Ever met a man like him before?

Edwyn Collins explains why he won’t get emotional when he performs at Beat Generator in Dundee on September 3 – his first full concert in his home city since he fell gravely ill in 2005

Dundee-raised singer-songwriter Edwyn Collins has revealed how “vulnerable” he felt after two catastrophic strokes left him locked inside his mind and unable to speak.

In an interview with The Courier ahead of his first full concert in the city since suffering two cerebral haemorrhages in 2005, the 60-yearold said he felt “frightened at first” as he lay in hospital – but has his wife and manager Grace to thank for helping him persevere.

The former Morgan Academy pupil sprang to fame in the early 1980s fronting the band Orange Juice before going on to million-selling solo success in 1994 with his song A Girl Like You.

But in February 2005, two days after complaining of feeling unwell, the then 45-year-old suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and was rushed to intensive care in London’s Royal Free hospital. Days later, he suffered another, with his wife told to prepare for the worst.

“I spent six months in hospital and Grace was with me every day,” said Edwyn. “I couldn’t say a word except ‘the possibilities are endless’ over and over again. I was so vulnerable. I was frightened. But I persevered!”

Grace explained that despite an incredibly uncertain future at that time, they refused to give up.

“For a long while, nine months, Edwyn was in a sort of a dwam and was finding it very hard to pin a thought down – it was weird,” she said.

“He’d lost language, of course. It was a strange thing. But the one overriding thing I worried about was that he was frightened. We had a very, very

uncertain future. But we took the view: we won’t give up.”

Grace said it would have been “wonderful” if someone had been able to tell them in the spring of 2005 that the upcoming years would actually be some of the best and most productive of their lives.

Having steadily improved, Edwyn has since been all over the world, produced countless records and built a recording studio after moving to Helmsdale in Sutherland.

During our interview, the father-ofone is in fine form – despite coming to terms with the dawn of his 60th birthday a few hours earlier and emphasising that’s he’s still young at heart.

Damage done by the haemorrhages means Edwyn can no longer play guitar, and, with his speech also affected, he is assisted in conversation by his wife, who helps finish his sentences – and he hers! But while his mobility has been affected, when he’s not “marching all over Helmsdale”, he can still strum the guitar and sing. And he’s not lost any of the energy or passion for music, as fans will discover at Beat Generator.

Born in Edinburgh, Edwyn lived in Dundee from the age of six to 14 after his father got a job as a lecturer at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.

Living in Bingham Terrace next to Baxter Park, he went to a “demonstration school” attached to the then teacher training college on Perth Road, before moving to Morgan Academy.

A highlight came aged 14 when he joined a hard rock band he named Onyx – that was until they kicked him out for “not being good enough”.

Family kept him in touch with Dundee after his parents split when he was a teen and he moved to Glasgow. He did a DCA Q&A in 2013.

But asked if he’ll be feeling emotional when he returns to do his first proper concert in Dundee since his haemorrhages, the answer is a resolute: “No – because I’m a hard-hearted so-and-so!” Fans can expect a mix of material from his Orange Juice days, classic solo material and some new stuff.

“I was so vulnerable. I was frightened. But I persevered

Picture: John Maher. Edwyn Collins will be returning to Dundee, where he lived between the ages of six and 14.