[Interview] Patti Boulaye OBE talks to the Link ahead of her upcoming Swindon tour date

By Jessica Durston - 12 May 2023

Arts and CultureOpinion and Features

Swindon Link’s Jessica Durston spoke to the exuberant entertainer Patti Boulaye OBE about her ‘I’m Coming Out’ tour (featuring the songs of Diana Ross) that will be visiting Swindon this June.

Considered a real doyenne within the entertainment field, Patti Boulaye OBE is back touring the UK with her new show ‘I’m Coming Out.’ It features a plethora of Diana Ross’ most well-loved tracks along with some humorous comparisons between the veteran performer’s and Diana’s lives – told by Patti herself.

The lady of many talents was kind enough to put time aside to talk to me and I was looking forward to the conversation since it had been locked into the diary.

The performing arts legend has turned her hand to everything – music, television, film, theatre. You name it – Patti’s probably done it. She gave up on her plans to become a nun to break into the entertainment industry in the UK after moving from Nigeria, and has been performing since the 1970s/80s.

Most people probably remember her for her music,  from her participation on talent show New Faces in 1978 (spoiler alert – she won!), for her role as Charlotte (opposite Lenny Henry) in The Fosters (1976 – 77), and from The Patti Boulaye Show (1984).

She lives a happy life, still performing, with support from her husband and manager Steven Komlosy, who had his own illustrious career, representing Motown (and working with artists such as Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, and more) in the UK.  

Within this interview we also discuss the charity work the pair have been involved in, Patti’s devotion to supporting young people with their education and wellbeing, and what spirituality and faith mean to her.

But first on the agenda was to find out what Swindon music-lovers could expect from her upcoming Arts Centre performance. I wanted to know what makes the tour special and why Diana Ross was at the forefront of Patti’s mind when putting the show together.

Patti explained: “It’s a fun show and is not just a Diana tribute performance. I will be performing tracks from Diana Ross, and the Supremes, and some of my own too. These shows on the ‘I’m Coming Out tour’ are about lifting people’s spirits.

“You know, when people come and see you, they should leave buzzing.”

This show is not the first one Patti has put together in homage to another great artist. Before the ‘I’m Coming Out’ tour, she also did a show entitled ‘Billie and Me’ (paying her respects to Billie Holliday) and ‘Aretha and Me’ (paying her respects to the late great Miss Franklin).

She recalled: “A few years ago now, my husband and I worked to get three health centres built in Nigeria and Cameroon. I set up a charity - Support for Africa - and the funding for the health centres came from my concerts at the Albert Hall, and from donors. It took years to do, as it was just me working from my laptop, as I did not have a secretary. We also provided funds for Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale, to help build a school in Lesotho.

“Following this I decided I would return to what I loved doing – which is my singing. I thought what can I do that is exciting for me and the audience? I wrote a show called ‘Billie and Me’ where I would perform Billie Holliday songs and talk about her life.

“I had never ‘done jazz’ before and I thought this is a good time to start. Also as Billie’s life story is really quite a sad tale, and some of her songs reflected this, I thought what can I do to balance this out so the show would have joyous elements to it.”

Patti continued: “I then started writing funny stories and anecdotes, and comparing my life to Billie’s. It gave people a chance to get to know the real me and about my life. I toured this show for three years.

“I then wanted to put together a show more happy and upbeat, and chose to do something of similar framework, but with Aretha Franklin songs, because she has many that are so cheerful and a lot of people know them.”

So why specifically Diana Ross this time? I was curious to know Patti’s connection with Diana and why her music has become the backbone of this new tour.

She told me she met Diana when she was 19 years of age, and had only been over in the UK for three years. Aside from loving her poppy, upbeat, and catchy choruses, there was another reason why Patti decided Diana Ross and her music should be the focus of her next show.

She added: “Michael Jackson used to tease me whenever I met him, and would sing ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ to me, and say that he was sure that if we went way way back, I would be related to Diana Ross! Also when I did New Faces, Tony Blackburn compared me to Diana Ross, and I didn’t know that until I rewatched it recently.

