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Vera Lynn was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the [[Order of the British Empire]] in 1959, and a Dame Commander of the Order (DBE) in 1975. In 2000, she received a special "Spirit of the 20th Century" Award.<ref name="musicianguide1"/> In 1976, the Vera Lynn
Vera Lynn was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the [[Order of the British Empire]] in 1959, and a Dame Commander of the Order (DBE) in 1975. In 2000, she received a special "Spirit of the 20th Century" Award.<ref name="musicianguide1"/> In 1976, the Vera Lynn
Charity Breast Cancer Research Trust, was founded, with Lynn its chairperson and later its president.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.breastcancerresearchtrust.org.uk/ |title=Breast Cancer Research Trust |publisher=Breast Cancer Research Trust |date= |accessdate=2009-10-23}}</ref>
Charity Breast Cancer Research Trust, was founded, with Lynn its chairperson and later its president.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.breastcancerresearchtrust.org.uk/ |title=Breast Cancer Research Trust |publisher=Breast Cancer Research Trust |date= |accessdate=2009-10-23}}</ref>

==Charity Work==
In 1953 Lynn formed the [[cerebral palsy]] charity SOS (The Stars Organisation for Spastics)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.starsorg.co.uk/about-stars-foundation.html |title=Stars Foundation for Cerebral Palsy |publisher=starsorg.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Vera Lynn |title=Vocal Refrain |publisher=Wyndham Publications Ltd |year=1976 |isbn=0352398841}}</ref> and became its chairperson.
⚫
In 2002, at age of 85, Lynn became the president of the [[cerebral palsy]] charity The Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy and hosted a celebrity concert on its behalf at [[Queen Elizabeth Hall]] in [[London]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dvltrust.org.uk/ |title=Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy |publisher=Dvltrust.org.uk |date= |accessdate=2009-10-23}}</ref>

⚫
On the 19th August, 2008 Lynn became the Patron of the Forces Literary Organisation Worldwide for ALL ([http://www.flowforall.org FLOW for ALL]), a charitable not for profit organisation which helps those affected by war.


==Later years==
==Later years==
Lynn sang outside [[Buckingham Palace]] in 1995 in a ceremony that marked the golden jubilee of [[Victory in Europe Day|VE Day]]. This was her last known public performance.
Lynn sang outside [[Buckingham Palace]] in 1995 in a ceremony that marked the golden jubilee of [[Victory in Europe Day|VE Day]]. This was her last known public performance.

⚫
In 2002, at age of 85, Lynn became the president of the [[cerebral palsy]] charity SOS and hosted a celebrity concert on its behalf at [[Queen Elizabeth Hall]] in [[London]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dvltrust.org.uk/ |title=Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy |publisher=Dvltrust.org.uk |date= |accessdate=2009-10-23}}</ref>


The United Kingdom's [[VE Day]] Diamond Jubilee ceremonies in 2005 included a concert in [[Trafalgar Square]], London in which Vera Lynn made a surprise appearance. She made a speech praising the veterans and calling upon the younger generation always to remember their sacrifice and joined in with a few bars of "We'll Meet Again". Following that year's [[Royal British Legion]] [[Festival of Remembrance]], Dame Vera encouraged the [[Wales|Welsh]] [[mezzo-soprano]] singer [[Katherine Jenkins]] to assume the mantle of "Forces' Sweetheart".
The United Kingdom's [[VE Day]] Diamond Jubilee ceremonies in 2005 included a concert in [[Trafalgar Square]], London in which Vera Lynn made a surprise appearance. She made a speech praising the veterans and calling upon the younger generation always to remember their sacrifice and joined in with a few bars of "We'll Meet Again". Following that year's [[Royal British Legion]] [[Festival of Remembrance]], Dame Vera encouraged the [[Wales|Welsh]] [[mezzo-soprano]] singer [[Katherine Jenkins]] to assume the mantle of "Forces' Sweetheart".


In her speech Lynn said, "These boys gave their lives and some came home badly injured, and for some families life would never be the same. We should always remember, we should never forget, and we should teach the children to remember."
In her speech Lynn said, "These boys gave their lives and some came home badly injured, and for some families life would never be the same. We should always remember, we should never forget, and we should teach the children to remember."

⚫
On the 19th August, 2008 Dame Vera became the Patron of the Forces Literary Organisation Worldwide for ALL ([http://www.flowforall.org FLOW for ALL]), a charitable not for profit organisation which helps those affected by war.


