In 1971, before an auditorium packed with country music fans in Invercargill, the act that almost brought the roof down was a shy, guitar-strumming 12-year-old called Suzanne Prentice – who had failed to make the school choir.
Now aged 66 and still performing, Suzanne’s impressive 50-year career spans TV shows, platinum albums and performances with stars like Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and the Beach Boys, to name a few. She traversed the country music genre to become one of our country’s most enduring entertainers, but it’s her community work fundraising for local charities that she’s most proud of.
Away from the spotlight, the mum of two is known as Sue Dalton (or “Nan” to her four grandchildren, Bridie, 18, Blake, 17, Oliver, 11, and George, eight) and has been married to retired cop Steve for almost 50 years.
Over a cup of tea – with Pete, a black miniature schnauzer at her feet – Suzanne dishes up stories to the Weekly about her memories working with showbiz legends and what international heartthrob she’d never sing with again.
Sue, the last time we spoke was after your heart attack in 2022. How have you been since then?
Well, I felt like I got through the cardiac arrest. Then, last year, out of the blue, I spent a month in hospital and was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that I’m battling. It was pretty touch and go at the time, but now I feel really good and I’m still working. So it’s just one of those things where I’ll try all sorts of medications and see which is going to suit me. But if that’s all I’ve got to complain about, I’m very lucky.
You’ve always been portrayed as this wholesome gal from down south, but perhaps you’ve secretly got lots of tattoos…?
Ha, well, I have got one tattoo where nobody can see it! It’s a little bird with a musical staff of the first three notes of the very first song I sang – On the Wings of a Dove.
Is there anything else readers might be surprised to know about you?
A lot of people think getting up on stage comes naturally to me. But in fact, I do get very, very nervous. I remember working with Billy T James and he used to get as nervous as me. So we would walk all around the theatre together, and he’d practice his jokes and then I’d rehearse some of my songs. Between the two of us, we kept each other from panicking.
Did you always want a career in showbiz?
No, I didn’t want to be a singer at all. I wanted to be a vet or a policewoman. But I’m under five feet tall and the police had height restrictions back then.
So you married a policeman instead! How did you meet Steve?
It was a blind date, well, on his end. I was working in the local Flahive Pharmacy. One morning, a policewoman called Rhonda came in. As I was serving her, she asked, “How would you like to go out with a policeman?” I was a bit taken aback, but said, “What’s he like?” She goes, “He’s brand new from Trentham Police College. We’re going on the beat at 1pm, so I’ll walk him past here.” Steve was none the wiser to all of this. So at 12.50pm, I thought, “Oh, our front window needs a new display,” so I was crawling around in the front window and saw this young policeman standing there. It was love at first sight. He had hair the colour of a carrot – I’ve always loved red hair and a man in uniform! When Rhonda came back in and asked, “What do you think?” I went, “Well, all right then!” She said, “Come into the station after work – there’s a group of us having a get- together.” I gave my mum a ring to see if I could go and she said I had to be home by 10pm. So we met, both of us a bit shy, and the rest is history.
And you got married two months after your 19th birthday…
Yes, but there was no romantic proposal! We’d been going out for about a year when I won the TVNZ programme The Entertainers. The prize was a trip for two to London, so Mum and I were going. Before we left, I said to Steve, “Are we getting married or what?” He said, “All right then.”
What have you learned after 48 years of marriage?
That you’ve got to laugh… even through the hard times, which we’ve certainly had. We’re best friends but we argue the toss daily! Early in our marriage, I was away a lot, so we had a lot of phone calls to keep in touch. I’ll be forever grateful to Steve – he played a big part in bringing our children up to enable me to have that career.
Sorting out teenagers while you’re away must have been tricky.
Oh, yes. I remember getting a phone call while I was in Canada from our daughter Andrea, who had just got her driver’s licence at 15. She said, “Mum, I’ve had an accident in your car! I was parked outside the museum and I put my foot on the accelerator instead of the brake!” I asked if she was okay and asked, “Well, where’s the car?” She replied, “It’s on top of the picnic table outside of the museum. Can you ring Dad for me?” So I explained all this to Steve, who said, “Well, that’s just bloody great. I’d better get there before the boys do.” We can laugh now. I’m grateful that our kids are very grounded people. Our son is a senior sergeant in Dunedin and our daughter works at the hospital here.
How did you become a child star?
At 12, I entered a TV show called New Faces. I sang a song called Funny Face, which my mother Rose had chosen for me. It’s the song that launched my career and it doesn’t matter where I go, that’s the song people remember. I was a young kid with a big guitar and a loud voice. During high school, I would go to school during the week, then on a Friday night, Mum and I would be getting on a plane to go to Auckland or Christchurch for shows over the weekend. That was the routine of nearly every week of my secondary school days.
At the beginning of your career, you were told you’d never make it big if you lived in Invercargill. Why didn’t you listen to that?
I had numerous offers to go and live overseas, but I was too young to go off and make it on my own. I enjoy performing in New York, London and Melbourne, but I love to come home to Southland. Living here allows me to just be me. I said early on that my career has to be on my terms and I’ve never regretted that. It’s sad to see what fame and drugs can do to a young performer.
Did you get offered drugs at a young age?
I did see drugs, but not a lot in those days. I never felt the need to take them.
Tell us about some of the stars you worked with?
Dolly Parton was fabulous – you could walk past her in a supermarket without her hair and make-up on, and you’d never recognise her. In Britain, I worked with the BBC for a little while and I was lucky enough to work with the Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise, and singer Val Doonican. Those times I really treasure. And Ronnie Barker was the loveliest person – just like my dad – and he really took me under his wing. I learned the discipline of stage work through watching them.
What was the best advice someone gave you?
Ray Charles told me, “You never want to worry about where your name appears on the bill. If you’re good enough, it’s your name people will remember when they go home.”
Is there anybody you wouldn’t work with again?
Singer Julio Iglesias. I was his support act for his shows here in the 1980s. He was fine with me until our first show in Christchurch and I got a better review than him. Things turned after that.
Sir Robert Muldoon was a big fan of you – were you a fan of his?
Look, I was. Sir Robert was lovely. I met him several times. Occasionally, when I was doing a show in Wellington or Auckland, I’d get a knock on the dressing room door afterwards and it’d be Sir Robert and Lady Thea there. And he’d say, “We just thought we’d put the head in the door to tell you you’re as good as ever!”
Would you stand in the Invercargill mayoral elections again?
Ooh, people have asked me that a lot lately. It’s unlikely, but never say never!
When you look back over your career, what are you most proud of?
For 18 years, I did the World Vision Kids for Kids concerts throughout the country. It raised around $13.7 million for underprivileged kids. I’m so proud of that. Working for Southland Hospice, too, has been wonderful. It taught me to find pleasure in the small things.
Finally, what’s your drink of choice?
Oh, I do love a gin and tonic!
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