The Elizabethan mansion I bought for £100,000 has been a huge success, says Suzi Quatro

Suzi Quatro, who turns 74 tomorrow, is a Best American Singer, Songwriter and Bassist known for hits such as Can The Can (1973) and Devil Gate Drive (1974), which topped the list UK Charts.

He mother of two children, who has been nicknamed “the Queen of Rock ‘n’ roll’ and she is famous for it leather catsuits, has lived in the UK for more 50 years old. she is married to the german rock promoter Rainer Haas.

What did your parents teach you about money?

I come from a family of five, and although I had a comfortable upbringing in an affluent area of ​​Detroit, I was taught to be thrifty.

My father, Art, the son of an Italian immigrant, worked two jobs: he worked for General Motors during the day, but played music at night.

My Hungarian mother, Helen, hated spending money; Her favorite saying was, “You never know what tomorrow will bring.”

So, while some of my friends at school were bought the best clothes, my mother bought me cheaper imitations.

Although I am a jeans and t-shirt girl, since then I also love designer clothes and nowadays, fortunately, I can afford to buy the best.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

After forming a rock group, Pleasure Seekers, with my sisters when I was 14, we hit the road and by the time I was 17, I was making $1,000 a week, a ridiculous amount of money for the time.

But when I moved to England in 1971, I stayed in a small hotel room and had to live frugally because money was tight.

Sometimes if I went to the pub for a drink, I would even go to the kitchen, grab a piece of chicken and put it in my pocket!

Have you ever been paid silly money?

Yes, to go on rock cruises, which pay very well. I have done a couple in Europe and a couple in Australia, but they have to pay me a lot of money to do it for one simple reason: I have no experience at sea.

I’m the kind of person who would vomit in a port, so to go on a rock cruise they have to pay me very good money.

But I have always made a good living, I have never been a cheapskate.

What was the best year of your financial life?

It’s probably now. In the 1960s, record companies were throwing money at bands, but when I found fame in the 1970s, record deals weren’t so great.

The royalties on my greatest hits weren’t big either. But today I’m getting more out of my live shows than ever. I’m also doing big concerts. I just played in front of 10,000 people at a festival in Germany.

Most expensive thing you bought for fun?

A mink coat, which I bought in 1975, when it was not politically incorrect to wear it.

I went to the best furrier in London, they measured me and told me it would cost £5,500, a fortune at the time.

I was hesitant because of my frugal upbringing, but my first husband, guitarist Len Tuckey, said ‘you buy it, you earned it’, so I did.

I loved wearing it in the 1970s but, although it’s still hanging in my wardrobe, I don’t think I’ll be wearing it any time soon.

What is your biggest money mistake?

I probably bought a pink 1957 Ford Thunderbird, which cost about $12,000 if I remember correctly, that I had shipped back to England after a vacation in Miami in 1994.

It was my dream car, but you know what? I once drove it to the nearest McDonald’s with the top down, bought a Big Mac and a Diet Coke… and then sold it, because I quickly realized it wasn’t designed for British roads – it just didn’t fit. .

Best money decision you’ve ever made?

Buying my 15th century manor house in Essex, where I have lived since 1980.

It cost around £100,000 when I bought it with Len (the couple divorced in 1992), and although it hasn’t been valued for a long time, it’s worth much more than that today.

Do you have a pension?

I don’t have a private pension, but I do receive the state pension. I also continue to work and have no plans to retire; It’s not that I need the money, I just love what I do.

Do you have more than one property?

As well as my listed manor house, I have bought properties nearby for my son, daughter and granddaughter, so I have my family around me.

I also have a second home in Mallorca with my second husband, Rainer, who lives in Hamburg. Everyone thinks he’s crazy, but for 31 years we’ve had a successful marriage despite living so far apart.

If you were Chancellor, what would you do?

Well, despite having lived in the UK all these years, I’m still an American citizen (I’ll always be ‘The Girl from Detroit’), so I’m not even sure I’ll be allowed to become Chancellor.

But if it were, the only thing it wouldn’t do is raise taxes.

What is your number one financial priority?

Just to make sure I’m financially comfortable for the rest of my life and able to provide for the people I love: my family.

Suzi Quatro will mark 60 years in showbiz with a five-date UK tour in November, including a show at the London Palladium (aegpresents.co.uk).