Lulu

Scottish singer; a red-haired pop singer of the late '60s, known for singing the theme song and acting in the film, "To Sir With Love."

At the age of five, Lulu won her first singing contest in Blackpool. She was originally a group vocalist with her own backing group, "The Luvvers," which she later abandoned. Her first song "Shout," 1964, rose to number seven in U.K. charts. A cover of Neil Diamond 's "The Boat That I Row" saw an upsurge in her career during 1967. In the same year, she acted and sang the theme song for the movie "To Sir With Love." The theme tune from the film gave her a million-selling U.S. number one hit, and in the U.K. it reached No. 6. She represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1969 with "Boom-Bang-A-Bang" where she tied for first place. The song became the No.2 song in U.K. charts.

Lulu's mid-'60s recordings were often surprisingly rowdy and R&B-influenced. Her Brenda Lee-like raspy voice could be quite gutsy and soulful. A lean period in her work ended when David Bowie produced and arranged her hit version of "The Man Who Sold The World." Lulu sang the title song to James Bond film, "Man with the Golden Gun."

During the 1970s, she concentrated increasingly on stage work and developed her career as an all-round entertainer. She became the long-standing model/endorser for the Freeman's mail-order catalogue. Appearances in "Guys And Dolls," "Song And Dance" and the television program "The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole" distracted her from her music but a re-recording of "Shout" in 1986, repeated the Top 10 success of 22 years earlier.

Lulu reached a new audience in 1993 when she featured on the No.1 single, "Relight My Fire," of the hottest band in Europe, "Take That." Lulu was seen all over Europe, performing the single with the boys on tour and on television. The exposure helped pave the way for her next solo project.