Barbara Dickson

Barbara Dickson earned an OBE in 2001 in recognition of her contributions to music and drama while sustaining parallel paths in recording and stage performance. During the 1970s she stood among Britain’s leading vocalists, placing the singles “Answer Me” and “Morning Comes Quickly” on the charts. The following decade brought two number-one successes: the solo release “January, February” and the duet “I Know Him So Well” with Elaine Paige. Her first long-player, All for a Song, surpassed 600,000 units and occupied the British album listings for more than twelve months. In the 1990s she issued a collection of Bob Dylan material titled Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright alongside the Celtic-folk set Parcel of Rogues.

Her theatrical résumé proved equally substantial. Dickson made her stage entrance in 1974 within Willy Russell’s musical John, Paul, George Ringo....and Bert at Liverpool’s Everyman Theater, remaining with the production through its transfer to London’s West End. Further collaboration with Russell yielded a Society of West End Theater prize for Best Actress in a Musical for her work in Blood Brothers. After an extended absence from the boards, she accepted a role in Christopher Bond’s The Seven Ages of Woman, which opened at the Liverpool Playhouse in late 1997 and earned her the Liverpool Echo Arts and Entertainment award for Best Actress in Theater. Additional honors followed, including the Laurence Olivier Award and the Variety Club of Great Britain show-business prize, both naming her Best Actor in a Musical.

Born to a father who had moved from policing to dock work, Dickson began piano studies at five and took up guitar at twelve. At seventeen she relocated to Edinburgh, where a daytime post at the registrar’s office financed nightly appearances in local folk clubs. She later settled in London to pursue music full time and soon received an invitation to join the cast of John, Paul, George, Ringo....and Bert, the engagement that initiated a career spanning both concert stages and theater.