Scots showbiz gal Bev Lyons goes pop with viral debut single 'I’m Leaving You'
Scottish showbiz journalist and broadcaster Bev Lyons has spent the last few decades writing about everyone from Bieber to Beyonce and now she’s gone viral with her debut single.
Bev, who was invited to sing at Glasgow’s Pride in the Barrowland ballroom over the weekend, is getting rave reviews for her self-penned song I’m Leaving You, released this week.
The Scots writer and broadcaster, whose family in Morningside used to own an Edinburgh music shop in the North Bridge Arcade, began singing properly during the pandemic when she tried to entertain neighbours and friends from her flat balcony.
Her love of singing started long before that.
She said: “I’ve always loved performing and I used to sing at family parties when I was wee but I couldn’t look at my audience cause I was too scared. In more recent years I messed around in my bedroom, writing music on GarageBand.”
Although Bev has always championed other singers she did once get a chance to perform with one of the UK’s biggest pop stars.
She explained: “I won a karaoke competition to be one of Boy George’s backing singers at Abbey Road for a re release of Karma Chameleon. It was an amazing experience and I thought that was my 15 minutes of fame.”
Being a busy showbiz journalist soon took over and Bev put her singing dreams on the back burner until lockdown when the world of red carpet events and glitzy parties came to an abrupt stop.
With extra time on her hands she returned to her love of singing taking virtual lessons from renowned vocal coach Robert Wishart.
She said: “I’d been thinking about adding songs to my hosting work and had contacted Robert about that - and over lockdown, I sang on Facebook and tried to entertain my then-bored neighbours with some balcony tunes.”
Her online lockdown performances got a huge thumbs up and when life got back to normal after Covid she was asked to appear at live gigs. She said: “I love being able to sing to bigger audiences. Usually I would perform covers which I really enjoy but I began thinking it would be cool to develop some of my own songs.
“My debut single is a pop song about life after love, inspired by songs by Cher, Miley Cyrus and Gloria Gaynor. It’s a real upbeat anthem about hope, strength and survival."
Bev added: “I wrote it in December and finally went into the recording studio a couple of months ago.”
Bev posted up a brief excerpt of her new song on her social media and it’s already received acclaim from some of her celebrity followers including Deacon Blue’s Lorraine Mackintosh, Bay City Roller Stuart Woody Wood, Showbiz star Ross King, River City’s Tom Urie, and Scottish singers May Miller, Jesse Rae and St Phoenix.
This weekend Eurovision icon Miriana Conte also told her she loved it after hearing it backstage.
Bev said: “I’m really hoping the song resonates with people and can’t wait to see where it ends up. I’m absolutely loving the buzz and excitement just now and to be able to perform it at the iconic Barrowland Ballroom was a dream come true. I have been told I’ll get radio play from some stations but I don’t believe anything until it happens. As Oasis once said: “I’ll just roll with it.”