Lulu

Lulu is one of Scotland’s best-loved entertainers, a singer whose powerful voice made her a star while she was still a teenager and who has remained a fixture of British pop across six decades. Raised in the East End of Glasgow, her career stretches from the 1960s beat clubs to the top of the charts.

A Dennistoun girl

Born Marie Lawrie just outside Glasgow in 1948, she grew up in Dennistoun in the city’s East End. As a schoolgirl she sang with a local band, and at just fifteen her belting cover of the Isley Brothers’ ‘Shout’ became a hit, launching her career under the stage name Lulu.

To Sir with Love

In 1967 Lulu starred alongside Sidney Poitier in the film To Sir, with Love, and her recording of its theme song went to number one in the United States and became the biggest-selling single there that year. Two years later she won the Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Boom Bang-a-Bang’. She became one of the brightest stars of Glasgow’s cultural export to the world.

Six decades of hits

Lulu went on to enjoy one of the most durable careers in British entertainment, as a singer, actress and television personality. In 1993 she reached number one in the UK for the first time with ‘Relight My Fire’, a duet with Take That, introducing her to a whole new generation.

A much-loved figure

Appointed OBE and later CBE for her services to entertainment, Lulu remains one of the great voices to come out of Glasgow, in the company of other beloved Glasgow entertainers such as Billy Connolly.