Suzi Quatro never considered herself to be a pioneer.

The 'Can the Can' hitmaker paved the way for female rock artists with her success in the genre during the 1970s and only later realised what a trailblazing impact she had.

Suzi told Classic Rock magazine: "I'd no idea what I was doing was unusual. I was just being me, rocking out. It was (producer) Mickie Most – who discovered me and brought me to England – who told me I was unique. I was going: 'What? Why is he saying that to me?' And even after the hits started, in 1973, I still didn't get it.

"It wasn't until I saw my documentary, 'Suzi Q', and Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde, Lita Ford, Joan Jett, Donita Sparks, Tina Weymouth and KT Tunstall all appeared and they basically all said the same thing: we would not have done we did had Suzi not done it first. That was the first time, at the age of sixty-nine, that I realised what I'd done."

Suzi is going back on tour across the UK later this year to mark her 60th anniversary in the music business and thinks her attitude of refusing to get complacent is key to her longevity.

The 74-year-old rocker said: "We're filming at the London Palladium, always a challenge. Every gig's a challenge, to tell the truth. I don't rest on laurels, I've never gone out with the attitude: 'They're going to love me tonight.' Never. I go out with: 'I hope they like me tonight.'

"Though it's fair to say I'm at the top of my performing game. I'm doing a two-hour show with an interval, so I can play a song on the piano, a duet on the drums, a six-and-a-half-minute bass solo. And luckily my vocal capabilities haven't gone down."