A top-flight musical superstar stunned one of his Moray fans when he passed through RAF Lossiemouth after his latest performance.
Lionel Richie, famed for hits including Dancing on the Ceiling and All Night Long, took off from the air base in his private jet on Sunday.
It is believed the singer had been performing at an exclusive party in Beauly on Saturday night, and had stored his plane at the Lossiemouth base for the evening.
Starstruck RAF Benevolent Fund (RAFBF) volunteer Karen Cox just happened to be waiting at the station’s gates when the international A-lister arrived with his entourage.
Mrs Cox said: “Two fund-raisers had taken on a cycling challenge for the RAFBF, and to show some support my husband and I decided to meet them at the RAF Lossiemouth gates, where it would conclude.
“It was about 12.30am and we got chatting with the ground commander who was there.
“When he told me Lionel Richie would soon be coming through I just said ‘are you kidding?’.
“Then we saw this Mercedes van, and a car behind it with Lionel Richie in the passenger seat.
“He said hello to us, and I felt we should explain why we were there in case he thought we were mad fans.
“I told him about the fundraising cyclists, and all about the RAFBF, and Mr Richie said it was amazing and to tell them ‘well done’ from him.
“He looked a bit tired, but he was very interested and chatty – he was a real gentleman.”
Mrs Cox said that as a pupil at Lossiemouth High School during the 1980s, Lionel Richie’s Stuck on You was a much-played cassette among her and her friends.
“It was one of my favourite songs from that era”, she said.
Lionel Richie enjoyed renewed success last month when he stole the show at the Glastonbury music festival with a selection of some of his most famous hits.
His “best of” compilation album promptly rocketed up the UK album charts, scoring the singer his first number one in 23 years.
Charity cyclists Darren Stetham and Eric Grant raised £1,000 for the RAFBF over the weekend by cycling 66 miles from the Cairngorms to the Lossiemouth base.