Dusty Springfield (born Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien 16 April 1939 - 2 March 1999) was a British pop singer. Of the female artists of the british invasion, Springfield made the biggest impression on the U.S. market. From 1963 to 1970, she scored 18 singles in the Billboard Hot 100. ...show more

Dusty Springfield (born Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien 16 April 1939 - 2 March 1999) was a British pop singer. Of the female artists of the british invasion, Springfield made the biggest impression on the U.S. market. From 1963 to 1970, she scored 18 singles in the Billboard Hot 100.

She was voted the Top British Female Artist by readers of New Musical Express in 1964, 1965, and 1968. Springfield is an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the UK Music Hall of Fame. She was named among the 25 female rock artists of all time by readers of Mojo magazine (1999), editors of Q magazine (2002), and a panel of artists on the TV channel VH1 (2007). Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien was born in West Hampstead, England to an Irish family, and was raised in the West London borough of Ealing.

The name "Dusty" was given to her when she was a child, as she had been a tomboy in her early years. Dusty was brought up listening to a wide range of music, George Gershwin, Rogers and Hart, Rogers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller, among others. She was a fan of American Jazz and the music of Peggy Lee, with a desire to sound like her. Her tax consultant father used to tap out rhythms on the back of her hand, encouraging young Dusty to guess the musical piece. ...show less