In September 2008, Vera Lynn helped launch a new social history recording website called "The Times of My Life" at the [[Cabinet War Rooms]] in [[London]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.responsesource.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=LXTXT |title=Blessed are The Times of My Life |publisher=Response Source |date=2008-09-17 |accessdate=2009-10-23}}</ref>
In September 2008, Vera Lynn helped launch a new social history recording website called "The Times of My Life" at the [[Cabinet War Rooms]] in [[London]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.responsesource.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=LXTXT |title=Blessed are The Times of My Life |publisher=Response Source |date=2008-09-17 |accessdate=2009-10-23}}</ref>

Revision as of 19:26, 27 September 2010

Vera Lynn

Dame Vera Lynn, DBE (born Vera Margaret Welch on 20 March 1917) is an English singer and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops. Nicknamed "The Forces' Sweetheart", the songs most associated with her are "We'll Meet Again" and "The White Cliffs of Dover". She remained popular after the war, recording such hits as Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart and "My Son, My Son". In 2009, she became the oldest living artist to make it to No. 1 on the British album chart, at the age of 92.

Early life

Lynn was born Vera Margaret Welch on 20 March 1917, in East Ham, London. Vera Lynn went to what is now called Brampton Primary School in East Ham. Her father was a plumber and Vera Welch grew up with her parents' Cockney accent, which can still be detected when she speaks. She began singing at the age of seven in a working men's club, and later adopted her grandmother's maiden name for her stage name. Lynn's first radio broadcast was in 1935 with the Joe Loss Orchestra. She was already being featured on the records of dance bands, including those led by Loss and Charlie Kunz. She made her first solo record on the Crown label in 1936, "Up the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire". (The label was soon bought out by Decca.) After a short time with Loss, she sang with Kunz. Lynn then joined the dance band of Bert Ambrose.[1]

War years

In 1940, one year after the beginning of World War II, Lynn began her own radio programme, Sincerely Yours, sending messages to British troops serving abroad. She and her quartet would perform songs most requested by the soldiers. Lynn also visited hospitals to interview new mothers and send personal messages to their husbands overseas. During the war years she would tour Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops.

In 1942, Lynn recorded the Ross Parker/Hughie Charles song "We'll Meet Again", also appearing in the film of that name. The nostalgic lyrics ("We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day") were very popular during the war and became one of the emblematic songs of the war. Contrary to later reports, she neither sang nor recorded "Rose of England" during this time and it was only in 1966 when her producer, David Gooch, selected it for her album More Hits of the Blitz that she became familiar with it. The album itself was a follow up to Hits of the Blitz produced by Norman Newell.

Post-war career

Vera Lynn in 1973

Lynn's Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart became the first record by a British performer to top the charts in the United States, doing so for nine weeks. She also appeared regularly for a time on Tallulah Bankhead's U.S. radio programme, The Big Show. "Auf Wiedersehen, Sweetheart", along with "The Homing Waltz" and "Forget-Me-Not", gave Lynn a remarkable three entries on the first UK Singles Chart, a top 12 (which actually contained 15 songs owing to tied positions).

Lynn remained popular in the 1950s, peaking with "My Son, My Son", a number-one hit in 1954. Lynn co-wrote the song with Gordon Melville Rees. In early 1960, she left Decca Records after nearly 25 years, and joined EMI. She recorded for EMI's Columbia, MGM and HMV labels. She hit the top 10 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart in 1967 with "It Hurts To Say Goodbye".

Dame Vera was the subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions. First in October 1957 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre, and then 21 years later, in December 1978, Eamonn surprised her at the Cafe Royal, London.

Dame Vera hosted her own variety series on BBC1 in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was a frequent guest on other variety shows, notably The 1972 Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show. In 1972, she was one of the key performers in the BBC anniversary programme Fifty Years Of Music. In 1976, she hosted the BBC's A Jubilee Of Music, celebrating the pop music hits of the period 1952-1976 to commemorate the start of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee year. For ITV, she presented a TV special in 1977 to launch her album Vera Lynn in Nashville.

Vera is also notable for being the only artist to have a chart span on the British single and album charts reaching from the chart's inception to the 21st century — having three singles in the first ever singles chart, and most recently having a #1 album with We'll Meet Again — The Very Best Of Vera Lynn (see below).

Honours

Vera Lynn was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the Order of the British Empire in 1959, and a Dame Commander of the Order (DBE) in 1975. In 2000, she received a special "Spirit of the 20th Century" Award.[1] In 1976, the Vera Lynn Charity Breast Cancer Research Trust, was founded, with Lynn its chairperson and later its president.[2]

Charity Work

In 1953 Lynn formed the cerebral palsy charity SOS (The Stars Organisation for Spastics)[3][4] and became its chairperson.

