20 Facts About Kathy Kirby

Kathy Kirby is best known for her cover version of Doris Day's "Secret Love" and for representing the United Kingdom in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest where she finished in second place.

Kathy Kirby's popularity peaked in the 1960s, when she was one of the best-known and most-recognised personalities in British show business.

Kathy Kirby grew up on Tomswood Hill, Barkingside, in Ilford, and attended the Ursuline Convent School where she sang in the choir.

Kathy Kirby became a professional singer after meeting bandleader Bert Ambrose at the Ilford Palais in 1956.

Kathy Kirby remained with Ambrose's band for three years and he remained her manager, mentor and lover until his death on stage in Leeds in 1971.

In 1959, Kathy Kirby joined vocalists Tony Mansell and Rikki Henderson in the Denny Boyce Band, and appeared regularly at the Lyceum Ballroom in London.

Kathy Kirby subsequently signed to Pye Records in 1960, for which she released two singles, "Love Can Be" and "Now You're Crying".

Kathy Kirby adopted a "blonde bombshell" look and was compared to Marilyn Monroe.

Kathy Kirby became one of the biggest stars of the early to mid-1960s, appearing in the Royal Command Variety Performance and two television series for BBC TV.

Kathy Kirby represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965 and came second with the song "I Belong" which became a hit.

Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor describes Kathy Kirby's "I Belong" as being far more representative of current musical tastes than other songs from the contest, but she was beaten by France Gall from France and representing Luxembourg, singing an even more contemporary song written by Serge Gainsbourg.

Kathy Kirby did not perform in public after her retirement, but interest in her and her work continued, particularly among gay men, for whom she was something of an icon.

Kathy Kirby gave an interview to the Express in 2009, which included recent photographs and was billed as her first in 26 years.

Kathy Kirby met bandleader Bert Ambrose in her teens and, despite his being 42 years older and having an estranged wife at the time, began a relationship with him that lasted until his death in 1971.

Kathy Kirby was married briefly to writer and former London policeman Frederick Pye in the 1970s.

Kathy Kirby was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was in poor physical and mental health for much of her life.

Shortly before her death, Kathy Kirby moved to Brinsworth House in Twickenham at the insistence of her niece Sarah, Lady Thatcher, wife of Mark Thatcher.

Kathy Kirby died on 20 May 2011, a few days after moving to Brinsworth House.

Kathy Kirby was survived by her sister Pat and her brother Douglas.

Note: Kathy Kirby had one charted single on the US Billboard Hot 100.