British singer and TV host Cilla Black dies aged 72
The entertainer from Liverpool, who was championed by The Beatles, dies in Spain
Cilla Black, the 1960s pop star championed by The Beatles who became one of Britain’s best-loved television presenters, died on Sunday in Spain. She was 72.
Police in Malaga said Priscilla White, her real name, had died in Estapona in the Costa del Sol region. The death was discovered overnight and appeared to be due to natural causes, but this had not yet been confirmed by tests, police said.
Big hearted and full of laughs, the working-class redhead from Liverpool was a fixture on British television screens for more than 50 years, known just by her first name.
She started out working in the cloakroom at the Cavern club, where fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles were first spotted, before taking to the stage as a singer herself.
The band championed Black and introduced her to their manager Brian Epstein, who signed her.
Black released her first single in 1963 and the following year had two Number One hits, You’re My World and Anyone Who Had a Heart. She went on to release 14 albums.
In 1968 she began hosting her own television talk show, beginning a broadcasting career that saw her present some of Britain’s most popular programmes over half a century.