Angela Sara West catches up with the leather-clad rocker at her moated Chelmsford manor house about her relentless rock ’n’ roll life, turning down Elvis, her career highlights and why she loves Essex
Elvis wanted to meet her, she’s lived it up with Led Zeppelin and rocked along with the Rolling Stones – legendary singer, actress and author Suzi Quatro started touring at the age of 14, and at 72, is still on the road. Having sold over 55 million records worldwide, scored number ones with Can the Can and Devil Gate Drive, this multi-talented musician hasn’t only made her mark on the music world…
Happy Days!
The Detroit-born, Britain-based chart-topper has also found fame as a Hollywood actress. Already known for her leather-clad look, Suzi starred alongside The Fonz (played by Henry Winkler) in Happy Days as the female equivalent, Leather Tuscadero.
Her happiest Happy Days memories? ‘I love Henry,’ she tells me. ‘We’re still in contact now. My best memory was when he purposely sent me out on the set for my big entrance – first show, live audience – and he sent me out a page early! I wasn’t nervous after that.’
She landed the lead in Annie Get Your Gun in London’s West End and wrote and appeared in her own musical, Talullah Bankhead. Suzi’s also starred in TV shows Minder, Midsomer Murders (in which she was ‘electrocuted’ in her rock star role), Dempsey and Makepeace and Absolutely Fabulous.
‘Ab Fab was a riot!’ she reveals. ‘Jennifer Saunders let me have fun with the script, so I created a little, and Joanna Lumley is a gracious lady.’
Suzi is also an author, and released her first novel, The Hurricane, for which she’ll be forever grateful to Jackie Collins. ‘After reading my autobiography, Unzipped, Jackie told me, “You can write, so yes, do a novel, but stick with what you know to begin with.” So, I did.’ Sound advice, it appears. And as the novel is about the life of fictional rockstar Alison Heart, it seems Suzi heeded Jackie’s words. ‘Everyone seems to really enjoy reading it. It has a twist at the end…’ Suzi teases.
She’s also received an honorary doctorate from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, in recognition of her services to music. ‘I take it seriously. I’ve always wanted to teach my profession,’ and she has formed a supergroup, too. ‘Quatro, Scott and Powell (QSP) is me, Andy Scott (Sweet's guitarist) and Don Powell (Slade's drummer).’
When it comes to a rockin’ show, Suzi Q never fails to deliver. She still plays around 80 gigs a year and is just as fit as she was in her 1970s heyday. Her secret? ‘I jog, go to the gym and practise yoga everywhere I travel.’
As an iconic rock star for over 50 years, she’s performed alongside other music royalty, including Paul Young, David Essex, The Osmonds, Bonnie Tyler and Hot Chocolate on her Legends Live tour.
The big break
Discovering her passion for music at a very young age, she graduated to go-go dancing in a pop series on local TV. ‘I came from a musical family and we did family shows. I always knew I could hold an audience.’
Suzi made her stage debut aged just seven, playing bongos in her father's jazz band, The Art Quatro Trio. She then went on the road at 14 with older sister, Patti, and their all-girl band, The Pleasure Seekers, renamed Cradle in 1969.
Her big break came when the famous British record producer, Mickie Most, offered her a solo contract at one of their gigs. ‘He said to guitarist Jeff Beck, who was with him, “That girl playing bass is a star!”’ Originally from Michigan, this pivotal moment saw Suzi crossing the Atlantic in 1971 to pursue a solo career managed by Mickie, and so began her incredible journey to fame.
Patting bongos for her dad, did she ever dream she would be the world-renowned rock star she is today? ‘I always had a feeling I would be famous, yes. I didn't know how exactly, but I really wanted to be Elvis!’
Royal admiration and an invitation from The King
She has struck a chord with royalty – the then-Prince Charles once told Suzi she had the best legs since Tina Turner. ‘Yep, he sure did – and I turned into a giggling idiot!’ And she’s met, interviewed or played on stage with most of her musical heroes, although the Queen of Rock declined an invitation from her biggest idol.
‘Elvis has been my music icon since I was six years old. I had a feeling when I first saw him that I would do what he did – I really wanted to be him! He heard my version of All Shook Up and called me, when I was in Memphis in 1974, to invite me to Graceland. But I wasn’t ready to meet him at the time, so I turned him down. But I believe everything happens for a reason, and I wrote the tribute song Singing with Angels. If I had met him, this song would not exist.’
