Music City, Lulu, and Hoof

Lulu developed her love and passion for music at a young age, making her debut stage performance at the age of four. At the age of 14 the singer was invited to join the local pop group the Gleneagles and begun honing her live performance skills by playing shows in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. The group ultimately caught the attention of Marlon Massey who proposed the Lulu moniker and changed the band name to the Luvvers, later securing a record deal with Decca Records. Lulu and the Luvvers’ debut release was the Isley Brother’s single “Shout”, which rose to No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart. The singles “Can’t Hear You No More”, “Here Comes the Night”, and “Satisfied” all followed enjoying chart success, after which Lulu went solo.

After signing with Columbia Records Lulu embarked on a series of tours before making her on-screen debut in the British coming-of-age drama “To Sir, With Love”. The film proved a huge success during which time Lulu released to single “To Sir, With Love” which topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and led to a reissue of “Shout”. Following the release the singer earned a string of successes with the singles “Best of Both Worlds”, “The Boat I Row”, “Let’s Pretend”, and “Love Loves to Love, Love” in 1967. Continuing to both act and sing, Lulu appeared in her own television series entitled “Lulu’s Back in Town” which would air until 1975. More hit singles followed including “Me the Peaceful Heart”, “Boy” and “I’m a Tiger”, after which Lulu won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1969 which spawned the UK No. 1 “Boom Bang-a-Bang”.

The U.S. album “New Routes” arrived later in 1969 making further inroads into the U.S. market, after which Lulu appeared in the cult British TV special “Cucumber Castle” alongside Spike Milligan and Eleanor Bron. The full-length “Melody Fair” followed in the U.S. spawning the hit single “Oh Me Oh My (I’m a Fool for You, Baby)”. Shortly afterwards the singer recorded the theme music for the James Bond film “The Man with the Golden Gun” after which Lulu recorded a cover of the David Bowie hit “The Man Who Sold the World”, with Bowie on production and saxophone duties.

Following somewhat of a slump throughout the ’80s, Lulu enjoyed a resurgence in the ‘90s with the 1993 full-length “Independence”, featuring a popular duet with soul Icon Bobby Womack entitled “I’m Back for More”. In another collaboration, Lulu worked alongside Take That, topping the charts with the hit single “Relight My Fire”, before making regular television appearances alongside comics Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. In honour of such an impressive career Lulu was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2000, after which she released the collaborative album “Together” featuring duets with the likes of Paul McCartney, Elton John, Sting, and Cliff Richard.