NEASDEN’S ‘Queen of Soul’ Mari Wilson is coming to Otley.

With her towering beehive hairstyle, bizarre 1960s retro fashion sense and distinctly soulful voice, Mari took the charts by storm in the early 1980s.

She scored her biggest hit with Just What I Always Wanted, which reached number 8 in the UK, in 1982.

Born in 1954 in the London suburb of Neasden, she went on to have five more top 100 singles between 1982 and 1984.

Among the most popular was her cover of the the jazz-pop standard, Cry Me a River, and she also enjoyed further chart success with her debut album, Showpeople.

Showing her debt to the great British soul divas of a previous generation, Mari performed Dusty Springfield and Cilla Black songs for Friday Night Is Music Night.

In the 1990s she continued performing with jazz bands and sang Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps, the theme song to the TV sitcom Coupling.

In addition to extensive touring she has also performed in musicals such as Dusty - The Musical and wrote and starred in a one-woman show, The Love Thing.

Her critically acclaimed 2016 album Pop Deluxe featured songs previously made famous by Dusty, Cilla, Petula and Sandie.

On September 30, 2018 Mari performed at Soft Cell’s final live appearance at the O2, duetting with Marc Almond on Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

She has been mesmerising audiences over 38 years of touring and will bring her powerful voice, spontaneous wit and gift for storytelling to Otley Courthouse on Saturday, June 8.

The show starts at 8pm and tickets cost £18.

Places can be booked by visiting www.otleycourthouse.org.uk, calling (01943) 467466 or popping into the Courthouse, on Courthouse Street.

Folk superstar Sharon Shannon, meanwhile, will be joined by Senegalese kora master Seckou Keita - a key collaborator on Sharon’s latest album - when she performs at the Courthouse on Saturday, June 15.

A button accordion player from County Clare, Shannon has recorded and toured with a host of musical stars including Bono, Adam Clayton, Sinead O’Connor, Jackson Browne, Steve Earle, The Waterboys, Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss and Shane MacGowan.

She has also achieved multi-platinum album sales, with her album Galway Girl performing particularly well, and topped the charts numerous times her home country. Her Otley show begins at 8pm and tickets cost £22.