Lulu at 70: singer celebrates landmark birthday
The Scottish star has enjoyed a long and successful career.
Singer Lulu, known for hits like Shout, is celebrating her 70th birthday.
To celebrate the milestone, here’s a look back through her glittering career.
1. Lulu, born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie in Lennoxtown, East Dunbartonshire, and also known as Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, shot to fame aged just 15 when Shout, a cover of the Isley Brothers track, became a hit. The song would go on to become her signature tune.
2. In 1969 she represented Britain at the Eurovision Song Contest. Her song Boom Bang-A-Bang was the joint winner that year as she shared the prize with France, Netherlands and Spain with 18 points apiece.
3. The Scottish singer went on to record the theme song with the same name for 1974’s 007 film The Man With The Golden Gun.
She later said during an interview that she had not rated her Bond tune, adding: “I think mine was probably the worst one ever. Mine was not a great song.”
4. She collaborated with Take That on their cover of Relight My Fire in 1993 and in 2016 she was announced as a guest judge for new BBC One Saturday night series Let It Shine, a search for the lead cast of a show based on Take That’s music.
She teamed up with the group’s songwriter and singer Gary Barlow, as well as judges Martin Kemp and Dannii Minogue, in a guest role to help choose the best contestants for parts in the musical.
4. She received an OBE for her services to music in 2000.
She said of her medal at the time that it was “a great honour and was a real surprise. The Prince (of Wales) apologised that it had taken so long. He told me I had found the secret of eternal youth.”
She added: “I’m not giving up just because I have got this. I hope to go on until I die.”
5. In 2017 she announced she would be taking on the biggest tour of her career, called All About The Music Tour, which spanned 40 dates around the UK, in October and November of that same year.
6. In February this year Lulu appeared in 42nd Street as Dorothy Brock.
Over the years she has clocked up other theatrical credits with appearances in Guys And Dolls and Peter Pan.
7. She has had 10 UK Top 10 singles, according to the Official Charts Company, and her most recent album was 2015’s Making Life Rhyme.
