After a four year hiatus to embrace parenthood, the pop singer-songwriter showed the packed-out crowd what they had been missing.

She performed on stage with her band, surrounded by light-up baby bottles, perhaps a dig at her critics who claim motherhood and stardom are incompatible.

The upbeat set list opened with the title track from her latest album Sheezus, a tongue-in-cheek nod to Kanye West. However, it was not until her older material that the audience really came to life. Crowd pleasers included the breezy and buoyant LND, Smile and It’s Not Fair, plus her version of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know from last year’s John Lewis advert, in which her sweet vocals shone.

Between songs she provided painfully honest anecdotes about internet trolls and the fear that her mother loves her sister more than her.

Even her most controversial statements and lyrics were softened by her natural charisma and likeability.

The devoted audience roared along to final song F*** You and screamed for the encore; a cover of Ty Dolla Sign’s crude Or Nah, followed by and bluntly juxtaposed with her feminist anthem Hard Out Here.

There were no gimmicks, just her voice, and the whole night felt unrehearsed and authentic.