AN EAST Lancashire singer was given an unexpected chance to sing with a legendary artist in front of thousands of soul fans.

Paul Stuart Davies was invited by the well-known Wigan Casino Northern Soul DJ Russ Winstanley to perform at The World’s Biggest Northern Soul Weekender at Butlins Skegness.

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Paul, who specialises in Marvin Gaye numbers, sang at the festival, which took place at Butlins, Skegness.

However, he was later stunned when Gaye’s original duet partner, Kim Weston, who was a special guest at the event, invited him on stage to perform.

They sang the huge world-wide hit It Takes Two, a song originally recorded by Kim and Marvin in 1966.

Paul, 33, is the lead singer of the band Soul Train and co-owner of the Elite School of Music in Blackburn Road, Darwen.

He said: “It was a great event over three nights with 8,500 people attending.

“I was very grateful to Russ for inviting me and it was a privilege to see some of the artists performing, including Kim.

“To have the the opportunity to sing such an iconic song as It Takes Two, with the woman who sang it with Marvin Gaye was pretty special.

“Kim was fantastic company and had no airs and graces.

“We rehearsed our parts in a little chalet at Butlins and shared plenty of laughs.”

Kim was signed to Motown in 1961 and her solo hits were Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While) and Helpless.

She also recorded the unofficial black national anthem of the USA, Lift Every Voice and Sing.

Also on the bill in Skegness were The Contours, The Velvellettes and Brenda Holloway as well as other North West talent Diane Shaw from Manchester and Johnny Boy from Bolton.

Paul has been asked to return next year.

It’s not the first time Paul has befriended the women in Marvin Gaye’s life.

Last year he uploaded a video of himself singing the 1973 classic Let’s Get It On to social networking sites YouTube and Facebook. The performance got the attention of Janis Gaye, who met the soul legend in 1973, when she was just 17, and later married him.

As a result of this, Janis will visit Darwen’s Library Theatre this month on Saturday, October 24 for An Evening With Jan Gaye – My life With Marvin, with Paul providing the music.

The evening is billed as “an intimate in person account of life married to the legendary soul singer Marvin Gaye”.

Tickets for the Darwen show are now on sale, which are priced at £10.