Shirley Bassey

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Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey, DBE (born January 8, 1937), is a Welsh biracial singer, perhaps best-known for performing 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.

1 Life & Career
2 Selected Discography
- 2.1 Albums
- 2.2 UK Singles
3 References
4 External links

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Life & Career

Bassey was born in Tiger Bay, Cardiff to a Nigerian father who was a seaman, while her mother came from Yorkshire, Northern England. She grew up in the notorious working-class district of Tiger Bay, Cardiff, as the youngest of seven children. Her father left when she was just two years old.

Bassey went to Moorland Primary School, Splott, Cardiff.

Bassey first found employment packing in a local factory when she left school at the age of fifteen. She enjoyed singing while she packed enamel pots, and to supplement her wage she sang in local pubs and clubs. In 1953, she signed up for the revue Memories of Jolson, a musical based on the life of Al Jolson. She next took up a professional engagement in Hot From Harlem, which ran until 1954. By this time Bassey had become sick of show business, and had become pregnant at 16 years old with her daughter Sharon, so she went back to waitressing in Cardiff. However, in 1955, a chance recommendation of her to Michael Sullivan, a Streatham-born booking agent, put her firmly on course for her destined career. He saw talent in Bassey, and decided he would make her a star. She toured various theatres until she got an offer of the show that put her firmly on the road to stardom, Al Read's Such Is Life. While she starred in this show, Philips A&R and record producer Johnny Franz spotted her on television, became impressed, and offered her a record deal.

Bassey recorded her first single, entitled Burn My Candle, and Philips released it in February 1956, when Bassey was only 19. Due to the suggestive lyrics, the BBC banned it, but it sold well nonetheless, backed with her powerful rendition of Stormy Weather. Further singles appeared, and, in February 1957, Bassey scored her first hit with The Banana Boat Song, which peaked at number 8 on the UK singles chart. During that year, she also recorded under the direction of U.S. producer Mitch Miller in America for the Columbia label, producing the single If I Had A Needle And Thread / Tonight My Heart She Is Crying. In mid-1958, she recorded two singles that would end up as classics in the Bassey catalogue. As I Love You appeared as a b-side to another ballad, Hands Across The Sea. It didn't sell well at first, but, after a chance appearance at the London Palladium, things began to pick up. In February 1959, it made number one and stayed there for 4 weeks. Bassey also recorded Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me at this time, and while As I Love You raced up the charts, so too did this record. They ended up with both in the top three at the same time.

A few months later, Bassey signed to EMI Columbia, and the second phase in her recording career had begun. Throughout the 1960s, Bassey scored with numerous hits on the British charts. In 1964 she recorded the title theme song for the James Bond film Goldfinger which vaulted into the Top 10 Singles Charts in both the UK and America. Due to the success of that song, she appeared frequently on many American television talk shows hosted by the likes of Johnny Carson and Mike Douglas. In 1971 she recorded the title theme for Diamonds Are Forever which was also a great success, later sampled by Kanye West for his 2005 hit Diamonds From Sierra Leone. Blockbuster club appeal came when Bassey teamed with Meco Monardo in 1978 to produce the disco tunes This Is My Life and Copacabana. In 1979, Bassey recorded her final title theme for the Bond films with Moonraker.

Throughout most of the 1980s, Bassey focused on charitable works and performing in more intimate venues, leaving her grande concert life behind. However, in 1997, she caused a sensation in the UK with her song History Repeating with the Propellerheads which scored a Number 1 ranking on the British Dance Music Charts, introducing Bassey to a new generation of fans, including Britain's Prince William and Prince Harry. The sleevenotes of the Propellerheads' album Decksandrumsandrockandroll included the line 'We would like to extend our maximum respect to Shirley Bassey for honouring us with her performance. We are still in shock...').

With thirty one hits in the UK singles chart, which span a record 42 year period for a female vocalist, plus thirty five hit LPs in the corresponding UK albums chart, she has become Britain's most successful female chart artist of all time.

She was married twice. The first time was to Kenneth Hume (from 1961 to 1965, when they divorced). Her second husband, Sergio Novak, is the father of her daughter, and they were married from 1968 until 1977, when that marriage also ended in divorce.

It is perhaps because of her career longevity, and particular admiration from the British Royal Family, that Bassey became a Dame Commander of the British Empire (the female equivalent of a Knight Commander) on December 31,1999, by HM Queen Elizabeth II.

She now resides in Monaco, and has recently sold her London apartment. Many of its furnishings were auctioned for charity. Two very popular 'Audiences With Shirley Bassey' have aired on British TV, the most recent being in March 2006.

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