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Artist News Obituaries
Cilla Black 1943-2015
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 3 August 2015
Cilla Black died yesterday at her holiday home in Marbella, Spain, aged 72.
Born Pricilla White in Liverpool in 1943, Black took her stage name in 1961 after it was mistakenly published that way in the first edition of music newspaper Mersey Beat. Working in the cloakroom at the Cavern Club, she became friends with The Beatles and signed a management contract with their manager Brian Epstein in 1963 – she had first auditioned for him a year earlier, but was rejected at the time.
Black’s first single, ‘Love Of The Loved’, was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and produced by George Martin, but only reached number 35 in the singles chart. It was the follow-up, a cover of ‘Anyone Who Had A Heart’, which kickstarted her career, beating Dionne Warwick’s version of the song to number one.
Later she recorded a version of ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin Feelin’, which reached number two behind The Righteous Brothers’ original recording of the song. Though as a singer, she is
perhaps best remembered for her 1966 version of ‘Alfie’, the Burt Bacharach-written theme song for the Michael Caine film of the same name.
Latterly Black became better known in the UK as a TV presenter, of course. Her first TV show was ‘Cilla’, which ran on the BBC from 1968 to 1976. She later fronted hit ITV shows ‘Surprise, Surprise’ and ‘Blind Date’ in the 1980s through to the early 2000s.
Black continued to record music during that time though, her most recent and eleventh solo album, ‘Beginnings: Greatest Hits & New Songs’, released in 2003.
Amongst many paying tribute yesterday, Paul McCartney said in a statement: “Such a shock to hear about Cilla’s passing. She was a lovely girl who infected everyone with her great spirit. From first meeting her as a cloakroom girl at The Cavern in Liverpool, to seeing her many times since, she always had a fun loving dignity that made her a great pleasure to be around. She had a fine distinctive voice and was always a bit of a laugh. It was a privilege to know and love her”.
Black is survived by her three sons with her husband Bobby Willis, who died in 1999, Robert, Ben, and Jack.
