Shirley Bassey

Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer.

Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists in Britain.

Born in Cardiff, Bassey began performing as a teenager in 1953.

In 1953, Bassey signed her first professional contract, touring with the variety show Memories of Jolson, a musical based on the life of Al Jolson.

On 17 December 1953, Bassey signed a contract with Columbia Productions for two performances at the salary of £10.

Her next professional engagement was in the touring show Hot from Harlem, in which she and other mixed-race Cardiff performers were passed off as Black Americans in 1954.

A review of the show in March 1954 included: "Shirley Bassey, an attractive young singer, is an asset to the show."

Later that year, Bassey gave birth to her daughter Sharon, while staying with her sister Ella in London.

While performing in Jersey, Bassey met her first manager, Mike Sullivan.

In 1955, Bassey toured various theatres until she was noticed by the impresario Jack Hylton at the Astor Club in September 1955.

He invited her to feature in Al Read's Such Is Life, which opened on 14 December 1955 at the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End.

In the show, which ran until 3 November 1956, she featured the song "Burn My Candle", leading one reviewer to say that she had nearly stopped the show with the song "which brought outraged mutters, then roars of shamefaced applause."

During the show's run, Philips record producer Johnny Franz spotted her on television, was impressed, and offered her a recording deal.

Bassey recorded her first single, "Burn My Candle", the song she had featured in Such is Life, and this was released in February 1956.

The cabaret-style song was banned by the BBC because the lyrics were considered too suggestive.

More singles followed, and in February 1957, Bassey had her first hit with "The Banana Boat Song", which reached No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart.

Following a successful run at the Café de Paris, London, she made her American stage début in Las Vegas at El Rancho Vegas in February 1957.

In 1959, she became the first Welsh person to gain a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart.

In the following decades, Bassey amassed 27 Top 40 hits in the UK, including two number-ones (As I Love You and AA: Climb Ev'ry Mountain/Reach For The Stars) plus a number-one on the Dance Chart (History Repeating).

She became well-known for recording the soundtrack theme songs of the James Bond films Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and Moonraker (1979).

Since making her first appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in 1971, she has performed at the venue 45 times.

Bassey received the first award for Best British Female Solo Artist at the 1st Brit Awards in 1977.

She was appointed a Dame in 1999 for services to the performing arts.

In 2003, she was ranked among the "100 Great Black Britons".

Her song "Goldfinger" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.

She has influenced many other singers, including Aretha Franklin.

In a career spanning over 70 years, Bassey has sold over 140 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling female artists of all time.

She is the first woman in history to claim a Top 40 album in seven consecutive decades in the United Kingdom.

Shirley Veronica Bassey was born the sixth and youngest child of Henry Bassey and Eliza Jane Start on Bute Street in Tiger Bay, Cardiff.

She grew up in the nearby community of Splott.

Her father was Nigerian, and her mother came from New Marske, North Yorkshire.

Two of her mother's four children from previous relationships lived in the Bassey household.

Bassey's mother listed her first husband, Alfred Metcalfe, as her own father in the registry of her marriage to Henry Bassey, giving rise to speculation that this marriage was bigamous in the absence of a prior divorce.

Eliza and Henry's second child died in infancy, so Shirley was born into a household of three sisters, two half-sisters, and one brother.

Teachers and students alike at Moorland Road School noticed Bassey's strong voice, but gave the pre-teen little encouragement: "everyone told me to shut up. Even in the school choir the teacher kept telling me to back off till I was singing in the corridor!"

A classmate recalled her singing the refrain "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" from Show Boat with such feeling that she made their teacher uncomfortable.

She left Splott secondary modern school at age 14 to work at Curran Steels and, in the evenings and weekends, to sing in local pubs and clubs.

In 2011, BBC aired the television film Shirley, based on Bassey's life and career.

In 2020, Bassey became the first female artist to chart an album in the Top 40 of the UK Albums Chart in seven consecutive decades with her album I Owe It All To You.

Bassey has also had numerous BBC television specials, and she hosted her own variety series, Shirley Bassey.