Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien
British singer, songwriter, and producer. Born as Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien to an Irish family with a background in music, on 16 April 1939 in London, England, she started her music career with folk groups the Lana Sisters and the Springfields, before she went to initiate her solo career in 1963 with “I Only Want To Be With You”, which charted No. 4 on the UK Official Charts.
She is cited as the first singer to introduce the music of Motown to the British audiences in 1965 when she hosted a special episode of programme Ready Steady Go! “The Sound of Motown”. Charting of her succeeding singles, albums, ensued in the British and American music charts, as she embarked on hosting a BBC television variety show titled “Dusty” (1966-1969).
Between 1968 and 1975, she relocated to the United States, and recorded several albums and singles for Atlantic and Dunhill Records such as “Dusty in Memphis”; the album did not sell well during its first release but has been retrospectively praised as one of Springfield’s magnum opus by music critics. Several albums followed until in 1974 she halted making solo albums and went to sing backup vocals for several artists. By 1978 she made a comeback and continued recording and singing at various venues, such as her collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys, until her death on 2 March 1999 from breast cancer in Oxfordshire,