Lulu (singer)

Lulu Kennedy-Cairns (born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie; 3 November 1948) is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality.

With a powerful singing voice, Lulu began her career in the UK but soon became known internationally.

In the late 1960s, Lulu's pop career in the UK thrived and she had several television series of her own.

In 1964, under the wing of Marion Massey, she was signed to Decca Records.

While only fifteen, her version of the Isley Brothers' "Shout", credited to "Lulu & the Luvvers", and delivered in a raucous but mature voice, peaked at No. 7 on the UK chart.

Massey guided her career for more than 25 years, for most of which time they were partners in business, and Massey's husband Mark produced some of Lulu's recordings.

After the success of "Shout", Lulu's next charting single was "Leave a Little Love" in 1965, which returned her to the UK Top Ten.

Her next record, "Try to Understand", made the Top 40.

Her first BBC series aired in 1965 on BBC2, where she co-hosted ''Gadzooks!

In 1966, Lulu toured Poland with the Hollies, being the first British female singer to appear live behind the Iron Curtain.

In the same year, she recorded two German-language tracks, "Wenn du da bist" and "So fing es an", for the Decca Germany label.

After failing to reach the charts in 1966, Lulu left Decca and signed with Columbia, to be produced by Mickie Most.

It's The In-Crowd, with Alan David, completing the run as solo host under the rebranded Gadzooks! In 1966, she made regular appearances on BBC1's Stramash! After appearing again on BBC2 in 1967, in a successful TV series Three of a Kind, that featured music and comedy, Lulu was given her own BBC1 TV series in 1968, which ran annually until 1975 under various titles, including Lulu's Back in Town, Happening For Lulu, It's Lulu and Lulu''.

The series often featured resident guests, including Adrienne Posta, Roger Kitter, Paul Greenwood and Pan's People, along with dance troupes choreographed by Nigel Lythgoe and Dougie Squires.

She had major chart hits with "To Sir with Love" from the 1967 film of the same name, which topped the Billboard Hot 100, and with the title song to the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun.

She returned to the UK singles chart in April 1967, reaching No. 6 with "The Boat That I Row", written by Neil Diamond.

Lulu made her acting debut in 1967 To Sir, with Love, a British vehicle for Sidney Poitier.

Lulu both acted in the film and sang the title song, with which she had a major hit in the United States, reaching No. 1. "To Sir with Love" became the best-selling single of 1967 in the United States.

It sold well in excess of one million copies and was awarded a gold disc, being ranked by Billboard magazine as the number 1 song of the year.

In the UK, "To Sir With Love" was released on the B-side of "Let's Pretend", a number 11 hit.

In European countries, she is also widely known for the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 winning entry "Boom Bang-a-Bang", and for her 1964 hit "Shout", which she performed at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie was born in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire, and grew up in Dennistoun, Glasgow, where she attended Thomson Street Primary School and Onslow Drive School.

She lived in Gallowgate for a while before moving to Garfield Street, Dennistoun.

When she was 12 or 13, she and her manager approached a band called the Bellrocks seeking stage experience as a singer.

She appeared with them every Saturday night: Alex Thomson, the group's bass player, has reported that even then her voice was remarkable.

She has two brothers and a sister and her father, who died at 71 was reportedly a heavy drinker.

Aged 14, she received the stage name "Lulu" from her future manager Marion Massey, who commented: "Well, all I know is that she's a real lulu of a kid."

All seven singles she cut with Mickie Most made the UK Singles Chart, ending with "Boom Bang-A-Bang" reaching number 2 in 1969.

The 1972 series was billed as It's Lulu... Not to mention Dudley Moore, with Dudley Moore and his trio appearing in each of the thirteen shows.

Bernie Clifton was her resident guest for the last of the BBC series, airing from January to April 1975.

Her BBC series included music and comedy sketches and appearances by star guests.

When Most died in 2003, Lulu was full of praise for him and told the BBC that they had been very close.

All her Decca recordings were made available in 2009 on a 2-CD set entitled Shout!, issued on RPM Records.

After two hit singles with the Luvvers, Lulu embarked on a solo career.

In August 2017, Lulu's family history was the subject of an episode in the UK series Who Do You Think You Are? The research showed that her mother had been brought up by another family.

The investigation into her genealogy showed that Lulu's maternal grandparents had different religions.

Her grandfather Hugh Cairns was a Catholic and her grandmother, Helen Kennedy, was a Protestant.

Cairns had been a member of a Catholic gang and was found in the research to have been in and out of prison at the time of the birth of Lulu's mother.

Kennedy was found to be the daughter of a Worthy Mistress of the Ladies' Orange Lodge 52.

The discovery explained why the two families had opposed the union between Kennedy and Cairns.