“Also my husband is a big fan of Diana Ross. He used to tour all the Motown shows in London and the rest of the UK. He owned West End theatres back then.”

Patti then settled on naming the tour ‘I’m Coming Out’ because she felt it said everything. Not only the name of one of Diana’s most popular hits, it is apt because Patti herself has come back out on tour, and is sharing her music, energy, and life stories with members of the public.

And attendees of her show will be in for a ride! Audience encouragement, participation, and enjoyment are said to be her lifeblood as a performer.

Patti elaborates: “I do involve my audience in my shows a lot because I’m not on some kind of ego trip with these shows. Entertainment is like public service really.

“I don’t like to be self-indulgent. I know people aren’t going to come to my show and not know any of the songs. I’m not trying any new material out on anyone – it’s all about a fun audience experience. I also like to include anything that will make them laugh.”

The performer strives for audience enjoyment and is adamant that ‘I’m Coming Out’ is not her touring show – it’s the audiences’.

She added: “After lockdown, I thought ‘Okay! Time to cheer people up!’ People said to me ‘but Patti, people are not coming back out to events that much yet’. I didn’t care though, even if it was just one man and his dog, I was determined to make him and his dog smile, and still perform.”

Hearing Patti talk about her drive and passion to share her talents with people and make them smile was admirable. It got me thinking, and begged the question – how did she get into the industry in the first place? What was the turning point? How did she know it was the career for her?

Patti mused on this and shared with me, a memory from 1975. She recounted: “I survived a genocide that was going on in Nigeria in the 1960s, and then I came to Britain. I have brilliant siblings, one’s a physicist, one is an industrial chemist, one is a doctor in the military, one is a pilot and one is an aeronautical engineer, and I thought to myself, I have to figure out the performing arts as an industry.

“I knew I wanted to pursue my career in entertainment when I played Yum-Yum in the Black Mikado in 1975. There was a severely disabled boy in the front row at the performance and I really wanted to perform for him and to make him smile.

“I delivered a line when sitting on the stage close to the audience and winked at him. His little smile grew at both corners of his mouth and I knew I was in the right industry. My father had disowned me at this point – he said that I had joined vagabonds and strolling minstrels, but did end up forgiving me later on in life.”

Patti added that when asked how she wants to be introduced on stage, she tells MCs to call her an entertainer.

She continued: “At the end of the day, that is what I am, that is what we all are in the industry. I define entertainer as someone who provides the public with the service of entertainment.

“Anyone who doesn’t believe they are a public servant in the entertainment business can think again because what we do is not about us, it’s about our audience.”

As she has been a fabulous entertainer since the 1970s, I couldn’t help but wonder, does it still feel the same when stepping out on stage now, after all those years? Does she still get nervous?

The established performer said that when she first started out, she viewed every show as a lesson, and would self-analyse afterwards – what went well? What didn’t? Nowadays, she has adopted rather more of a laid-back approach.

“I’m just flying with it now – I go with the flow. I’ve realised there is no point in separating the show from the audience. Make them laugh, make them cry, make them dance. Let them experience all the emotions in one night. That’s what makes a good show.

“I have a lot more of a care-free, easy attitude about performing now. I encourage my audience to get up and sing with me, and to laugh together.

“I remember feeling nervous when I started doing the jazz show with the Billie Holliday songs as it was not my comfort zone, and I was worried I wouldn’t remember the stories I wanted to be telling. But then I found that relaxing and just loosely scripting the show worked well - the audience responded, and it was different every time. I don’t always tell the same stories each night, and it helps keep it fresh.”

As well as spearheading and touring these shows honouring well-known female icons, Patti has also managed to find the time to carry out her role as Visiting Teaching Fellow at Middlesex University. She has also given lectures at Oxford and Birmingham University.

Additionally, she is the founder and managing director of BIPADA – an organisation helping people to turn their lives around and achieve their goals through personalised 1:1 or group training sessions, seminars, and workshops.

Patti is very clear about the fact that helping young people is something very important to her.

She said: “I like to teach young people how to have respect for themselves, how to be in the world but not of it – because a lot of things in the world can drag young people down. I hear people my age saying, ‘oh young people this, young people that’ and I tell them to stop saying negative things about them.

