Today (16 April 1939) is the birthday of Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien OBE whose father Gerard Anthony O'Brien (a tax accountant) hailed from Co. Clare and her mother Catherine Ryle from Co. Kerry, Ireland. Born in Hampstead, She grew up in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and went to St Anne's Convent School, Little Ealing Lane, Northfields, West London.
She began her singing career in a 'Girl Group' called the Lana Sisters during the late 1950s. The Lana Sisters never managed to get a chart hit though they were familiar performers to British TV viewers. They probably came closest with a version of 'Seven Little Girls' which they made with Al Saxon who took the male vocals. Her first taste of real success came when she teamed up with her brother Tom Springfield (Dion O'Brien) and his friend Tim Field. Together they formed the 'Springfields' who produced a blend of 'folk' and pop that audiences were ready for at the beginning of the 1960s.
She died in Henley on Thames on the 2nd March 1999. Her funeral service was attended by hundreds of fans and people from the music business, including Elvis Costello, Lulu, and the Pet Shop Boys. A marker dedicated to her memory was placed in the church graveyard of the ancient parish church of St Mary the Virgin. Some of her ashes were buried at Henley, while the rest were scattered by her brother, Tom Springfield (Dion O’Brien), at the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland.
Each year her fans gather in Henley to celebrate "Dusty Day" on the closest Sunday to her birthday (16 April) and an annual Dusty Day fundraiser is held in London with the proceeds going to the Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital.
Respect and love to Dusty Springfield.
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