Iris Williams | |
---|---|
Birth name | Iris Williams |
Born | Rhydyfelin, Wales | 20 April 1944
Genres | Middle of the Road |
Occupation(s) | Singer |
Years active | 1971–present |
Iris Williams OBE (born 20 April 1944 [1] ) is a Welsh singer. [2] Williams reached the peak of her popularity during the 1980s.
Williams was born in Rhydyfelin. [3] Brought up in a children's home in Tonyrefail, and later adopted by the Llewellyn family, she worked in a factory and then won a scholarship to the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.
In 1979, she had her biggest UK hit, "He Was Beautiful", a song based on the already well-known theme from The Deer Hunter with lyrics by Cleo Laine. In Wales, however, she had already had major success, particularly with "Pererin Wyf" (1971) a Welsh-language version of "Amazing Grace". [3] As a result of hitting the national charts, she was given her own BBC series. [4] She also won the Welsh talent contest, Cân i Gymru (A Song for Wales) in 1974 with the song 'I gael Cymru'n Gymru Rydd' (For a Free Wales).
In 1991, she performed in cabaret at the prestigious Oak Room in the Algonquin Hotel in New York City. [5] Other engagements in the United States included five concerts with Bob Hope and an appearance with Rosemary Clooney. Iris also gave several charity performances for President Gerald Ford. She has performed several times at the Royal Variety Performance, and was one of the stars of the gala concert to celebrate the opening of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999).
In the early 1980s Williams took ownership of a public house at Winkfield near Ascot in Berkshire named 'The Pheasant Plucker', so named by her “extrovert” second husband and manager Welshman Edward Jones – combining running it with appearances on the club circuit, before relocating to New York in the early 1990s.
She married Clive Brandy in 1982 and their son Blake was born in 1984. She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the New Year Honours List of 2004. In 2006, she performed at the Brecon Jazz Festival, and was later admitted to the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Williams now lives permanently in Rancho Mirage, California.
Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists in Britain. In 1999, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II.
Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips, known professionally as Siân Phillips, is a Welsh actress. She has performed the title roles in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan and is also particularly known for her performance as Livia in the 1976 BBC television series I, Claudius.
Yolanda Rosa Monge Betancourt, known professionally as Yolandita Monge, is a Puerto Rican singer, actress, and television personality. She has been active in the music business since her teen years and has recorded 27 studio albums and two live albums, as well as several greatest hits compilations and special appearance recordings.
Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She has had one of the longest careers of any British singer, spanning more than seven decades.
Mary Hopkin, credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists to be signed to the Beatles' Apple label.
Maureen Therese McGovern is an American singer and Broadway actress, well known for her renditions of the songs "The Morning After" from the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure; "We May Never Love Like This Again" from The Towering Inferno in 1974; and her No. 1 Billboard adult contemporary hit "Different Worlds", the theme song from the television series Angie.
Katherine Jenkins is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.
Mabel Mercer was an English-born cabaret singer who performed in the United States, Britain, and Europe with the greats in jazz and cabaret. She was a featured performer at Chez Bricktop in Paris, owned by the hostess Bricktop, and performed in such clubs as Le Ruban Bleu, Tony's, the RSVP, the Carlyle, the St. Regis Hotel, and eventually her own room, the Byline Club. Among those who frequently attended Mercer's shows was Frank Sinatra, who made no secret of his emulating her phrasing and story-telling techniques.
Catrin Ana Finch is a Welsh harpist, arranger and composer. She was the Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales from 2000 to 2004 and is visiting professor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the Royal Academy of Music in London. Finch has given recitals at venues throughout the world.
Leila Megane was a Welsh mezzo-soprano opera singer.
Tammy Jones, is a singer from Bangor, North Wales.
Connie Fisher is a British actress, singer and TV presenter, who won the BBC One talent contest, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
Claire Martin, OBE is an English jazz singer.
Madeleine Louise Mitchell MMus, ARCM, GRSM, FRSA is a British violinist who has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in over forty countries. She has a wide repertoire and is particularly known for commissioning and premiering new works and for promoting British music in concert and on disc.
Annette Bryn Parri is a Welsh pianist, best known as an accompanist to opera stars such as Bryn Terfel and Rebecca Evans. Parri appears regularly on the National Eisteddfod stage, and also at the International Eisteddfod at Llangollen.
Cân i Gymru is a Welsh television show broadcast on S4C annually. It was first introduced in 1969 when BBC Cymru wanted to enter the Eurovision Song Contest. The winner of the contest represents Wales at the annual Pan Celtic Festival held in Ireland and is also awarded a cash prize.
Elisabeth Margaret Welch was an American singer, actress, and entertainer, whose career spanned seven decades. Her best-known songs were "Stormy Weather", "Love for Sale" and "Far Away in Shanty Town". She was American-born, but was based in Britain for most of her career.
Laura Evans-Williams was a Welsh soprano singer.
Eiluned Davies (1913-1999) was an Anglo Welsh concert pianist and composer.
Mared Williams, known professionally as Mared, is a Welsh singer-songwriter from Llannefydd, north Wales. She won the 2021 Welsh Language Album Award and has won two Y Selar Awards.