It’s the song which famously soundtracks The Devil Wears Prada’s opening scene as Anne Hathaway’s character prepares for her first day at a high-fashion magazine.

But “Suddenly I See”, KT Tunstall’s signature hit, will not feature in the West End stage version of the film, the Scottish singer has revealed – unless Sir Elton John has a change of heart.

Set to open in the West End this autumn and featuring an original score from Sir Elton, The Devil Wears Prada has been “reimagined” after a test run in Chicago played to a mixed critical response, according to reports.

Asked if her 2004 song, widely hailed as a feminist anthem, would provide the opening scene for the stage show, as in the film about the aspiring writer hired as an assistant to an all-powerful fashion editor, Tunstall said: “Absolutely not, apparently.”

The Scottish singer, who receives the Outstanding Song Collection prize at the Ivor Novello Awards on Thursday, told i: “I haven’t had the phone call from Elton, sadly.”

Sir Elton has previously described his new score for the musical as “very modern”, ranging across serious, tongue-in-cheek, romantic and frivolous songs.

But won’t theatregoers expect the stage show, which previews in Plymouth in July, to recreate the film’s scene-setting montage?

“That’s what I would think but we’ll have to wait and see,” said Tunstall, who seemed happy to grant permission for the song’s use.

“I will keep an eye on my phone. But I wish the musical all the best because the film changed my life.”

The film gave global exposure to her music and “Suddenly I See” won best song at the 2006 Ivor Novello Awards – the same year the move came out. Frequently used in TV and film soundtracks, Tunstall said it “is the song people sing back to me whenever I get off the plane”.

The musician was on tour in the US when The Devil Wears Prada film opened. “I snuck into a movie theatre in North Carolina to watch it and it just fitted perfectly with Anne Hathaway starting this job.

“Maybe the song was needed. Young women wanted an anthem that gave them the confidence to walk into the unknown.”

Tunstall, whose hits include “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and “Other Side of the World”, is planning her own West End smash.

“I’m writing the music for Clueless the musical (a stage version of the 1995 Alicia Silverstone film). So at least I’m contributing to the transmutation of modern classics to the stage.”

Moving into musicals is a challenge embraced by the singer, who has been forced to cut back her touring schedule after going deaf in her left ear.

“It limits the amount of shows I want to play,” she said. “I got tinnitus and I lost a bit of high end hearing. And then in 2018 I completely lost hearing in my left ear which never came back. I still have the tinnitus.

“There’s no escaping that the environment we work in as musicians is definitely dangerous for hearing and people should for sure be careful.”

Tunstall explained: “I had a gruelling schedule in front of me a couple of years ago and I had to throw the towel in and say ‘I can’t do it.’ I feel like I’m jeopardising the hearing I have left, and if I lose the other ear, then I’m in real trouble.”

Tunstall, who was raised in Fife but moved to California in 2013, believes the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle contributed to her deafness.

“I think it was from working too hard, it was a nervous system overload, just burning the candle at both ends and not taking enough breaks,” said the musician, who first shot to national attention with a performance on Later…With Jools Holland, using just a guitar and loop pedal.

“You’re in loud environments and most of us usually aren’t getting enough rest.

“I feel like my hearing was the weakest link in the chain and that’s what went. My tinnitus now is a reminder to make sure I’m looking after myself.”

The touring life mitigated against the singer having children. But the performer, whose marriage to Luke Bullen, the drummer in her band, ended in 2013, has no regrets.

“I think in this modern world you have to desperately want to have children,” Tunstall, 48, said.

“It’s just never been something that I’ve craved, really. It’s also become a really challenging environment for child-rearing.”

One route to parenting she has considered is adoption – Tunstall herself was adopted 18 days after her birth by David Tunstall, a physics lecturer at the University of St Andrews and his wife Rosemarie, a primary school teacher.

“I definitely have thought about adopting. I’m very grateful to parents who open their lives to adoptive kids because it’s an amazing relationship. These are kids that desperately need love and care.”

Tunstall traced her birth mother in 1998 and discovered two sisters she didn’t know she had. “It makes for amazing stories. I’ve got a half-Chinese (birth) mother, an Irish father. There’s a lot of finding your way as a new family. I’ve had rocky moments but I’ve been very lucky.”

The singer admits she was stunned to be given the Ivors honour, alongside Bruce Springsteen, who will be made an Academy Fellow at the Grosvenor House ceremony, which recognises achievement in songwriting. “I’ve never met Bruce but I play his song ‘State Trooper’ in my live set.”

“The money is not being distributed fairly. How are new songwriters supposed to make a living? It’s like getting your mortgage and someone lends you money to buy your house – and then you pay for that house over and over again and you never own the house.”

She is now fighting for writers to be paid their dues by streaming platforms and record companies. “Artists are often a little clueless on the business side,” she said. “We’ve got to stop signing contracts where you never get your song rights back.

The success of her debut album, Eye To The Telescope, which sold four million copies, followed years of gigging in small clubs.

Tunstall says artists who have reached arena or stadium-filling status should be willing to donate £1 a ticket to a fund designed to support struggling grassroots venues, a proposal backed by MPs.

“It’s less than a bottle of water in a coffee shop and it really would make a huge difference. If we don’t support this structure of small music venues, there ain’t going to be any new stars to see in stadiums.”

A certain globe-straddling star whose UK tour is predicted to generate £1bn for the economy could take the lead? “Yes, come on Tay Tay!”