Lulu

Lulu Kennedy-Cairns (born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie; 3 November 1948) is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality. With a powerful singing voice, Lulu began her career in the UK but soon became known internationally. She had major chart hits with "To Sir with Love" from the 1967 film of the same name, which topped the Billboard Hot 100, and with the title song to the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. In European countries, she is also widely known for the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 winning entry "Boom Bang-a-Bang", and for her 1964 hit "Shout", which she performed at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Life and career Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie was born in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire, and grew up in Dennistoun, Glasgow, where she attended Thomson Street Primary School and Onslow Drive School. She lived in Gallowgate for a while before moving to Garfield Street, Dennistoun. When she was 12 or 13, she and her manager approached a band called the Bellrocks seeking stage experience as a singer. She appeared with them every Saturday night: Alex Thomson, the group's bass player, has reported that even then her voice was remarkable. She has two brothers and a sister and her father, who died at 71 was reportedly a heavy drinker. Aged 14, she received the stage name "Lulu" from her future manager Marion Massey, who commented: "Well, all I know is that she's a real lulu of a kid." In August 2017, Lulu's family history was the subject of an episode in the UK series Who Do You Think You Are? The research showed that her mother had been brought up by another family. The investigation into her genealogy showed that Lulu's maternal grandparents had different religions. Her grandfather Hugh Cairns was a Catholic and her grandmother, Helen Kennedy, was a Protestant. Cairns had been a member of a Catholic gang and was found in the research to have been in and out of prison at the time of the birth of Lulu's mother. Kennedy was found to be the daughter of a Worthy Mistress of the Ladies' Orange Lodge 52. The discovery explained why the two families had opposed the union between Kennedy and Cairns.