When part-time singer Lorraine O’Reilly took to the stage recently to play a mixture of cover songs and her own original material, she found herself suddenly taken aback: for sitting in the audience mere metres away was one of the artists whose songs she was due to perform.
Emeli Sande has sold millions of records and has a No.1 album in Our Version Of Events. One of her biggest hits is undoubtedly Read All About It – a song that Co. Cavan-native Lorraine had lined up as part of her set at the Old Windsor Working Men’s Club near London last Friday.
She told 2fm’s Breakfast Republic this morning that Emeli caught her eye as soon as she walked in the door. “Not everyone might recognise her but I did immediately.”
She also explained that the superstar singer was seated only about 3metres away from the stage. Worse still, Lorraine had to get through a full 45minutes of material before she came to Read All About It.
By then, however, much of the gathered audience had recognised the Scottish musician – and the crowd understandably erupted with Ms O’Reilly introduced the song.
She describes the next few moments as a “blur”: less than a minute-and-half into her expert rendition, Emeli joined her on stage having been handed a mic.
The resulting duet is spectacular – with Lorraine expertly hitting every note alongside her more famous counterpart.
Ms Sandé also sang Next To Me for the audience before leaving the stage.
Lorraine moved to London five years ago and now works in insurance, although she made it through to the live The Voice UK finals last year.
Last Friday’s gig was in aid of two charitable causes: the Ring Of Beara and the Ring Of Kerry cycles.
