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From : worldmusicHE777
Added: Jan 13, 2009
Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey DBE (born 8 January 1937, Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh singer. She performed the theme songs to the James Bond films Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and Moonraker (1979). She is the only singer to have recorded more than one James Bond theme song. Bassey is an international artist who has accumulated 20 silver discs for sales in Britain, Europe and the Middle East; fifty-plus gold discs for international record sales; and countless greatest-hits collections including one gold and two platinum. Her Top 10 albums include Shirley; Something; Something Else; Never, Never, Never and 2007's Get the Party Started. Bassey was born on 8 January 1937 at 182 Bute Street, Tiger Bay, Cardiff, to a Efik Nigerian sailor father and a mother from Yorkshire, who divorced when she was three. She grew up in the working-class dockside district of Tiger Bay as the youngest of seven children. After leaving Moorland School at the age of fifteen, Bassey first found employment packing at a local factory while singing in local pubs and clubs in the evenings and weekends. In 1953, she signed up for the revue Memories of Jolson, a musical based on the life of Al Jolson..... Bassey's first marriage was to Kenneth Hume (from 1961 to 1965) and ended in divorce. Her second husband was Sergio Novak. Bassey and Novak were married from 1968 until they divorced in 1977; Novak served as Bassey's manager for this period of time. Bassey has two daughters and one adopted son. Her first daughter Sharon was born when Bassey was seventeen. Bassey's second daughter, Samantha, was found dead in 1985 after apparently having jumped from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England. Bassey has always insisted the death of her daughter was not suicide.... Awards & achievements; In recognition of her career longevity, and a particular admiration from the Royal Family, Bassey was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) on 31 December 1999 by HM Queen Elizabeth II. She was invited to perform in 2002 at the Party at the Palace, a public celebration of The Queen's Golden Jubilee of 50 years on the throne. She was also awarded France's top honour, the Legion d'Honneur, to signify her enduring popularity and importance in the culture of France. She now resides in Monaco and has recently sold her London apartment - many of its furnishings were auctioned for charity. On 16 December 2007 Dame Shirley celebrated her 70th birthday with a party for friends at Cliveden. * 1972 - Best Female Singer - TV Times, UK * 1973 - Best Female Singer - TV Times, UK * 1974 - Best Female Entertainer - American Guild of Variety Artists * 1976 - Best Female Singer - Music Week, UK * 1976 - 22-day British tour to mark twenty years as a recording artist * 1976 - EMI Award for twenty years as a recording artist - UK * 1977 - Best British Female Singer in the Last 50 years of Recorded Sound - (BRIT Awards winner) * 1985 - Star of Sopot Festival (International Song Festival), Poland * 1991 - Walk of Fame, Star Boulevard - plaque unveiled in Rotterdam * 1993 - CBE - Commander of the British Empire * 1995 - Showbusiness Personality of the Year - Variety Club of Great Britain * 1996 - Europe's Lifetime Achievement Award - Ceremony held in Germany * 1997 - Grammy nomination - The Birthday Concert (recorded live at Althorp Park) * 1998 - Longest run by a solo artist (ten shows) - Royal Festival Hall, London * 1999 - Légion d'Honneur - France * 1999 - DBE - Dame of the British Empire * 1999 - Madam Tussaud's waxwork unveiled in London (second model in Las Vegas) * 1999 - 100 most famous people of the 20th century - Hello magazine * 2000 - Most Successful British Female Singer - Guinness Book of Records * 2003 - Outstanding Contribution to Music - National Music Awards, UK * 2003 - Woman of the Year - Western Mail Welsh Woman of the Year Awards * 2004 - Greatest Black Briton, Shirley voted into the top ten - BBC * 2004 - Artist for Peace Award - UNESCO * 2005 - Avenue of Stars - plaque unveiled in London * 2008 - "Goldfinger" - United Artists single (1964) inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.... [Wikipedia]
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