• 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. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Brian - Asia, for above 2
• 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.

Comments

More Songfacts:

My GenerationThe Who

Roger Daltrey stutters the vocal on "My Generation" by The Who. The idea was to sound like a British kid on speed.

Little TalksOf Monsters and Men

"Little Talks," released in 2011 during the folk-rock boom, was the big hit for the Icelandic group Of Monsters And Men. The song is delivered as a conversation between a longtime married couple, but the woman might be going crazy and talking to a ghost.

Closer To FineIndigo Girls

The "Doctor of philosophy" in the Indigo Girls' song "Closer To Fine" is based on a teacher Emily Saliers had who had a poster of Rasputin on his door.

Love Won't WaitGary Barlow

Madonna wrote a song called "Love Won't Wait" that she didn't want, but became a UK #1 hit for Gary Barlow.

The A TeamEd Sheeran

Ed Sheeran's first single was "The A Team," a song about a drug-addicted prostitute.

Gangnam StylePsy

YouTube had to upgrade after PSY's "Gangnam Style" broke their hit counter in 2012. Once the video reached 2,147,483,647 views, the maximum positive value for a 32-bit signed binary integer in computing, the view-counter could no longer work.

Editor's Picks

Jon Anderson of YesSongwriter Interviews

From the lake in "Roundabout" to Sister Bluebird in "Starship Trooper," Jon Anderson talks about how nature and spirituality play into his lyrics for Yes.

Rush: Album by Album - A Conversation With Martin PopoffSong Writing

A talk with Martin Popoff about his latest book on Rush and how he assessed the thousands of albums he reviewed.

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.

Verdine White of Earth, Wind & FireSongwriter Interviews

The longtime bassist of Earth, Wind & Fire discusses how his band came to do a holiday album, and offers insight into some of the greatest dance/soul tunes of all-time.

RamonesFact or Fiction

A band so baffling, even their names were contrived. Check your score in the Ramones version of Fact or Fiction.