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VERA LYNN
Popular British singer best remembered for her WWII recordings.
Born in London's East End in 1917,
Vera Lynn began her singing career at the age of seven,
performing in local clubs. At age eleven, she joined a child dance troup,
Madame Harris' Kracker Cabaret Kids, and at fifteen
became a vocalist with Howard Baker's orchestra.
1935 proved a banner year for Vera;
she made her first radio broadcast with the Joe Loss Orchestra
and was hired as a vocalist by Charlie Kunz.
She also made her first recordings, both with Kunz
and anonymously for the Crown label
(an exculsive label for Woolworth's), that same year.
She joined with Ambrose's orchestra in 1937 and
remained with them almost exclusively until 1941.
In 1939, she married Ambrose clarinet and tenor sax player Harry Lewis,
who also became her manager.
Vera became the most popular British singer during the war,
hosting a BBC radio program, Sincerely Yours.
Her morale-building ballads were extremely popular with servicemen.
She appeared in an armed forces stage revue and toured Burma in 1944.
She also made three wartime films.
"We'll meet again"1942, Rhythm Serenade (1943) and One Exciting Night (1944).
After the war ended, she retired, only to return to show business in 1947,
touring and hosting a new radio program.
Her record label, Decca, promoted her in the U.S. during the musicians' strike of 1948
and she garnered a U.S. Top Ten hit with ''You Can't Be True, Dear.''
She became the first British artist
to hit number one on the U.S. charts
with ''Auf Wiedersehn Sweetheart'' in 1952
. In 1954, she scored her first and only British number one with ''My Son, My Son.''
She continued performing through the seventies,
cutting back on public appearances during the eighties.
In 1976, she was made Dame Vera Lynn.
Let's Go Back In Time And Listen To This Great Lady
Here Are 19 Of Vera's Hit's
Now Is The Hour
You Can't Be True Dear
My Son, My Son
Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart
Lili Marlene
Among My Souvenirs
A Nightingale Sang
In Berkley Square
We'll Meet Again
White Cliffs of Dover
You'll Never Know
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