Mica Paris shot to stardom in the late 1980s, with One Temptation and Where Is The Love featuring amongst her biggest hits. Since making her breakthrough, she’s successfully turned her hand to presenting, writing, acting and fundraising. This month she takes to the stage to star in Love Me Tender, a brand new musical from the producers of Hairspray, Legally Blonde and Jersey Boys. What’s On recently caught up with Mica to find out what audiences can expect.

Love Me Tender is a brand new musical which, to a certain extent, sees you entering into the unknown. What drew you to the production?
The story. It’s so powerful. I guess it’s almost like Frankie And Johnny. It’s set in the ’50s in America at a time of segregation. My character, Sylvia, is very much like me, just with an American accent. It was all too much when I first read the script. She just mirrored me. Sylvia runs a bar and you get to see her during a twenty-four-hour period. You see what went on in the ’50s, in a bar owned by a black woman, at a time of segregation. And the music is all Elvis. It’s just a very powerful script - and although the subject matter is serious, it’s done in a way that makes you laugh and have fun. 

How has the music of Elvis influenced you as an artist?
Elvis was my mother’s favourite. I remember being seven years old when he died. My mum was just bawling her eyes out for weeks. I couldn’t understand what was wrong with her. She’s obsessed with Elvis, so when I told her I was doing this play she was made up. I’ve done so much in the past twenty-seven years in this business, but the minute I do this play with the music of Elvis, I’m the best thing since sliced bread as far as she’s concerned. I couldn’t do anything wrong right now. 

By your own admission your voice is now as good as it’s ever been. How do you keep it in top condition?
The best way to keep your voice in good shape is just to keep singing. It’s like a muscle; you just have to keep using it and it just gets better and better with time. Mine gets a bit raspy and a bit seasoned, but I consider myself very blessed that I still have it. When you’re singing, you don’t try to control it, you allow yourself to be a channel for the energy. I know it will sound like a load of mumbo-jumbo to some people, but it really is true. You have to allow yourself to be led by the energy of the voice. If I was trying to control it, or if I was trained or something, I would probably lose that sense of what my voice is. I sometimes come off stage and think, ‘How did I do that?’ It’s almost like a cartoon, when you step out of your body, look at yourself and think, ‘Oh my gosh, was that me?’

Looking back over your career, what single piece of advice would you give to your seventeen-year-old self?
I’m not a person to look back. I don’t look back and I don’t look forward, I’m just in the moment. What advice I give to other people who’re young is that you have to really love this thing. You have to love it so much that it doesn’t matter if you have a hit or not. You have to love it so much that you don’t care if you’re famous or not. The only reason you should do it is for the love of the art. If you get the fame on top, that’s a bonus, but the beginning of it must be an absolute and total passion for it.

Your daughter’s in the business. Do you pass on your own experiences, or is it a case of letting her get on with it?
I don’t get involved at all. She comes to me when she needs me, and I’m there. I don’t want to get in the way of her progress. She must find her own thing and do it herself. I’m there when she crashes and that’s all you can do as a mother. You’re their rock and should be there when they need you, but you shouldn’t get involved in pushing them and telling them where to go. You have to leave them to get on with it. They love you for it in the end.

What do you think of the current state of the music industry?
I think we could sit here and go on about the glory days of the ’80s and ’90s, and how there was loads of money in the business back then. Yes, there was - but most of the time the artists didn’t get to keep the money. That’s changed now, which is a good thing. The only downside is that it’s much harder for people to come through nowadays. People think the main way is through TV and reality programmes. I’m not talking about presenting, I’m talking about getting visibility to sell your music. You have to be visible to have your music sell. Before, you could rely on your talent.  

What do you class as your biggest achievement?
My children, really - my children are fabulous. My biggest achievement outside of my children is that, after all these years, people still seem to like me somewhat, find me interesting and like my music. I think that’s a great achievement.

You’ve had some fantastic collaborations over the years with some really big names. Which has been the most memorable for you?
Prince was great. He wrote me a great song for my second album. Chaka Khan has been really good to me over the last twenty-odd years too, and has given me a lot of love and support - as have Natalie Cole and Dionne Warwick. These are all people who, from day one until now, have always been supportive and given me a whole lot of love. I’m very fortunate to have been involved with that calibre of artist.

On your twitter page, you describe yourself as a survivor. Can you expand on that?
I was caught up in that crazy fame stuff. I’ve managed to survive with my faculties intact, I’ve raised a family and am still pretty much together.

You were recently honoured as an icon at Windsor Castle by the Duke of Edinburgh. How was that experience?
It was very interesting. It was very weird being in the same room as Buzz Aldrin and all these incredible people. I was just like, ‘Am I an icon as well? That’s weird!’ So it was a bit strange but very sweet. The Duke’s great, and so was Sophie, Countess of Wessex. She’s lovely. Believe it or not, she was a runner for me when I first put out my My One Temptation track. She was a runner at Capital Radio and looked after me. I didn’t even know that until I went to the Icon dinner. She came up and said, ‘Before I got married, I was your runner at Capital Radio’. That was so bizarre.

You’ve appeared on a couple of reality TV shows. Is that line of work something you’d do again?
The reality shows that I chose were quite good. They weren’t embarrassing or humiliating, and I always try everything once. I did Strictly and realised I can’t dance. I tried it but you’ll never see me do that again. I’ve just done Celebrity Masterchef, which is credible as well, but that will be the last. It’s such a lot of work, thirteen-hour days.

How are you gearing up for being back on the road?
I tour all the time with my band, but I haven’t done a play for twenty-one years. The last one I did was Mama I Want To Sing. I’m looking forward to being on tour with Love Me Tender because we get to stay in the towns for a week and I come home on the Sunday. My boyfriend and mother are amazing. I’m very lucky that I have this great, supportive network. The whole tour falls in the summer holidays,  which is perfect. It’s all fallen into place, so there isn’t going to be any stress. 

You’ve achieved a great deal as a musician, an author, actress, presenter, ambassador for women, campaigner and, obviously, as a mother. What’s left to achieve?
I’m on a road of discovery. I want to continue to make people feel great with what I do. If I died tomorrow, I’d feel like I’d done everything I wanted to do, but my modus operandi is always to do stuff that makes people feel good. That’s what music is; it’s uplifting. The world is pretty horrible at the moment, so it’s good to have something to cheer us up. So when you ask me what I want to do, I just want to continue to try and empower people, especially women, and to make people feel good. 

Love Me Tender shows at Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, from Mon 29 June - Sat 4 July and New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, from Mon 24 - Sat 29 August