Shirley Bassey

The most successful British female singer in history, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Shirley Bassey, DBE, earned enduring fame for her powerful rendition of the theme to the 1965 James Bond film "Goldfinger," but her career, which encompassed over a half-century, also included a slew of Top 10 albums and singles from 1959 through 2009. Bassey's voice, rich and brassy but with often-exquisite phrasing, made her an ideal interpreter of jazz and show tunes, which formed the backbone of her prodigious recorded output. Outside of her native England, Bassey was best known for her Bond themes, which including "Diamonds are Forever" (1971) and her live performances, which drew sold-out crowds around the world. Endurance and determination finally brought her back to the U.S. charts in the late 1980s and early '90s through dance musicians like the Propellerheads, who tapped her still-forceful voice to lend that classic '60s-style pop feel to songs like the 1997 hit "History Repeating." Still drawing sold-out crowds to concerts in her seventh decade, while collaborating with contemporary artists for her albums, Shirley Bassey remained one of the entertainment business's hardest working and most formidable vocalists.