I’m not ready for a quiet life. If I wasn’t creative, I’d die

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rgh!’ gung-ho attitude means she intends to keep on rocking until she is at least 80.

“Why not? Who makes the rules? I do,” she said. I’m not ready for a quiet life, especially when I’ve spent 56 years honing my craft. If I wasn’t creative I’d die.”

Suzi even plans to keep her raunchy stage-dancing going.

“I always tell my audiences that I’m proud to still be shaking my a*** at my age,” she says.

“It’s only when your a*** shakes by itself that it’s time to worry.”

If she doesn’t manage to get to Hamburg to celebrate her 70th with

Rainer, Suzi’s Plan B is to have a small garden party at home.

“I do have loads of champagne to get through,” she said with a laugh. But while past birthday presents have always included sunglasses to add to her impressive 800-pair collection, Suzi’s wish list is far more simple this year.

“The ultimate gift would be everybody being together again,” she said, blinking back tears.

“All I want is to be able to hug my family. It’s not much to ask for, is it? My daughter Laura, son Richard and my two grandkids have come over and sat apart from me in the garden, but it doesn’t feel natural. My daughter is fierce about protecting me though.

“And my 18-year-old granddaughter Amy says, ‘Grandma, if I gave you the virus I’d never forgive myself.’”

Lockdown has led to Suzi finding a new appreciation of her home.

She said: “It’s a big house, I’ve got three-and-a-half acres and a moat and I’m surrounded by fields. You could say that I’m isolated all the time here. I normally live like a gypsy and travel all the time. So staying put suits me in many ways.”

But Suzi is disappointed she has had to cancel dozens of tour dates this year.

She said: “I don’t want to complain because everybody is in the same boat, but the life I’ve built for myself over 56 years has gone up in flames.

“I don’t know when gigs will come back. But it isn’t only musicians being affected, it’s all the lighting and staging people, the road crews… everyone.”

Ever the trouper, Suzi added: “We’re really feeling it in the entertainment industry because we’re all about people.”