Sir Elton's my biggest hero

US STAR BRANDI CARLILE REVEALS HOW WORKING WITH AN ICON HAS GIVEN THE ANGLOPHILE US STAR A FOOTHOLD IN BRITAIN. BY CASEY COOPER-FISKE

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BRANDI Carlile is a big name in America, having knocked out hits there for 20 years, scoring 11 Grammy Awards and racking up five top 10 albums.

But in the UK, the 44-year-old has largely maintained a cult following, with just one charting album here, 2008's The Story, which reached a pretty unimpressive 58. However, everything changed last year.

The Washington-born singer teamed up with one of her greatest inspirations, Sir Elton John, in April to release the album Who Believes In Angels? which went straight to number one here.

Last October Brandi followed that up with a solo album, Returning To Myself, which reached number 30.

And she’s set to kick off her Human Tour here in February, taking in London's The 02, Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, Manchester’s Co-Op Live and Dublin’s 3Arena.

And she has much love for the UK - even if it’s taken us a while to wake up to her talent.