Wha's like us... KT Tunstall

Published on Saturday 6 September 2008 19:36

LIFE has not always been easy for Kate Tunstall. Given up as a baby (but adopted by a loving Fife family), childhood ill health left her with a kidney problem. She was on the cusp of her 30th birthday – well past the age of retirement for many in the youth-obsessed music industry – when her breakthrough came.

And hasn't she grasped that belated opportunity with both hands? A massive debut album, Eye To The Telescope, spawned several hits and won a Mercury Prize nomination; follow-up albums secured success here and in the US, including a Brit Award and a Grammy nomination; 'Suddenly I See' was even used by Hillary Clinton in her failed bid for the presidency.

With so much success, Tunstall could easily have been seduced by celebrity culture. Instead, she has kept her feet on the ground – an approach never more obvious than this weekend, when she was due to marry Luke Bullen, her fianc and drummer. By all accounts, it was to be a family affair, with no photographers wielding cheques from OK! or Hello!. Drastic fantastic, as KT might say.