Kathy Kirby

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Kathy Kirby (born Kathleen O'Rourke, 20 October 1938[1] or 1940, Ilford, Essex[2]) was a popular English singer of the 1960s.

Contents

Career

Convent educated,[3] Kirby's soprano voice became apparent early in life and she was thought to be good enough for opera. She became a professional singer after meeting the bandleader, Ambrose at the Ilford Palais. She remained with Ambrose's band for three years and he remained her manager and mentor until his death in 1971.

She adopted the look of a 'blonde bombshell', and was compared to Marilyn Monroe. Her looks, lip-gloss and her powerful, pitch-perfect voice became her trademarks. She had a string of Top 20 hits between 1963 and 1965, the best known of which is probably her cover version of "Secret Love". That year (1963), she won Top British Female Singer in the New Musical Express poll.[2]

Kirby became one of the biggest stars of the mid 1960s, appearing in the Royal Command Variety Performance and three television series for BBC TV. She represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965, and came second with the song "I Belong". For her performance, author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor describes "I Belong" as being far more representative of current musical tastes than other songs from the contest,[4] but Kathy was beaten by the even more contemporary song from Luxembourg, written by Serge Gainsbourg and performed by France Gall. She also sang the theme tune of the BBC television series Adam Adamant Lives!.

Kirby's star faded in the late 1960s. She recorded twelve singles and an album between 1967 and 1973, but did they did not achieve her previous success. She continued to make television appearances, and her 1974 appearance on The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club TV variety show is available to watch on You Tube.[5]

During the 1970s Kirby endured bankruptcy and some mental health problems, but she made occasional television appearances and performed a few live gigs on the "nostalgia circuit". In December 1983,[2] although still in her early forties she retired from show business altogether.

Current activities

Now approaching 70, Kathy Kirby has been retired for 25 years and lives away from the public eye in the Kensington area of London. She shuns publicity and is in poor health[6], with one source reporting that she is living with schizophrenia[7].

Interest in Kathy Kirby and her work has continued, particularly among gay men for whom she is something of an icon[8]. There are several tribute websites including an Official site run by her media agent and an Authorised Tribute site run by a personal friend. Both sites claim that the other is not run in Kirby's best interests, and relations between them are acrimonious[9][10].

A 2005 biography was adapted into a stage show about her life, called Secret Love. The show opened in Leeds in May 2008 amid some newspaper reports of a row between the play's producer and the singer's biographer over whether Kirby herself had given the show her blessing[11][12].

Singles

Year Title Chart positions
UK Singles Chart
1963 "Dance On" 11
"Secret Love" 4
1964 "Let Me Go, Lover!" 10
"You're The One" 17
1965 "I Belong" 36

[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ In search of Kathy Kirby, the star who fell to Earth - Yorkshire Post
  2. ^ a b c Kathy Kirby - Biography
  3. ^ Kathy Kirby (1940-), Singer
  4. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007. ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
  5. ^ YouTube - Kathy Kirby - Wheeltappers and Shunters Club
  6. ^ Tragic Tale Of Kathy (from Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
  7. ^ In search of Kathy Kirby, the star who fell to Earth - Yorkshire Post
  8. ^ Kathy Kirby
  9. ^ http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hoban/kathykirby/biog15.html
  10. ^ http://www.kathykirby.co.uk/news.php
  11. ^ Kirby Show Producer Slams Bitter Biographer
  12. ^ http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/25262/Kathy-s-play-hits-discordant-note
  13. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums, 19th, London: Guinness World Records Limited, p. 304. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Kirby"
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