The people of Bournemouth are in for a shock, declares Beverley Knight, with a giggle.

The queen of UK soul is heading to the town for the first time on Tuesday to perform at the Pavilion Theatre. But she’s a bit worried she’s not quite what the audience signed up for.

“There are so many different conceptions about what I do,” she explains, in her soft West Midlands tones.

“People describe me as a smooth, R&B singer, which makes me howl with laughter – there’s nothing smooth about what I do. I grew up listening to rock gods. The loss of Prince – I still refer to him in the present tense – he’s my number one person.

“So that’s the template of what I’m trying to reach when I’m on stage. I’m not ‘smooth groove’ – I’m a proper performer, that’s what I do. I think it will be quite a surprise for Bournemouth.”

The show will feature some of Knight’s biggest hits – and there have been plenty since the release of her debut album The B-Funk 20 years ago – as well as tracks from her new record Soulsville, released next month, and some of her favourite numbers from her time on the West End stage.

“Like Prince, I love music,” says the 43-year-old, “so the spectrum of what I do covers from ballads right the way through.

“It’s exciting because it’s going to be somewhere new for me and hopefully something new for Bournemouth audiences.”

Doing something unexpected is nothing new for Knight. She describes her recent stint in the role of Grizabella in a West End run of the hit musical Cats as “very much a departure from what you might think of”.

“It’s safe to say that they’ve probably never had a Grizabella that sounded like me because I don’t have a classic sounding voice at all,” she says.

“I was quite surprised to be asked, but it was so lovely to be asked. It was great fun. It’s an amazing show.”

Knight’s West End career started in 2013 with her highly acclaimed debut starring role as Rachel Marron on The Bodyguard – a role she’s reprising in July.

In 2014 she took on the role of club singer Felicia Farrell in Memphis The Musical, for which she received widespread praise from critics and an Olivier Award nomination as Best Actress in a Musical.

The show also played a huge part in Knight’s latest album, when she visited Memphis for research before taking on the role.

“It’s just a Mecca for any musician,” she says, “you’re are the heart of where modern music exploded.”

“The sights, the smells, the scars – Memphis has a lot of scars.

There’s a hell of a lot that you feel when you go to Memphis. I left there greatly inspired to go back and record.

“I had written lots of songs before I went to Memphis, but when I came back I wrote a whole slew of songs. It’s very soulinfluenced.

“There are things I’m writing about for the first time – I’m writing about discrimination and colour prejudice. It’s from a standpoint of hope. It’s a really heartfelt recording, really earthy songs.”

Knight has forged hugely successful careers both as a recording artist and a West End performer. But she admits she finds it tough to choose one over the other.

“I don’t think there’s a comparison as such,” she explains.

“When I walk on stage in character, I’m very much in character.

The movement, the thought process, the way the character speaks, it’s just not me.

“But when I go on stage as myself, there’s freedom to do what I want at that moment as I feel it. Both give me immense joy.

They’re both so enriching.

“I love the fact that I’ve been given this fantastic chance to do both things – making music and going out there and performing it and taking on a character. But I’m a musician first and foremost so that’s what I do.”

• Beverley Knight is at Bournemouth Pavilion on Tuesday, May 24. Tickets are available from bic.co.uk or 0844 576 3000.