It’s probably easier to say where Russell Watson hasn’t performed than where he has.

Wembley Stadium (he appeared there so many times in one year that one journo quipped he’d made more appearances than David Beckham), the Vatican (Pope John-Paul II was a big fan), Buckingham Palace (he’s an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust) and the Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona, where he performed with opera legend, Montserrat Caballe.

But eight years ago it looked as if he might not be performing anywhere anymore, after developing a tumour on the pituitary part of his brain.

This was treated but, a year later: “I went to bed one night and I didn’t wake up in the morning,” he remembered.

“I was carted down the stairs by two paramedics with a chap saying, ‘Stay with us, mate’.”

He did but he’s never forgotten the episode and has devoted a lot of performing time since to supporting cancer charities.

He’ll be appearing at The Lighthouse with local community choir Rising Voices, which began as a successful rehabilitation bid from Dorset Cancer Network to aid recovery and support patients with cancer and their carers through singing.

His whole experience of illness and recovery has, he says, had an influence on his performing.

“I feel so alive. I’m taking so much from it,” he told BBC Breakfast recently.

“As soon as I hit the stage now the light hits my face and it just kind of breathes life into me. I’m really enjoying life at the moment.”

Although he’s used to performing with full orchestras and giant backdrops, his Lighthouse show will feature only the choir, his musical director and the Masquerade String Quartet, and it’s this intimacy that will delight his fans most.

Not that he’s ever been remote or grand, you understand. Russell left school at the age of 16 with no qualifications and spent the first eight years of his working life in a factory making nuts and bolts. His desire to escape the monotony of the shop floor led him to enter a local radio talent competition where he beat 400 other contestants.

This sparked a career that has spanned 15 years and seen him perform for some of the world’s greatest figures. Apart from the aforementioned mega-celebs he’s also performed for former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush, the Emperor of Japan, various European Prime Ministers, the King of Malaysia and Middle Eastern Sultans.

He’s been awarded four Classical Brits and his performances in stage shows have also earned him great critical acclaim; he played Parson Nathaniel in Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds tour and played the lead role of Karl Oscar in Benny and Björn’s (ABBA) Kristina where the New York Times declared: “Watson’s ‘Puccini ready’ voice was crystal clear”.

To cap it all a recent collaboration with Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg meant he fulfilled a lifetime ambition to work alongside the writers of the world’s most successful musical ever, Les Miserables.

His first album ‘The Voice’ held the number one spot simultaneously in both the US and the UK – a world first – and spent a record-breaking 52 weeks at top of the British charts. He’s sold more than seven million albums.

It’s not been easy. At one point he admitted his health difficulties had brought him to the brink of suicide.

“I went into a very deep depression,” he told a newspaper.

“At one point I even thought of ending it all, but then I realised how selfish it would be to leave my daughters behind. But I’m only looking back on those bad times so that I can remind myself how far I’ve moved on.”

He has. And how.

  • Russell Watson Up Close And Personal, Poole Lighthouse, June 3