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Lyn Paul
Lyn Paul
Background information
Birth name	Lynda Susan Belcher
Born	16 February 1949 (age 75); Wythenshawe, Manchester, England
Genres	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress
Years active	1960–present
Website	lynpaulwebsite.org

Lyn Paul (born Lynda Susan Belcher; 16 February 1949) is an English pop singer and actress. She came to fame as a member of the international chart-topping pop group the New Seekers in the early 1970s. More recently, she has found success and critical acclaim starring in the long-running West End musical, Blood Brothers.^[1]

Early life

Paul began her career in show business as a child actress in 1960, while attending regular classes in dance and musical theatre. In the early 1960s she led her own teenage girl band the Crys-Do-Lyns, touring all over Wythenshaw. She subsequently qualified as a teacher of dance. In the late 1960s she changed her name to Tanzy Paul^[2] and began a solo career as a pop singer, before joining the well-respected Manchester group the Nocturnes along with Eve Graham, before Graham left to join the New Seekers.^[3]

The New Seekers

Paul was the featured vocalist on their 1972 Eurovision Song Contest entry, "Beg, Steal or Borrow" in which they came second.^[4] The band were also invited to perform at President Richard Nixon's inauguration ball.^[5]

Solo career

Her first solo single, which spent a frustrating seventeen weeks hovering outside the UK Top 50, was the Golden Globe nominated "Sail the Summer Winds", a John Barry and Don Black composition, which was the theme to the first film produced by Gregory Peck, 1974's The Dove.^[6] She had a UK Top 40 hit in 1975 with a song that was originally recorded at the same sessions as I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing. The track was used as the jingle for Coca-Cola in the summer of 1975; it was subsequently recorded as a single by Paul with backing vocals from ex-New Seekers singer Peter Doyle and released as "It Oughta Sell A Million".^[7]

In 2006, she released an album titled Late Night. It contained her versions of some of her favourite songs, including "Crying", "I Only Have Eyes For You", "Dance with My Father" and "Late Night Grande Hotel". In addition, it also contained two new tracks written for her, "Dance With Desire" and "Clouds".^[8]

Musical theatre and acting

Paul starred in the show during its 10th anniversary celebrations and was also invited to play the role in Liverpool in 2008, when the city was given the title as the European Capital of Culture.^[9] Paul has received enormous personal and critical success in the show and in 2008 was voted the "undisputed Mrs J. of all time" by a Blood Brothers fansite^[10] as well as being awarded Best Actress in a Professional Production from the Alhambra Theatre Dunfermline.

Most recently Paul reprised her acclaimed role for the 30th anniversary touring production of Blood Brothers, being hailed as the 'definitive Mrs Johnstone'^[11] and celebrating two decades association with the show.

Paul starred in the West End stage production of the Boy George musical Taboo, playing Josie James, a part rumoured to be specifically written for her^[12] in which she performed two of the show's standout numbers "Talk Amongst Yourselves" and "Independent Woman".

Paul joined the cast of Footloose – the Musical! in the West End 2007 National Tour company in the role of Vi Moore. After the six-month tour, the cast re-opened the show at the Playhouse Theatre, London on 17 August 2007.^[13]

In 2011, she embarked on a nationwide tour of a new musical Rhinestone Mondays, starring alongside Faye Tozer, Ian "H" Watkins and Shaun Williamson. She played the role of Sophie. The musical was said to be the first ever country and western jukebox musical to be created and, although the performances were generally well received with Paul singing classics such as "Stand By Your Man" and "Crazy", the show completed its run five weeks early.^[14]

In 2013 Paul starred alongside Will Young in the UK Tour of the West End revival of Kander and Ebb's musical Cabaret. Young reprised his Olivier Award nominated role of the Emcee whilst Paul played the part of Fraulein Schneider.^[15]

Personal life

During the 1970s Paul dated pop star Rod Stewart.^[16] In 1980, she had a short-lived marriage to Liverpool night club owner Vincent McCaffrey.^[17]

Her sister is the West End actress and choreographer Nikki Belsher,^[18] alongside whom she performed in Footloose – the Musical!.^[19]

References

^ "Blood Brothers – the actors". Willy Russell. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ Liddle, Steven. "Lyn Paul then... 1966". Lyn Paul website. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ "Shows". Entertainment.stv.tv. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ "Eurovision Song Contest : Details : United Kingdom 1972 : The New seekers, Beg, Steal Or Borrow". Esc-history.com. 25 March 1972. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ "1970". Thenewseekers.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ "The Dove (1974) – Awards". IMDb.com. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 420. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^ "Rakuten.co.uk Shopping: CD – Music". Play.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ "Lyn Paul on Blood Brothers". WhatsOnStage.com. 5 October 2009. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ [1]^{[dead link‍]}
^ "Lyn Paul leads 30th anniversary Blood Brothers tour (From my theatre mates)". mytheatremates.com. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
^ "Lyn's thrown in at the deep end". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ "Lyn's Footloose in starring role (From Salisbury Journal)". Salisburyjournal.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ Dines, Nick (5 September 2011). "The Stage / Reviews / Rhinestone Mondays". Thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
^ "Tour of Cabaret the Musical – Cabaret Tour Starring Will Young". Musicaltheatrenews.com. 7 December 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ Liddle, Steven. "Lyn Paul then... 2006". Lyn Paul website. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ Liddle, Steven. "in print (1980s)". Lyn Paul website. Archived from the original on 3 July 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ "Celebrity Buzz". Playbill. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
^ "Lyn Paul – Biography". IMDb.com. Retrieved 25 August 2015.