In 2002, at age of 85, Lynn became the president of the cerebral palsy charity The Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy and hosted a celebrity concert on its behalf at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.[5]

On the 19th August, 2008 Lynn became the Patron of the Forces Literary Organisation Worldwide for ALL (FLOW for ALL), a charitable not for profit organisation which helps those affected by war.

Later years

Lynn sang outside Buckingham Palace in 1995 in a ceremony that marked the golden jubilee of VE Day. This was her last known public performance.

The United Kingdom's VE Day Diamond Jubilee ceremonies in 2005 included a concert in Trafalgar Square, London in which Vera Lynn made a surprise appearance. She made a speech praising the veterans and calling upon the younger generation always to remember their sacrifice and joined in with a few bars of "We'll Meet Again". Following that year's Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, Dame Vera encouraged the Welsh mezzo-soprano singer Katherine Jenkins to assume the mantle of "Forces' Sweetheart".

In her speech Lynn said, "These boys gave their lives and some came home badly injured, and for some families life would never be the same. We should always remember, we should never forget, and we should teach the children to remember."

In September 2008, Vera Lynn helped launch a new social history recording website called "The Times of My Life" at the Cabinet War Rooms in London.[6]

On 3 September 2009, Vera Lynn was interviewed by Andrew Castle on GMTV to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Britain's declaring war on Germany. At the end of the interview, Lynn sang a verse from "We'll Meet Again," at Castle's request.

Her autobiography Some Sunny Day was published in August 2009 at the age of ninety-two. She has already written two previous memoirs: Vocal Refrain in 1970 and We'll Meet Again in 1989.[7]

On 18 February 2009, The Daily Telegraph reported that Vera Lynn was suing the British National Party (BNP) for using "the White Cliffs of Dover" on an anti-immigration album without her permission. Dame Vera's lawyer claimed sales of the song would earn the BNP money and seem to link Vera Lynn to the party's right-wing views by association.[8]

On 13 September 2009, Dame Vera became the oldest living artist to make it into No. 1 in the British album chart, at the age of 92, passing such veterans of music as American jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong and French singer Charles Aznavour. Her collection We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn entered the chart at number 20 on 30 August, and then climbed to number 2 the following week, before reaching the top position.[9] In doing this, she outsold both the Arctic Monkeys and then the entire re-mastered Beatles back catalogue.[10] In its third week the album went gold with sales of over 100,000.

Year Album Chart Positions Certifications Sales
UK IRE EU DUT NOR NZ DEN BEL AUS
2009 We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn[11][12] 1 48 8 83 18 8 28 10 21
  • UK: 240,000+

Personal life

In 1941, Vera Lynn married Harry Lewis (died 1999), a clarinetist and saxophonist she had met two years earlier. They had one child, Virginia Penelope Anne Lewis.[1]

Dame Vera has lived in Ditchling in Sussex since around the early 1960s.[13]

  • Both Vera Lynn and "We'll Meet Again" feature in Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall. They are directly cited in the track "Vera". In the live version of The Wall, Is There Anybody Out There: The Wall Live 1980-1981, "We'll Meet Again" opens the concert before the show starts. It serves as a link between band member Roger Waters and his father, who was killed during World War II. The film The Wall begins with Vera Lynn singing "The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot."
  • Vera Lynn and the words "We'll meet again some day" are mentioned in the Kinks' song "Mr. Churchill Says."
  • At the end of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove a cryptic rendition of "We'll Meet Again" is played as many nuclear explosions are set off, showing it is the end of the world.
  • In Gary Numan's song 'War Songs', there is a line that reads "Old men love war songs, I'm Vera Lynn".
  • In the British campaign of Call of Duty 3, there are two SAS Jeeps. One is named "Vera", and the other is named "Lynn".
  • Scottish band Travis have a song called "U16 Girls" with the following line: "I met a girl in Paris, she talked like Vera Lynn."
  • During a Street Talk segment on The AFL Footy Show in 2009, an elderly Englishman claiming to be Vera Lynn's brother appeared before Sam Newman on the streets of St Kilda. Although there was no way to prove his claim, it was expected to be true because of his striking physical resemblance as well as his knowledge of her songs.
  • In the movie Hellboy, during Professor Broom's confrontation with Rasputin, a recording of Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" plays in the background (according to the closed-captioning).
  • The name Vera Lynn is cockney rhyming slang for "skin", a cigarette paper used for roll-ups. This was immortalised in the song "Ebeneezer Goode" by the Shamen with the line "Anyone got any Veras? Lovely!"
  • The punk band the Sex Pistols are also famous for entering on stage to the Vera Lynn version of the song "There'll Always Be an England". It is also the name of their only live DVD.
  • English rock band the Libertines used Vera Lynn's song "We'll Meet Again" as their walk-on music during their 2010 reunion concerts.

