Dusty Springfield

Dusty Springfield was born Mary Isabelle Catherine Bernadette O'Brien on April 16th 1939 in Hampstead, London England, UK. She admired Jazz great Peggy Lee and desired to be and sound like her. In the beginning of her career, Dusty was part of a retro-Andrews Sisters group called The Lana Sisters. She than joined her brother Tom Springfield (his real name was Dion O'Brien) and Tom Feild in the group The Springfields. Their Biggest hit was "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" in 1962. The Springfields name, according to David Evans in A Collage Biography of Dusty Springfield, comes from the fact that in the Spring they would rehearse in the fields.After Dusty left The Springfields in 1963, she pursued a solo career. Her first bit hit came in 1963 with "I Only Want to Be With You".It achieved gold status in the UK and was a major hit in the US. Dusty Springfield shot to fame as a solo artist. As the 1960's continued, Dusty had a roller coaster of success and made the charts in both the UK and The US. Some of her big hits include "Wishin' And Hopin" "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" and "You Don't have To Say You Love Me". She also hosted the "Ready Steady Go Motown Specials" on UK Television. In 1969, Dusty released her biggest album ever "Dusty in Memphis". This album contained the massive selling song "Son Of A Preacher Man" (originally offered and to and turned down by the Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin) which was ..9 on the UK Charts and ..10 on the US Charts in 1968. She performed "Son Of A Preacher Man" on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1968. An interesting fact is that after Dusty hit big with "Son Of A Preacher Man", Aretha Franklin recorded a version of it but Dusty's still was most liked. After her success with "Dusty in Memphis", Dusty continue chart success with "Am I The Same Girl?" and her rendition of The Young Rascals "How Can I Be Sure?During the 1970's Dusty did do some recording but later went into retirement. She was invited to sing with The Pet Shop Boys in 1987 and recorded the hit "What Have I Done To Deserve This?". The song became a bit hit world wide. Some of Dusty's music has been featured in movies. Dusty's song "Son Of A Preacher Man" was made famous again when it was featured in Quentino's 1994 movie "Pulp Fiction". Unfortunately, Dusty was diagnosed with Breast cancer and passed away on March 2nd 1999.