Tribute bands

Shirley Bassey Tribute Act

Dame Shirley Bassey DBE (born January 8, 1937), is a Welsh singer, perhaps best known for performing the theme songs to the James Bond films Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and Moonraker (1979). To date no other performer has recorded more than one of the coveted theme songs.
Life & Times

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

Shirley went to Moorland Primary School, Splott, Cardiff.

Shirley 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 Shirley 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 booking agent in London, put her firmly on course for her destined career. He saw talent in Shirley, 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.

Shirley duly recorded her first single, entitled Burn My Candle, and Philips released it in February 1956. Due to the suggestive lyric, the BBC banned it, but it still sold well nonetheless, backed with her powerful rendition of Stormy Weather. Further singles appeared, and in February 1957 Shirley scored her first hit with The Banana Boat Song, which peaked at #8 in the British chart. That year she also recorded under the direction of US 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 which 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 #1 and stayed there for 4 weeks. Shirley 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 3 at the same time.

A few months later, Shirley Bassey signed to EMI Columbia, and the second phase in her recording career had begun. Throughout the 1960's 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. Finally, in 1979 Bassey recorded her final title theme for the Bond films with Moonraker. Throughout most of the 1980's 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...')

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