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 in1969 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. In 1993, Lulu released “Independence,” an album of modern disco-pop with a flavor of classic soul and R&B. The title track ranked strongly in the U.K. and U.S. charts, and was followed by another single, “I’m Back For More,” featuring a duet with Bobby Womack. She was, by then, creating some of her own material. One of her songs, “I Don’t Wanna Fight Any More,” written with her brother, Billy Lawrie, was recorded by Tina Turner and received a Grammy nomination.
In 1999 her close celebrity friend Elton John offered her the chance to have total creative control and a place on his record label “Rocket Records.” The result was “Hurt Me So Bad.” The single did fairly well, but the songs and the music were more important to Lulu than chart positions.
Lulu was appearing more frequently in magazines and press. This was helped by the fact that she was looking fabulous, some saying she had never looked younger. In November 1999 Lulu returned to television when she hosted BBC’s National Lottery show called
“Red Alert.” The troubled show suffered poor ratings. A revamped second series in 2000 showed a more comfortable Lulu but lasted only eight shows.
After avoiding dance records for years, Lulu released the up-tempo “Better Get Ready,” the theme from the television show, in time for the New Year. In June 2000 Lulu’s contribution to the entertainment business was acknowledged when she received an award in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Lulu will appear in a new film “What Ever Happened To Harold Smith,” scheduled to be released early 2000. Her new album “Let the Poor Boys Dance” was scheduled for release in April 2000.
She married Maurice Gibb, one of the BeeGee’s, on 2/18/1969. They divorced in 1973. In 1975 she married John Frieda and together they have one son. They divorced in 1995.
Link to Wikipedia biography