Vera Lynn

Genres:	Vocals
Descriptive "tags":	oldies • 40s • female vocalists • jazz • wartime • british
Decades Active:	1940s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Links online:	BBC Music • Wikipedia

Biography

Vera Welch, 20 March 1917, London, England. A much-loved singer with a clear, strong, plaintive voice, who is held in great esteem by British audiences because of her work in entertaining service personnel during World War II. At the age of seven she was singing regularly in working men’s clubs, and later joined a dancing troupe until she was 15. She made her first broadcast in 1935, singing with the Joe Loss Orchestra, and later worked with Charlie Kunz and Ambrose. While she was with Ambrose she met saxophonist Harry Lewis, who later became her husband and manager. She went solo in 1940, and with the help of producer Howard Thomas, launched her own BBC radio series entitled Sincerely Yours. Introducing each programme with the signature tune ‘Wishing’, she attempted to become the musical link between the girls ‘back home’ and their men overseas, by reading out personal messages and singing sentimental favourites such as ‘Yours’,...

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