'Prince whisked me away like a fairy tale in the nick of time'

N her extraordinary life, Bonnie Raitt has notched up 13 Grammy awards, sold more than 15 million albums, beaten alcoholism, and counted BB King and Prince among her fans. But the main reason Bonnie, 75, is happier than a pig in slop when we speak is she is back touring the British Isles next month, playing 90-minute sets on all 10 dates.

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Isn't that a tad taxing?

“If anything, it’s frustrating not to go on longer,” the California-born roots music star tells me. “I could easily do another hour. If you take good care of yourself and still have your faculties, there’s no reason why you shouldn't sing better in your seventies than in your fifties.”

The only sign of Bonnie's advancing years are two grey curls at the front of her tumbling russet locks.

She will spend five months on the road this year. “I'd love to do more, but it makes sense to rest my voice and keep it at its optimum,” says Raitt, who still has fire in her belly, a sparkle in her eyes and a passion for causes unlikely to appeal to her president.

Scottish by descent - there are pockets of Raitts all over the Highlands - and Quaker by upbringing, Bonnie keeps in shape by hiking, meditating, practising yoga and getting plenty of sleep. All far removed from her hard-drinking years.

At the peak of her 1980s boozing, she put on nearly three stone. “It got to the point that someone asked me when the baby was due,” says Bonnie.

In Louisiana, a fan left a note saying, “What happened? You got fat. Maybe you should work out or something.”

Nearly 40 years sober, Raitt remains committed to activism, including playing benefit gigs for hurricane aid and press freedom. “There is a tremendous threat to investigative journalism. You can’t have a democracy without an informed electorate; you can't have people only getting news online and from social media. You need local newspapers to present all the different sides of any issue.

“There appears to be a move towards authoritarianism [in the US], they're censoring political cartoons, closing down a wide range of views in universities, and there's an oligarchy problem. Billionaires get a blank cheque. Conglomerates are buying the news on cable TV.”