Dad always encouraged my singing, so when 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' was a hit in the States, I flew my parents to New York first-class to see me, put them up at the Waldorf Astoria, then they sailed home on the QE2.
From Kiki Dee
I was the youngest of three kids, and from the age of four, singing was my way of getting attention.
The first thing Fontana did was get me to change my hair colour from light brown to red, and the songwriter Mitch Murray suggested I change my name from Pauline Matthews to Kiki Dee.
When I started out in this business, I really wanted to become iconic, but I'm glad that didn't happen. I like to do things like travel on public transport unnoticed.
I had a cancer scare in the early '90s, and for a few months, I wondered if I would make it.
I've got my mother's acceptance of things and my dad's drive - not such a bad combination.
I'm just a sensitive little soul who's put so much into her career that I haven't had enough energy or time left over to sustain a relationship.
Performers like to perform, and there's certainly no disgrace in entertaining people, in giving pleasure, you hope, through your singing. My work defines who I am.
I have to keep healthy; otherwise, I jeopardise my career.
I'm a childless woman, yet I felt no maternal urges whatsoever. The prospect of years of broken nights and nappy changes holds no appeal for me.
3 perspectives
2 perspectives
1 perspectives