A Lang time coming: K.D. Lang talks ahead of Birmingham show

Now, 25 years later, she is returning to her roots – performing the album that shot her to stardom in its entirety – at Birmingham Symphony Hall tomorrow.

Fans can expect favourites like Constant Craving and other classics from her 30-year repertoire.

The record made K.D. public property, though she’d already been enjoying a rise prior to its release.

Four years beforehand, she’d earned international recognition when she performed as The Alberta Rose at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics.

Canadian women’s magazine Chatelaine selected Lang as its Woman of the Year and her career received a huge boost when Roy Orbison chose her to record a duet of his standard, Crying, a collaboration that won them the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals in 1989.

Lang was on the way up and 1988 marked the release of Shadowland, an album of torch country produced by Owen Bradley. Lang won the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her 1989 album Absolute Torch and Twang. And in 1990, she contributed the song So in Love to the Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot + Blue produced by the Red Hot Organization.

But it was the 1992 album, Ingénue, a set of adult-oriented pop songs that showed comparatively little country influence, which catapulted her into the big time.

That brought her multi-million sales, much critical acclaim, and its hit single Constant Craving won her the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

She found the hoopla distracting and didn’t enjoy the attention, though all these years on she can look back and laugh. “I was surprised when I heard a rumour that I’d slept with Madonna,” she said. “I was completely oblivious to it.”

She wasn’t fond of being the centre of attention, but realised that went with the territory. “It’s a by product of showbusiness. And really, that’s one of the reasons I don’t like participating in showbusiness.”

She is no longer as profilic in her output. After seven studio and six collaborative albums, the impulse to create has dimmed. These days, the thing that gives her a buzz is taking the show on the road.

“I’m excited to tour because, to me, it’s just about singing for people,” she continued. “But it has not ignited a deep thrust to make more music.”

Times have changed since KD’s stellar hit, not least among the LGBT+ community, who now enjoy a level of acceptance that she could only dream of. But she’s pleased that she opened the door for others and made their lives a little easier as the world slowly became more tolerant.

“Yeah, although I try not to take huge credit for that because it’s not a competition,” she said.

“It’s something bigger than all of us. I am certainly proud, but at the same time, I’m just one of many. Gay culture isn’t just one sliver of humanity – it’s a huge cross-section of people.”

Not that she fells all of the work is done. “The bottom line is that everyone wants to feel accepted.

“But people feel threatened by women who chose to be with women because society has constructed this game plan.”

“Right now, there are so many rightwing forces at work providing and fuelling hatred.”

“I came out to my mum when I was 17. My high-school sweetheart had left me for somebody and I was really upset. My mum asked what was wrong and I said, ‘you wouldn’t understand’ and she said, ‘try me’. So I came out to her. It was hard. My mum was a Christian and this was early, this was 1977 or 1978.

“So, that was a pretty big deal in a small town then and my mum struggled with it for a couple of years. Because, more than anything, I think parents want you to have a safe, happy life. I understood that but as I progressed through life and became more accomplished and got public praise it got easier between us.

“When I came out publicly it was a bit of a setback but it was also a solidification of how important it was. It was a tough journey but it was definitely, definitely worth it.”