Joy Beverley death: 'Mum was the most magnificent woman'
"They loved each other so much and it's a comfort to think she is with Dad now."
These are the words of Vicky Wright, who today paid a heartfelt tribute to her mother Joy Beverley – the widow of Shropshire-born Wolves legend Billy Wright – who has died aged 91.
Joy, one-third of the 1950s pop group The Beverley Sisters, passed away on Monday morning.
Her family said she had suffered a stroke the week previously.
Vicky, 56, who herself had a pop career with The Foxes and is the partner of Bobby Davro – who is currently in the Celebrity Big Brother house – said her parents met when Joy and her sisters were staying in Wolverhampton due to a performance at the Grand Theatre. They were introduced and it was love at first sight.
"I remember them saying it was like a Disney film when they saw each other," says Vicky.
After a whirlwind three-month relationship with the England captain, London-born Joy tied the knot with Ironbridge-born Billy in 1958, with their marriage the first celebrity/footballer wedding.
And growing up, Vicky, who is herself a mother to Kelly, 21, remembers the attention her star parents used to get.
"They were the first Posh and Becks but it was so different then," she recalls.
"I didn't realise that dad was a bit of a pin-up, he was a little bit of a hero.
"It was the first time a footballer had fallen in love with a pop star. It's so bizarre because to us they were mum and dad and my dad worshipped my mother."
Vicky said her mother, who was known as "the middle one" of The Beverley Sisters, was "magnificent".
"She was the most magnificent woman – talented with the most wonderful voice," she says. "It was like the girl band, but it wasn't called that in those days. They had their own TV series on the BBC and headlined at the Palladium. They were kind of retired when we were born because they wanted to be at home."
However, Vicky does remember travelling with the family during the summer holidays and watching performances.
"It was a different childhood," she admits. "But to us it was normal".
Of The Beverley Sisters trio – which included Teddie and Babs – Joy was the eldest.
Joy and Billy were married for 36 years until Billy died of cancer in 1994. They had three children, Vince, 67, Vicky and Babette, 50, and four grandchildren.
Joy was living at home in Whetstone in North London at the time of her death.
Wolves' chief executive Jez Moxey today said: "She was part of the fabric of our club for so many year."
Flags at Molineux were flown at half-mast following the news.