Essex is where the heart is
Although Essex hit the right note for Suzi, she and her concert promoter husband Rainer Haas live apart – he in his Hamburg home in his native Germany and Suzi in Chelmsford. ‘We’re together most of the time, though. We go back and forth, and that works for us!’
Previously hitched to ex-guitarist Len Tuckey, with whom she has two children, Suzi married Rainer in 1993. ‘I proposed to him, and three months later, we flew to Las Vegas on Concorde with the kids, a couple of friends and family members, and got married.’
For Suzi, her moated manor house in Chelmsford completely fits the bill. ‘I bought it back in 1980,’ she reveals. ‘It’s a very large Elizabethan manor house, with three floors, nine bedrooms and 3.5 acres of land.’
But what drew her to Essex? ‘My ex-husband was raised in Romford, so when we purchased a home, it was in this area. I love the ruralness of Essex – it’s so peaceful.’
Her magnificent manor house property is listed. ‘I keep true to the age of the house. You start repairing at one end, and when that's done, you start again. We are only the caretakers. I respect the history.’
And Suzi enjoys a very special ‘essential’ space. ‘I have an Ego Room on the third floor with a plaque on the door saying: Ego Room, Mind Your head. It’s a really peaceful room, with old stage outfits, bass guitars, pictures, posters, scrapbooks, videos, CDs… my entire career! On the table, there’s the big red This is Your Life book, which they did for me in 1999.’
And it’s certainly been quite a life, with much of it spent in Chelmsford. ‘I spend most of my time on the road,’ she tells me. ‘So, home and downtime are precious to me. I love to relax and watch a movie with a nice wine; I’m pretty solitary.’ As for local gigs, ‘I headlined the Chelmsford Spectacular when it was running, and would love to do more.’
Her favourite things to do in the area? ‘I love Bluewater and Lakeside, and I go to the excellent Everyman Cinema in Chelmsford. My favourite restaurant is Galvin Green Man – fantastic food in Great Waltham. I am a part of this community; I’m an Essex girl from Detroit!’
Lockdown creativity
The lockdowns brought tough times for musicians, but Suzi got creative and collaborated with her son on an album. ‘We’re now on our second album as a team,’ she explains. ‘The first was No Control, which charted around the world. Critics loved it. Now with The Devil in Me, again, we charted around the world. I have received the best album reviews of my entire career.’
As a gigging artist, Suzi was yearning to get back on stage. ‘When you have been doing something since the age of 14, it’s more than an itch; it’s the air that you breathe. I missed it with every bone in my body.’
How did it feel to make it on to Forbes’ prestigious Music Docs to Watch list in 2020? ‘I’m very proud of my documentary, Suzi Q. It stayed top of the Amazon charts for ages and it’s now being made into a movie!’
Suzi’s back on track this year with her gruelling full-on schedule. How did it feel to finally be back on stage with her sell-out gig at the Royal Albert Hall in April? ‘This was my first gig in 2022, and the last one was in September 2021, so a huge gap. It was just incredible; I was high for four days. And again, I’d never had such good reviews in my entire life!’
Highs and lows
She says there have been numerous highlights and proud moments. ‘My first No.1, first big gig in Germany, first massive tour of Australia (that was crazy!), first acting job, first musical, my own TV chat show, my autobiography, my poetry book, my first novel… and last, but not least, receiving my honorary doctorate in cap and gown at Cambridge University.’
She tells me she once had to kick an inebriated Iggy Pop off stage. ‘There are too many stories to tell! I was once doing a 10-minute goodbye, real diva-like, walking side-to-side, bowing, waving – the whole thing. Then I fell over on the monitor, bass on, legs waving in the air! This was in Finland and the band called it my big finish!’
She also reveals a ‘mystical matter’ involving Sir Paul McCartney. ‘I had a crazy dream about him that didn’t make sense. I conveyed it to him by letter, and the next thing you know he called me and told me every single detail was true!’
Up next...
September saw the release of her EP Uncovered, while next spring sees her drop her duet album with friend KT Tunstall. Suzi’s also setting sail on her second Rock the Boat ‘festival at sea’ cruise this November where she will perform with 20 fellow rock acts. ‘Although I love headlining these shows, I get seasick in the port,’ she reveals. ‘It’s going to be excellent! An evening of hits… what could be better?’
The secret to Suzi’s phenomenal success? ‘Believing in myself, stamina, luck and keeping my feet firmly on the ground at all times. Music means absolutely everything to me... it is my heart, my soul and my gift to the world.’
Having famously said, ‘I will retire when I go on stage, shake my ass, and there is silence,’ this music business stalwart shows no signs of slowing down.
suziquatro.com
