Albani [married name Gye], Dame Emma [née Marie Louise Cécile Emma Lajeunesse] (1847–1930), singer, was born on 1 November 1847 at Chambly, Quebec, Canada, one of three surviving children of Joseph Lajeunesse, organist, and his wife, Mélina Mignault (d. 1856)...
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Albani [married name Gye], Dame Emma [née Marie Louise Cécile Emma Lajeunesse] (1847–1930), singer
John Rosselli
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Allan, (Maria Caterina) Rosalbina Caradori- [Carradori-] (1800–1865), singer
W. B. Squire
revised by John Rosselli
Allan, (Maria Caterina) Rosalbina Caradori- [Carradori-] (1800–1865), singer, was born in Milan. Her father, Baron de Munck, was an Alsatian and a colonel in the French army. Her mother, whose maiden name, Carradori, she adopted (and always so spelt in Italy), came from ...
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Amoo, Edward Robert [Eddy] (1944–2018), singer and songwriter
Spencer Leigh
Amoo, Edward Robert [Eddy] (1944–2018), singer and songwriter, was born on 5 May 1944 at the Smithdown Road Infirmary, 126 Smithdown Road, Liverpool, the son of Robert Ofei Amoo (1917–1989), an engine greaser in the merchant navy, and his wife, ...
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Arne, Thomas Augustine (1710–1778), composer and musical performer
David J. Golby
Arne, Thomas Augustine (1710–1778), composer and musical performer, was born in King Street, Covent Garden, London, on 12 March 1710, the son of Thomas Arne (bap. 1682, d. 1736) [see under Arne family], upholsterer and undertaker, and his second wife, Anne, ...
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Austral, Florence (1892–1968), singer
Roger Neill
Austral, Florence (1892–1968), singer, was born Florence Mary Wilson on 26 April 1892 in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (the same suburb in which Dame Nellie Melba had been born in 1861), the daughter of a Swede, Wilhelm Lindholm, who had emigrated to ...
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Baddeley [née Snow], Sophia (bap. 1744, d. 1786), actress and singer
Olive Baldwin and Thelma Wilson
Baddeley [née Snow], Sophia (bap. 1744, d. 1786), actress and singer, was baptized on 12 October 1744 at St Mary-at-Lambeth, the daughter of Valentine Snow (d. 1770) and his wife, Mary, and not in the parish of St Margaret, Westminster, in 1745, as stated in ...
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Baillie, Dame Isobel [real name Isabella Douglas Baillie] (1895–1983), singer
Michael Kennedy
Baillie, Dame Isobel [real name Isabella Douglas Baillie] (1895–1983), singer, was born on 9 March 1895 at 2 Princes Street, Wilton, in the border town of Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland, the youngest in a family of a son and three daughters of Martin Pott Baillie...
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Bannister [née Harper], Elizabeth (1757–1849), actress and singer
Susan Wollenberg
Bannister [née Harper], Elizabeth (1757–1849), actress and singer, was, according to the encomium in the Thespian Magazine (1793), the daughter of a Mrs Harpur, 'now a mantua-maker [dressmaker] at Bath', who, having made a marriage disapproved of by her family, educated her daughter perforce '...
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Baptiste, (Frederick Eustance) Thomas Anthony (1929–2018), actor and singer
Stephen Bourne
Baptiste, (Frederick Eustance) Thomas Anthony (1929–2018), actor and singer, was born on 17 March 1929 in Georgetown, British Guiana, the son of Frederick Baptiste, a wealthy landowner, and his wife, Pearl. When Baptiste left home, he told his father that he intended to study agriculture but, on his arrival in ...
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Barnes, Frederick Jester (1885–1938), singer
Jason Tomes
Barnes, Frederick Jester (1885–1938), singer, was born on 31 May 1885 at 219 Great Lister Street, Saltley, Birmingham, the only child of Thomas William Barnes (1860/61–1913), butcher, and his wife, Mary Alice Jester (d. 1899/1900). The family moved across to 214 Great Lister Street...
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Bates [née Harrop], Sarah (c. 1755–1811), singer
J. A. F. Maitland
revised by Eva Zöllner
Bates [née Harrop], Sarah (c. 1755–1811), singer, was born somewhere in Lancashire, traditionally of poor parents, although a connection with a Manchester music publisher named Harrop was suggested by Weber. She is said to have been educated in Halifax, the birthplace of her husband, ...
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Beverley, Joy (1924–2015), singer
Roger Philip Mellor
revised
Beverley, Joy (1924–2015), singer, was born Joycelyn Victoria Barbara Chinery at 160 Devons Road, Bromley by Bow, London, on 4 May 1924, the eldest daughter of George Arthur Chinery (1894–1962) and his wife, Victoria Alice, née Miles (1897–1989), variety artists billed as ...
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Billington [née Weichsel], Elizabeth (1765–1818), singer
Rachel E. Cowgill
Billington [née Weichsel], Elizabeth (1765–1818), singer, was born in Litchfield Street, Soho, London, on 27 December 1765, the first of the three children of Carl Friedrich Weichsel (1728–1811) and his wife, Fredericka Weirman (d. 1786). Weichsel, a native of Freiburg, Saxony...
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Bishop [née Riviere], Anna (1810–1884), singer
W. B. Squire
revised by J. Gilliland
Bishop [née Riviere], Anna (1810–1884), singer, was the daughter of Daniel Valentine Riviere (1780–1854), a drawing master of Huguenot descent, and his wife, Henrietta Thunder. William Riviere, Robert Riviere and Henry Parsons Riviere. were her brothers. She was born in London on 9 January 1810, and as a child she studied the piano with ...
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Black, Cilla [real name Priscilla White] (1943–2015), singer and television presenter
Johnny Rogan
Black, Cilla [real name Priscilla White] (1943–2015), singer and television presenter, was born on 27 May 1943 at 380 Scotland Road, Liverpool, the daughter of John Patrick White (1904–1971), dock labourer, and his wife, Priscilla, née Blythen (1911–1996...
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Bland [née Romanzini], Maria Theresa (1769–1838), singer
W. B. Squire
revised by John Warrack
Bland [née Romanzini], Maria Theresa (1769–1838), singer, was born of Italian-Jewish parents named Romanzini, who settled in London soon after her birth. In the spring of 1773 she was engaged at Hughes's Riding School, performing as Romanzini. She sang in the children's company at the opening of the ...
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Blow, John (1648?–1708), musician and composer
John Harley
Blow, John (1648
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Bolan, Marc [real name Mark Feld] (1947–1977), musician and poet
Rikky Rooksby
Bolan, Marc [real name Mark Feld] (1947–1977), musician and poet, was born on 30 September 1947 in Hackney, London, the second child of Simeon Feld, cosmetics salesman (1920–1991), and his wife, Phyllis Winifred, née Atkins (1927–1991). The energy of 1950s rock'n'roll captivated the young ...
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Bowie, David [real name David Robert Jones] (1947–2016), singer and actor
Richard Weight
Bowie, David [real name David Robert Jones] (1947–2016), singer and actor, was born on 8 January 1947 at 40, Stansfield Road, Brixton, south London, as David Robert Burns, the son of Hayward Stenton (John) Jones (1912–1969) and Margaret Mary Burns...
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Bowlly, Albert Alick [Al] (1899–1941), singer
Derek B. Scott
Bowlly, Albert Alick [Al] (1899–1941), singer, was born on 7 January 1899 in Delagoa Bay, Portuguese East Africa, the fourth of the ten children of Alick Pauli (1867–1927), a general dealer, and his Lebanese wife, Miriam (Mary) Ayoub-NeeJame (1874–1949). The couple married in ...
