ABOUT 100 years ago when I was 14, Marianne Faithfull was my style icon and the reason I bought a pair of pink bellbottom trousers and grew my hair long.

She had it all. She was beautiful, with her face-framing blonde hair and bee-stung lips, and, to top it all, her boyfriend was Mick Jagger and it was he who wrote her number one song As Tears Go By. What could go wrong?

The answer is everything.

Her heroin addiction found her homeless on the streets of London, her health suffered and she’s had more break-ups than I’ve had hot dinners.

But this is one tough lady.

She’s battled with everything thrown her way – and won.

To celebrate her 23rd album, High Heels and Horses, and now the wrong side of 60, Faithfull’s on the road on a demanding 22-venue tour of Europe and the Far East.

Wearing a smart black trouser suit, a little more weight and her hair a little shorter than I remember, her voice has exactly the same breathless quality of intense sadness.

Holding on to that cracked resonance of vulnerability in the haunting melody There is a Ghost, written by Nick Cave, was a memorable taste of her new album.

But it was her old hits that we’d come to hear and she didn’t disappoint.

As Tears Go By, Sister Morphine, Broken English, John Lennon’s Working Class Hero and, my all-time favourite, The Ballad of Lucy Jordan were all there, accompanied by her fabulous band of tenacious musicians.

At the end, the Sage audience stood in applauding appreciation. I agree. I’m still a faithful, Faithfull fan and thoroughly enjoyed being in the presence of what is for me, the legend that is Marianne Faithfull.

Helen Brown