Shirley Bassey

With record sales of over 135 million and a career spanning six decades, Bassey "The Belter" can lay claim to being Britain's most successful female artist of all time. Growing up in the working class area of Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Bassey nearly gave up on stardom when, at 16, she had a daughter Sharon, but instead signed with booking agent Michael Sullivan. Gutsy, glamorous and blessed with a hugely powerful, affecting voice, she scored UK Number 1 hits with As I Love You in 1958 and Reach For The Stars in 1961, but it's the soundtrack singles to the James Bond movies, Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever that have become her iconic signature tunes. Amassing a huge gay following over the years, Big Spender has become another show-stopping anthem wowing sold-out audiences at Las Vegas, New York's Carnegie Hall and memorably Glastonbury Festival in 2007. In recent years a new generation have shown their enduring respect, with electronic dance act Propellerheads recruiting her for the single History Repeating, and Gary Barlow, Manic Street Preachers and Kaiser Chiefs all penning songs for her album The Performance (2009).