Shirley Bassey

Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey is a Welsh singer, known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films – the only artist to perform more than one officially. Bassey is one of the most popular vocalists in Britain. In a career spanning more than 70 years, Bassey has sold more than 140 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling female artists of all time. She is the first woman in history to claim a Top 40 album in seven consecutive decades in the United Kingdom. Born in Cardiff, Bassey began performing as a teenager in 1953. In 1959, she became the first Welsh singer to gain a no. 1 single on the UK singles chart. In the following decades, Bassey amassed 27 top 40 hits in the UK, including two no. 1s plus a no. 1 in the Dance Chart. She became well known for recording theme songs of the James Bond films Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker. Bassey has had numerous BBC television specials and hosted her own variety series, Shirley Bassey. In 2011, BBC aired the television film Shirley, based on Bassey's life and career. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley...) under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)