Telford Karaoke Queen celebrates 95th birthday with week of singing
The Queen of Karaoke celebrated her 95th birthday in style... attending a karaoke party every night this week across Telford.
Rose Strickland may be 95 years old, but that does not stop her from belting out the tunes and partying each night as she celebrated her 95th birthday on Monday 28 October, and carried on throughout the rest of the week.
She has attended parties held in her honour in venues across Telford, including the Horseshoes Inn in Ketley.
Rose, from Telford, has twice succeeded getting into the first round of Britain's Got Talent and recorded her first album at the age of 90.
Rose said the celebrations had been really brilliant.
"I am out six nights a week usually," she said. "I started doing it when I was younger, for my father.
"When I was 16, my father would bring friends round and I would sing for them. I would always sing 'Jealousy' by Franky Laine.
"Some of my favourites to sing are 'If I Love You' from Carousel, 'My Way' and 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.
"When I was on holiday one year, a professional singer asked me to come and sing on stage with him. It was amazing.
"He let me sing alone and said I should be up here singing because my voice was so good."
Rose, who is also an avid knitter, performs in pubs, care homes and holiday camps.
From singing in her teens, it was not until the 1980s when she walked into Bobby Rays karaoke at the Oakengates Snooker Centre, that she relit her desire to sing and since then has sung karaoke across the county.
Rose enjoys life to the full with a busy night life, a gentle tipple, a new fiancé, a stream of holidays and a wealth of adoring fans.
