Shirley Does Glastonbury

She might be in her 70's , but who says you have to be young to rock? Almost 200,000 fans at Europe's largest outdoor music festival at Glastonbury found that out first hand when Shirley Bassey hit the Pyramid stage to perform memorable hits like "Goldfinger," Diamonds are Forever" and "Big Spender" live.

As America's Woodstock rival, the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (it's name since 1990) has been delighting fans around the country and drawing worldwide attention. This has been going down since Somerset farmer Michael Eavis at Worthy Farm, Pilton - near Glastonbury in Somerset, launched the first concert in 1970.

Shirley Bassey has been an icon in the entertainment industry for four decades, and she is one of the few true remaining legends in the music world. Even those who don't know her name will immediately recognize the distinctive voice that offered those fun-filled theme songs to many popular James Bond films of the 1960s as we! ll as popular tunes such as a remake of Stormy Weather and her exciting rendition of Big Spender.

Recently named one of the top 100 famous people of the 20th century, Bassey and her music offer generations of fans her unique voice and style, no matter what she sings.

Born in 1937 in Tiger Bay, Wales (close to where Catherine Zeta-Jones and Charlotte Church also hail from) Shirley belonged to a large family with six siblings. Her father abandoned the family when Shirley was a baby, and she left school at 15 to begin work in the packing department of a local factory. The following year, she supplemented that income by singing in local clubs in her native Cardiff.

Bassey's singing career took off in 1957 with her rendition of The Banana Boat Song and by 1964 she was blowing away the competition on both sides of the Atlantic. She was tapped to sing the title song to the James Bond film, Goldfinger in 1964, to be followed by several others. Other popular s! ongs that became favorites and topped the charts were No Regre! ts and I Who Have Nothing. Not only her unique voice, but her penchant for glitzy and glamorous costumes quickly brought a lot of attention to Bassey, who was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1999 by the Queen.

Bassey relocated from London to Monte Carlo , where she still resides in a luxurious apartment with a spectacular view of the Mediterranean. Living in one of Monte Carlo's most prestigious neighborhoods, Bassey has had such illustrious neighbors as tennis great Boris Becker and Beatle Ringo Starr.

Bassey is securely ensconced in the warm sunshine and crisp sea breezes that entice visitors from around the world every year and seems content to spend the remainder of her life in the small principality that served as a location for several of the Bond films she sang theme songs for.

In 2005, Shirley decided on a makeover and downsized her existence. As a result, she auctioned off a major portion of her belongings, ! original paintings and art, furniture and interior designs with Sotheby's.

Though she's been married twice, Shirley Bassey now lives alone, though she is never truly alone, with activities and appearances that continue to keep her busy and in the limelight for her adoring fans around the world.

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