Shania Twain gave one of her biggest fans the thrill of a lifetime on July 4. The Canadian diva was performing at the Lytham Festival in Lancashire, England, on Thursday night. In the audience was 81-year-old Ken Northall, a superfan who for the past 25 years has been traveling the world to see her perform live, according to the BBC.
In a video posted by the BBC, Shania invites Ken onstage, where she greets him and asks him what his favorite song is. His answer: “Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)” because the video features Irish step dancing. Next, we see her perform a brief a cappella version of “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” where she drops the name “Brad Pitt” from the lyrics and instead says, “All right, so what? Do you think you’re Ken or something?”
“I’m impressed,” Ken says as the crowd cheers. She then walks him off the stage; he hugs her and says, “Thanks, Shania, it’s a dream.”
American superstar Shania Twain was left in stitches as she bantered with an 81-year-old superfan she pulled up on stage at her big Lytham Festival gig on Thursday night. 81-year-old Ken Northall has traveled the world to see country music idol Shania – but only needed a short bus ride to see her on his home turf in Lytham. Ken had hit the headlines earlier this week talking about his love for Shania and how excited he was to see her so close to his home in St Annes.
And superstar Shania was so impressed with Ken’s support, that she called out to the sell-out 20,000 crowd on the seafront to find Ken. Shania was headlining the TK Maxx presents Lytham Festival 2024 stage on Thursday after performances from Delta Goodrem and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man.
Towards the end of the show, she told fans: “You’re not going to believe it but we found Ken. Where is Ken? How can I meet Ken?” She then yelled “Yess!” as stetson-wearing Ken emerged onto the stage.
She said: “Will you come with me to the center of the stage?” to which Ken replied: “Of course.” She asked if he had a favorite song and he said Don’t Be Stupid, “Because of the Irish dancing in the water trough in the video”. Shania asked if he could dance like that and he said: “No, no no”.
She went on: “What about singing do you like to sing?” But Ken said: “No dear, I don’t sing either. I don’t go on stage either”. Shania added: “Well these guys are listening to every word you say, come on Lytham, give some love to Ken.” To which he replied: “Unbelievable”.
She said: “I’m just so happy to meet you and I know you only live a few minutes from here, so come on how did you get here did you bike? It’s not worth driving.” And he replied: “No I got the bus dear”. Which Shania said she “loved”.
She serenaded him with her megahit That Don’t Impress Me Much, changing the words to “What do you think you’re Ken or something?” To which Ken replied: “I’m impressed!” leaving Shania bent over with laughter.
She wanted to get a photo and asked if he had a phone but alas, Ken did not have a phone. He went on to say he first saw her in 1999 at Wembley. She said: “It was a long time ago since I first came over here and I want to say thank you for being with me all these years Ken.” He replied: “My pleasure.”
She also gave Ken’s wife Elaine a shoutout after giving him a hug. He said: “It’s wonderful, I’ve never seen so many people.” As he walked off stage, Shania told the crowd: “Ken’s saying to me like “this is a dream” but you need to know this is my dream, I’m living my dream. Thank you for sharing my dream.”
“I’m going to be 59 and I’m standing up here in my frigging underwear! Like I’m loving life right now!”
The celebrated songwriter, style icon and best-selling female country pop artist of all time headlined the second night of Lytham Festival, opening the show with Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You) and You Win My Love – to win the crowd’s love.
The show continued with a packed set including I’m Gonna Getcha Good, Honey I’m Home, Any Man Of Mine and ending the night with her ultimate sing-along anthem Man I Feel Like A Woman.
Addressing the 20,000 sell-out crowd, Shania said: “Oh my gosh this is such a gorgeous night. Thank you for the warm welcome – it means such a lot. I’m just so happy to be here tonight. Let’s dream together.”
Earlier in the night, triple BRIT and Ivor Novello Award winner Rag’n’Bone Man performed a Giant set and celebrated the crowd, saying: “I had a feeling about today. I knew it was going to be good. I think these guys are up for it.”
Opening the show was Australian actress and singer Delta Goodrem.
Lytham Festival returns for day three on Friday when 25,000 music fans will flock to the Fylde coast for a sold-out headlining set from Manchester rockers Courteeners. Madness will headline on Saturday with support from Rick Astley and Lightning Seeds, and Manchester comes to the coast on Sunday with a headlining orchestral set from indie giants James and support from Johnny Marr, Inspiral Carpets and The Magic Numbers.
Source: BBC, ABC Audio
