Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien OBE (April 16, 1939 - March 2, 1999), professionally known as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. Of the female artists of British invasion, Dusty Springfield made the biggest impression on the US market. From 1963 to 1970 she scored 18 singles in Billboard Hot 100. She was voted the Top British Female Artist by the readers of the New Musical Express in 1964, 1965, and 1968. Dusty Springfield is an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the UK Music Hall of Fame. Readers of the Mojo , editors of the Q, and the panel of artists by VH1 placed her among the 25 female artists of all time. Dusty Springfield sang as if born with black American soul, while making no effort in sounding black. This earned her the nicknames "White Negress" and "White Queen of Soul". The range of expressions of her oddly erotic husky voice spread from soft sultry to heartbreaking urgency. Her voice communicated a sense of longing that demanded the listener's attention. Unlike Aretha Franklin, Dusty used to sing around her material, create music that was evocative rather than overwhelming. Her songs had depth, while presenting direct and simple statements about love. Dusty Springfield's joyful, dashing image was supported by peroxided blonde beehive hairstyle, heavy use of eyeliner and luscious evening gowns. In 1970, she revealed, that she was bisexual. Dusty Springfield was a fan of American soul and campaigned to get the little known soul singers a better audience in the UK. She devised and hosted the first British performances of the top selling artists of Motown Records on The Sound of Motown, a special edition of the Ready Steady Go! TV series in 1965. In 1966-1967 and 1969 she hosted three of her own TV music and talk series, that included the introduction of Woody Allen and Jimi Hendrix to the British audience. In addition, she made 36 TV appearances in 1963-1973.
Dusty Springfield started as a member of the pop-folk trios Lana Sisters and Springfields. In 1963 she began her solo career with the Motown-influenced poprock "I Only Want To Be With You" . Dusty's following chart hits included "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" and "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me". The song "The Look of Love" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, was featured in the scene of Ursula Andress seducing Peter Sellers in the film Casino Royale. The song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.These she recorded at Olympic Studios with Keith Grant as the engineer. The sudden changes of pop music towards the experimentation of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Summer of Love themes, and psychedelia left Dusty Springfield out of fashion. She tried to change this, recording the comparatively progressive albums Where Am I Going? and Dusty... Definitely. To boost her credibility after the commercial disappointment of the albums, she went to record with the A team of the Atlantic Records by the roots of soul music in Memphis, Tennessee. The smart, sexual LP Dusty in Memphis was a commercial failure , but received the Grammy Hall of Fame award in 2001. The album is listed among the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time by the panels of experts by Rolling Stone and VH1, the readers of the New Musical Express and viewers of Channel 4. The standout track of the album, "Son of a Preacher Man", was an international Top 10 chart hit and was included in the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, that sold over three million copies. Working with the Pet Shop Boys in 1987, she made her way back to the top 20 of UK and US charts, with the singles "What Have I Done to Deserve This?", "Nothing Has Been Proved" and "In Private". Dusty kept recording, until she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995 and died in 1999.
