Lulu (singer)

Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE (born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, 3 November 1948), best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business since the 1960s.

She is internationally identified, especially by North American audiences, with the song "To Sir with Love" from the film of the same name and with the title song to the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. In European countries, she is also widely known for her Eurovision Song Contest winning entry "Boom Bang-a-Bang", and in the UK for her first hit "Shout", which was performed at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Life and career

Lulu was born in Lennoxtown, East Dunbartonshire and grew up in Dennistoun, Glasgow, where she attended Thomson Street Primary School, Whitehill Secondary School and Onslow Drive School. She lived in Gallowgate for a while before moving to Garfield Street, Dennistoun. At the age of 12 or 13 she and her manager approached a band called the Bellrocks seeking stage experience as a singer. She appeared with them every Saturday night: Alex Thomson, the group's bass player, has reported that even then her voice was remarkable. Lulu has two brothers and a sister. Her father was a heavy drinker.