Blessed with incredible beauty, tremendous glamour, overwhelming charm and what is arguably the most magnificent voice in the history of popular music, Dame Shirley Bassey has been thrilling old fans, and collecting new ones, for more than 50 years.ur, overwhelming charm and what is arguably the most magnificent voice in the history of popular music, Dame Shirley Bassey has bee
n thrilling old fans, and collecting new o
nes, for nearly 50 years.
WHO IS SHIRLEY BASSEY????
Born on January 8, 1937, in a section of Cardiff, Wales that was then referred to as "Tiger Bay". Shirley Veronica Bassey
was the seventh child of Henry and Eliza Bassey. At that time, Tiger Bay was a multi-ethnic, working-class community
comprised of people from all over the world. Henry Bassey was a seaman of Nigerian ancestry and Eliza Bassey hailed
from Northern England.
At age 15, young Shirley began working in a local factory. Having displayed an extraordinary talent for singing
from a very early age, it was not long before Shirley began her professional career singing in working men's clubs.
Throughout her youth, Shirley had been influenced by several American pop and jazz singers including Billy Eckstine,
Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan and, most significantly, Judy Garland. By Bassey's own admission, Garland
had a profound influence on her professional craft. Garland is also the performer to whom Bassey has been most
closely compared throughout her career. Though unable to read music, Bassey dazzled her earliest audiences with
pitch-perfect renditions of Horne's "Stormy Weather" and Garland's "Over the Rainbow".
In 1959, Shirley hit the big
time when she sent two singles; "Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me" and "As I Love You", to the
top of the British charts, simultaneously. That was the beginning of a long, illustrious recording career. A string
of hits followed as "Climb Every Mountain", "As Long As He Needs Me", "You'll Never Know",
"I'll Get By" and "Reach For The Stars" all raced to the top of the British charts. In a few
short years, she established herself as Britain's premier female vocalist. However, in America, success as a recording
artist would prove somewhat more elusive. To be sure, she was a huge attraction on the American cabaret circuit.
She was a headliner at top tier venues across the country, including the Persian Room of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan
and the Cocoanut Grove of the former Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. However, her early recordings failed to
crack the upper regions of the US Charts.
In late 1964, all that changed when Bassey stormed the US singles chart with the title tune to the James Bond film
"Goldfinger". Bassey's roof-raising vocal, coupled with John Barry's blustery arrangement, sent the single
to the number 8 position and the soundtrack LP to number 1 on the US charts. For the next several years, Bassey
played to sold-out crowds at several of the top concert venues in the US, including New York's legendary Carnegie
Hall. In the 1960's, two of her signature recordings, "What Now My Love" and "I (Who Have Nothing)",
raced up the British charts. Even today, no Shirley Bassey performance is complete without her highly emotional
rendering of the latter. As well, in the late 1960's she recorded a song that is widely regarded as her personal
anthem, "This Is My Life".
During the 1970's, with production assistance from Johnny Harris, Noel Rogers, Arthur Greenslade and others, Miss
Bassey crafted some of the most compelling music of her career. Time matured and strengthened her already superhuman
voice, and experience refined her bold, brassy delivery. Infusing her trademark orchestral pop with elements of jazz, soul, funk and rock, she created a new sound that was both contemporary and classic. So prescient was her
1970's sound that echoes of her inimitable vocal style can be heard in the music of many of today's
most popular divas, including Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Toni Braxton, and Mariah Carey. Miss Bassey enjoyed
considerable success in the early 1970's with albums like Something, Never, Never, Never and I Capricorn. It was during this period that Miss Bassey recorded two more James Bond themes: "Diamonds Are Forever" in 1971 and "Moonraker" in 1978. While singers as diverse as Carly Simon, Gladys Knight, Nancy Sinatra and Sheryl Crow have all recorded theme songs for the famous film franchise, Shirley Bassey is the ultimate bond girl, now and forever! While she was a prolific recording artist, Miss Bassey is perhaps most renowned as a world-class entertainer.
And of course, performing has always been her forte, when she glides onstage and opens her lovely mouth, she is
in a class all by herself. Most of today's artists would require the aid of fireworks, strobe lights and a platoon
of dancers just to muster a fraction of the excitement that Miss Bassey manages with a twist of her wrist.
Thankfully, Miss Bassey's career is far from over. In 1998, she enjoyed considerable success
with the single "History Repeating", a collaboration with the Propellerheads. The single was a top five
hit on the Billboard Club Play charts and was prominently featured in the stateside advertisement for the Jaguar
S-Type sedan and in the film "There's Just Something About Mary". Also, in January 1999, Miss Bassey
received her first ever Grammy Award Nomination. "The Birthday Concert", a recording of a 1997 concert
celebrating her 60th birthday, was nominated in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance.
In 2000, EMI U.K. records released "Diamonds Are Forever - The Remix Album" which featured several of
Miss Bassey's most popular recordings remixed by the likes of the Propellerheads, Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez,
Moloko and more. Also EMI Records has digitally remastered and re-released several of Miss Bassey's landmark 1970's
LPs on CD, including Something, Something
Else, And I Love You So,
and I Capricorn. She also embarked on her highly
successful Millennium Tour which took her throughout Europe and included stops at Avery Fisher Hall in New York
City and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Also, the former Miss Shirley Bassey became DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY when she
was awarded Damehood by Queen Elizabeth II -- the highest honor the British Monarchy can bestow on a woman. Given
that she is still thrilling audiences all around the world, and sounding as fantastic as ever, Dame Shirley Bassey's
greatest success may be yet to come. This website is a tribute to the incomparable Dame Shirley Bassey. Enjoy!
