You Raise Me Up, the title track of John Barrowman’s latest album and tour, has more meaning behind its selection than you might be aware. That is unless you were one of the many fans who helped the entertainer bring his latest recording to life with a donation.

“The fans raised me up to do this,” John explained.

“So the album is titled mainly for them because they made it happen.

“The money that’s been given through PledgeMusic’s Direct to Fan platform has allowed me to fund the album, so in a way the fans have become the producer,” he continued.

The album features new arrangements of many of John’s favourite songs, including Mandy, Bridge Over Troubled Water, A Thousand Years, and Skyscraper, which he will be performing at Bournemouth’s BIC on May 23 as part of his UK tour.

“The songs I chose were ones that really concur with my life, so every song on the album has a connection to me in some way. They’re songs I know my fans love to hear me sing, from old favourites to current classics, so I created the album with them in mind.”

This is the first tour the multi-talented showman has performed in four years, and he is ready and raring to get back on stage.

“I’m so excited to be touring again that I’m choreographing songs and arranging stories in my sleep,” he said.

The tour will see John visit 20 venues across the UK.

“It's going to be a great night of entertainment. It’s a two-hour show. The audience are going to laugh, they’re going to cry. I always bring my life stories to the stage. It will be a bit like a night of stand-up comedy with music.”

To give an example of this music-comedy blend, John once brought his parents on stage at a show where they donned hardhats and sang YMCA. “I always have something up my sleeve, a surprise in store,” he explained.

“I don’t want to give too much away about my upcoming show at this stage. What I will say is there will be a diverse mix of pop and songs from the ’80s, as well as country music.

“And there will be a surprise in there that’s not in the line-up,” he added.

“It’ll be something the audience will hear and think ‘gosh, I haven’t heard that in ages – I love that song!’”

Nevertheless, the entertainer admitted he won’t be straying too far from the format of previous shows in this year’s tour.

“You Raise Me Up will have the same backbone as my other shows, as I find repetition breeds loyalty,” he explained. “I like to stick to a certain style and will have my usual four dancers and eight-piece band.”

He added he was also familiar with Bournemouth, having visited the town for years to meet with friends there.

“The BIC is a great venue and the audiences are always very appreciative there. I’m looking forward to this month’s date.”

John’s career is full-on, to say the least, and after his tour finishes he won’t be taking more than a tea break.

Not only will he be filming the next series of Arrow, in which he plays Malcolm Merlyn (a.k.a. The Dark Archer), he will also be reprising his role of Captain Jack Harkness for a series of Torchwood audio dramas.

“I’ve got lots to celebrate with my fans on this tour,” John said. “Let’s raise these theatre roofs together!”

 John Barrowman plays the BIC on May 23