A RAPPER from Chicago may have little in common with a classical singer from West Glamorgan, but Katherine Jenkins cites Kanye West as one of her more surprising influences.

“I like anything which is fun and I can have a good dance to,” she reveals.

“Everyone from Kylie to Kanye West and Madonna, Amy Winehouse, Take That – I have a pretty wide-ranging taste.

“I think that’s something people are shocked at. I’m like any other 29-year-old in that I like whatever’s in the charts and I like to go out dancing. I just happen to love opera, too.”

Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising at all, given that Jenkins, whose own performances are made up of a mixture of arias, popular songs and hymns, considers classical music to have been the “pop music of its day”.

“It really was music for the masses,” she says.

“Classical music at times can seem intimidating, and I can totally understand that because I felt intimidated when I was younger, but I’m trying to show people it really doesn’t need to be like that.

“You can go and enjoy it and it doesn’t matter about how much money you’ve got or what you wear.”

The mezzo-soprano will be making an effort to demonstrate this as she sets out on her first solo tour, stopping off at the Echo Arena in March.

“I loved the experience of doing the arenas when I was doing Viva La Diva (dance show) with Darcey Bussell, but obviously this is going to be exciting because I’m going to be on my own for the first time,” she says.

“I’m also really excited about the new album (Believe, released in October), and I’ll play a lot of the new songs on the tour dates – it’s all very exciting.”

This excitement is unlikely to turn into nerves, she adds, as she is unaffected by stage fright.