Recordings by Vera Lynn

  • 1935
  • 1936
    • "Heart Of Gold" (Rex Records)
    • "A Star Fell Out Of Heaven" (Rex Records)
    • "Crying My Heart Out For You" (Rex Records)
    • "It's Love Again" (Rex Records)
    • "Did Your Mother Come From Ireland?" (Rex Records)
    • "Have You Forgotten So Soon?" (Rex Records)
    • "Everything Is Rhythm" (Rex Records)
  • 1937
    • "So Many Memories"
    • "Roses in December"
    • "When My Dream Boat Comes Home" (Rex Records)
    • "Goodnight, My Love" (Rex Records)
    • "All Alone In Vienna" (Rex Records)
  • 1939
  • 1940
    • "Careless"
    • "Until You Fall in Love"
    • "It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow"
    • "When You Wish upon a Star"
    • "Memories Live Longer Than Dreams"
    • "There'll Come Another Day"
  • 1941
    • "Smilin' Through"
    • "When They Sound the Last All Clear"
    • "Yours"
    • "My Sister and I"
    • "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire"
  • 1942
  • 1948
  • 1952
  • 1954 onwards
  • 1967
    • "It Hurts To Say Goodbye" (1967, US Easy Listening survey, her last US chart record)
  • 1982
  • Albums recorded from 1960 onwards
    • "Yours" 1961
    • "As Time Goes By" 1961
    • "Hits Of The Blitz" 1962
    • "Among My Souvenirs" 1964
    • "More Hits Of The Blitz" 1966
    • "Hits Of The 60's — My Way" 1970
    • "Favourite Sacred Songs" 1972
    • "Christmas With Vera Lynn" 1976
    • "Vera Lynn In Nashville" 1977
  • In March 2007 EMI issued a 2CD set of all Vera Lynn's single only recordings from her EMI contract from 1960 to 1977.

Discography

UK charted albums

Date Album Chart
position
21 Nov 1981 20 Family Favourites 25
9 Sep 1989 We'll Meet Again 44
30 Aug 2009 We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn 1

UK charted singles

Date Title Chart
position
14 Nov 1952 "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" 10
"Forget-Me Not" 5
"The Homing Waltz" 9
5 Jun 1953 "The Windsor Waltz" 11
15 Oct 1954 "My Son, My Son" 1
8 Jun 1956 "Who are We" 30
26 Oct 1956 "A House with Love in It" 17
15 Mar 1957 "The Faithful Hussar (Don't Cry My Love)" 29
21 Jun 1957 "Travellin' Home" 20

Films

Publications

  • Lynn, Vera (1975). Vocal Refrain. London: W.H. Allen.
  • Lynn, Vera and Cross, Robin (1989). We'll Meet Again. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.
  • Lynn, Vera (2009). Some Sunny Day. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780007318155

References

  1. ^ a b c "Vera Lynn Biography". Musicianguide.com. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  2. ^ "Breast Cancer Research Trust". Breast Cancer Research Trust. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  3. ^ "Stars Foundation for Cerebral Palsy". starsorg.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  4. ^ Vera Lynn (1976). Vocal Refrain. Wyndham Publications Ltd. ISBN 0352398841.
  5. ^ "Dame Vera Lynn Trust for Children with Cerebral Palsy". Dvltrust.org.uk. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  6. ^ "Blessed are The Times of My Life". Response Source. 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  7. ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (2009-02-15). "At 92, forces' sweetheart Vera Lynn tells her life story | Books | The Observer". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  8. ^ "Dame Vera Lynn takes on BNP over White Cliffs of Dover". The Daily Telegraph. London. 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  9. ^ "Entertainment | Dame Vera Lynn re-enters charts". BBC News. 2009-08-31. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  10. ^ Leach, Ben (2009-09-13). "Dame Vera Lynn becomes oldest living artist to have number one album". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
  11. ^ "Vera Lynn — We'll Meet Again — The Very Best Of — Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  12. ^ "Vera Lynn — We'll Meet Again (the Very Best Of Vera Lynn) - Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  13. ^ "Birthday chorus for Forces Sweetheart Dame Vera (From The Argus)". Theargus.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-10-23.

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