The beehive, the eyeliner, and the voice behind Dusty in Memphis

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien was born in West Hampstead in 1939 into a family that enjoyed music, and she learned to sing at home. In 1958 she joined her first professional group, the Lana Sisters. Two years later she formed the folk-pop trio the Springfields with her brother Dion O'Brien, who performed as Tom Springfield, and Tim Feild. Two of their hits, “Island of Dreams” and “Say I Won't Be There”, both reached number 5 in the spring of 1963.

Her solo career began in late 1963 with “I Only Want to Be with You”, a UK number 4. Over the 1960s she had six transatlantic top 40 hits, and two of her releases are now considered signature songs: “You Don't Have to Say You Love Me” in 1966 and “Son of a Preacher Man”. The latter belongs to the 1968 album Dusty in Memphis, which the US Library of Congress added to the National Recording Registry in March 2020. In Britain she also had hits that America missed, among them “I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself”, the biggest of her many Burt Bacharach and Hal David covers.

Her image was as distinctive as her mezzo-soprano: a peroxide blonde bouffant, thick black eyeliner, evening gowns and stylised, gestural performances. She presented the British television series Ready Steady Go! and hosted her own series on the BBC and ITV between 1966 and 1969. In 1966 she topped popularity polls, and she was the first UK singer to top the New Musical Express readers' poll for best female singer.

After 1971 the hits dried up for years. Then, in 1987, a collaboration with the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, “What Have I Done to Deserve This?”, reached number 2 on both the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100. In 1990 “Reputation” became the last of her 25 UK top 40 hits. She died on 2 March 1999. The voice outlasted the era that made her an icon of the Swinging Sixties.