye's career is her dissatisfaction with injustice and her vibrant faith. 'I'm always looking for doors that He's opened, she says. 'Everything I do is for a reason... He's been building me up. I feel it in everything.'
Patti Boulaye's autobiography is 'The Faith Of A Child', published on March 10. She is performing her show about Billie Holiday "Billie and Me" is on at The Pheasantry in London on March 9 & 10 and then around the UK.
