Shirley Bassey

Bassey made history in 1959 as the first Welsh person to have a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart. She went on to amass 27 Top 40 hits, including the theme songs for three James Bond films: Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker. She is the only artist to have performed more than one Bond theme. Her influence reached across the Atlantic, with Aretha Franklin among those she inspired. In 1977, she won the first Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist. She was appointed a Dame in 1999 for services to the performing arts, and in 2008, her recording of "Goldfinger" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Bassey has sold over 140 million records worldwide and is the first woman to have a Top 40 album in seven consecutive decades in the UK.

Born on Bute Street in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Bassey was the sixth and youngest child of Henry Bassey, a Nigerian, and Eliza Jane Start, who was English. She grew up in the nearby community of Splott. Her voice was noticed at school, but it was not always appreciated. One teacher told her to back off until she was singing in the corridor. She left school at 14 to work at Curran Steels and sang in local pubs and clubs in her spare time. Her personal life has been marked by both joy and tragedy. She married Kenneth Hume in 1961, divorcing him in 1965 after her affair with actor Peter Finch. She later married Sergio Novak in 1968; they divorced in 1979. She has two daughters, Sharon and Samantha, and adopted her grand-nephew Mark. Samantha's death in 1985, at age 21, was a devastating loss that Bassey has always maintained was not a suicide. In 2010, police concluded there was no evidence of criminal acts in her death. Bassey resides in Monaco. In 2018, she reported having a great-granddaughter.