Lynsey de Paul Artistfacts

June 11, 1948 - October 1, 2014
The English singer-songwriter was born Lyndsey Monckton Rubin. She had chart hits in the UK and US in the 1970s, starting with the single "Sugar Me." She represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest and then had a successful career as a composer, actress and television celebrity.
Her UK and European hit "Won't Somebody Dance With Me" received an Ivor Novello Award, and she was the first woman to gain the award. A second Ivor Novello Award followed a year later for "No Honestly," which was also the theme tune to the TV comedy No, Honestly and provided her with another UK Top 10 hit. >>
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At the suggestion of manager Gordon Mills, she adopted the last name de Paul before recording "Sugar Me." She explained to the UK's Independent: "There had been the massacre at the Munich Olympics and I was told that it would be better not to have a Jewish name. I took De from my mother’s maiden name, De Groot, and my father’s middle name was Paul."
In 1976, she successfully sued notable '70s manager Don Arden (Small Faces, Black Sabbath) for withholding earnings and refusing to release her album Take Your Time.
She was a vegetarian who also eschewed alcohol and cigarettes.
She died of a brain hemorrhage at age 66.
She never married, but had a longtime relationship with actor James Coburn, and also dated actor Dudley Moore and musicians Roy Wood and Ringo Starr.

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