“They didn’t fall out of the sky and end up like this - whatever these people say is wrong with young people can be blamed on the people who brought them up like it. I don’t understand why young people get a bad rep sometimes because they only know what they have learned from those who have come before them.

“We train soldiers to the hilt to prepare them for their working life and in order to protect or save their lives – why should educating and caring for children be any different?”

Patti added: “‘When I give lectures, I really feel for the students sometimes. I can see the difference within them over the course of the 13 years I have been visiting educational establishments. It breaks my heart to see the difference in their wellbeing and their body language.”

This realisation of this decline in wellbeing amongst young people saddened Patti, and she says she believes that the negativity social media can inject into an individual’s life is partly responsible.

She mused: “I don’t know why young people want so many followers – I tell them ‘they’re not your friends, you don’t know them.’ I joined TikTok for this reason. I thought how can I reach young people. I give them advice on there. I tell them ‘what someone feels about you is none of your business – trust me.’

“I also often say to my students that your best friend on social media is the delete button. I delete more people or so called ‘friends’ on social media than I keep gaining. Any disrespect and you’re gone – you know?

“I like to use social media to help people with life advice if I can – I have no interest in becoming an influencer. When I say to people ‘ask me for advice’, I don’t think they take me seriously or think I really mean it.”

This concern for young people and their mental health and wellbeing in this modern world prompted Patti to launch her own talk show, ‘Life With Patti Boulaye’, in 2018. Some episode links can be found at https://www.pattiboulaye.com/lifewithpattiboulaye

She spoke about how this came to fruition: “I made this show off the back of talking to my university students. They had lots of questions for me and I think a lot of young people think celebrities and stars just wake up and become successful.

“The entertainment world can give young people bad examples of role models. I thought, okay, I’m going to start this show and have people come on and tell the stories that they never hear in the press – how difficult life can be, and how you can fail but then rise again.

“I was so happy and surprised that so many people obliged you know – wonderful famous friends would come and talk about how they did drugs, and the effects of that. I thought ‘wow’ and was so pleased by the support.”

Alongside music and performing, and her support work within education, Patti also holds her faith very close to her heart, and believes that spirituality is something that can help individuals within this modern world.

She states: “I think people are missing spirituality in this day and age. We are spiritual beings on a physical journey. It’s a very short journey – no matter how long you live. I don’t think you can ever truly know who you are on just a physical level - you need spirituality.

“You wouldn’t believe how many times I have prayed for young people. I feel this depression could be caused because young people don’t know they are an entity within themselves.

Patti explained further: “At my first lecture, I said to the students, ‘if I’m not speaking to your spirit, I have wasted my time.’ I have had some wonderful feedback from the universities, and my students, and was told 99% of them felt I was telling them the truth throughout my spirituality discussion, and the life advice I was providing. This was really surprising and amazing to hear.

“I encourage everyone, not just young people, to try prayer, try God, or try something outside themselves that is not human. Prayers are powerful. And if you are not that religious, then talk to the universe – it is inside of you, you are part of it!”

The multi-medium entertainer says she also has plans to spread more positivity and pass along life advice whilst turning her hand to some more writing. She published her autobiography ‘The Faith of a Child’ in 2017.

Patti explained: “In a similar way to what I did with my talk show ‘Life With Patti Boulaye’, I would like to write a series of booklets that contain advice and discussion around marriage, grief, confidence, religion, and basically everything to do with life. I have a lot to say about these topics. It goes hand-in-hand with what I’m doing on TikTok really.”

She ended the call with a ‘God bless’ and I felt warmed by her contagious positive energy. The ‘I’m Coming Out’ tour is sure to be incredible and infectiously joyful, so why not book yourself a ticket?

Patti will be visiting Swindon’s Arts Centre on Saturday 17 June. Tickets can be purchased at https://swindontheatres.co.uk/online/tickets-patti-boulaye-swindon-2023

More information about Patti Boulaye can be found on her website at https://www.pattiboulaye.com/ or by searching Patti Boulaye on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

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