SOMEONE who could easily make the claim to be one of the hardest working figures in modern music is Paul Carrack, who is currently celebrating over five decades in the music business.

He has featured on over 60 albums, as well as writing for The Eagles, Diana Ross, Tom Jones, Michael McDonald and Jools Holland among others. Now he has just released a new Best Of album and later this month will set out on an extensive UK tour beginning in Harrogate on October 24 and finishing on March 29 in Milton Keynes.

The tour will include Malvern’s Forum Theatre on Wednesday, December 3 as well as several other Midlands venues.

The Best Of Paul Carrack album follows an epic release schedule from his latest 17th studio album , Rain Or Shine, which boasted four high end airplay singles including One In A Million and I’m Losing You - a fifth single , a remixed Stepping Stone , came out this week and is only available on the Best Of.

The Best of encapsulates what Paul is great at, and that’s delivering and producing soul ballads, pop songs and Northern Soul classics and a casual glance at what’s on the Best Of confirms this as it includes Eyes of Blues and Don’t Dream It’s Over.

Over the past decades or so he has worked increasingly in his own right on many solo albums such as Blue Views (1995), It Ain't Over (2003), A Different Hat with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2010) and the current release Rain Or Shine (2013) – so now is a fitting time to bring out a Best Of that combines many of his legendary songs and highlights these greats.

Paul recently played summer festivals including international dates and a run of shows in Europe and North America playing keyboards in Eric Clapton's band. Clapton personally invited him to join his stellar band and had him as featured vocalist.

His UK theatre tour will take in 60 venues and as well as Malvern the other Midlands dates are October 29 - Warwick Arts Centre, January 23, 2015 - Cheltenham’s Town Hall, January 24 – Birmingham’s Symphony Hall and February 7 - Leamington Spa’s Royal Spa Centre.

And for the first time, Paul will be performing with special guests at the iconic London Palladium Theatre on Sunday, November 2.