Kiki Dee

Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English singer.[1]

She is best known for her 1976 duet with Elton John, entitled "Don't Go Breaking My Heart",[2]  which went to Number 1 both in the UK Singles Chart and the USBillboard Hot 100 chart. In 1993 she performed another duet with Elton John for his Duets album, a cover version of Cole Porter's "True Love",[2]  which reached No. 2 in the UK. During her career, Kiki Dee has released 39 singles, three EPs and 12 albums. Kiki's latest single "Sidesteppin' With A Soul Man" released in October 2013 is her 40th single release.



Contents
[hide]  *1 Early life  ==Early life[ edit] == Pauline Matthews was born in Little Horton, Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. ==Career[ edit] == ===Musician[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Kiki Dee began singing with a local band in Bradford in the early 1960s. Her recording career began as a session singer. She sang backing vocals for Dusty Springfield, among others, and was well regarded by other singers but did not achieve solo success in the UK for many years. In 1963 Kiki released her first single "Early Night", and recorded her debut albumI’m Kiki Dee, which included a series of Phil Spector style tracks and covers. Her 1965 release "Why Don't I Run Away From You" (also known as "Small Town") was a big hit on Radio London and Radio Caroline in 1965, and she sang it in her appearance in Dateline Diamonds the same year. Her 1968 release "On a Magic Carpet Ride", which was originally a B-side, has remained popular with the Northern Soul circuit. Much of her early recorded work for Fontana Records was released on 24 January 2011, on the CD compilation I'm Kiki Dee.
 * 2 Career
 * 2.1 Musician
 * 2.2 Musical theatre
 * 3 Personal life
 * 4 Discography
 * 4.1 Albums
 * 4.2 Singles
 * 4.3 DVDs
 * 5 References
 * 6 External links

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Songwriter Mitch Murray created her stage name and penned her first single, "Early Night".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[3]  In the United States she became the first white British artist to be signed by Motown,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-British_Hit_Singles_.26_Albums_-_16th_Edition_1-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[1] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AMG_2-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[2]  releasing her first Motown single in 1970.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">In the days before BBC Radio 1, Dee was a regular performer of cover versions on BBC Radio, and she starred with a group of session singers in the BBC Two singalong series, One More Time. She also appeared in an early episode of The Benny Hill Show in January 1971, performing the Blood, Sweat and Tears hit, "You've Made Me So Very Happy". Nevertheless, it was only after she signed with Elton John's label named The Rocket Record Company that she became a household name in the UK. Her first major solo hits were "Amoureuse" (written by Véronique Sanson, with English lyrics by Gary Osborne) (1973) and "I've Got the Music in Me" (written by Tobias Stephen Boshell), the latter credited to the Kiki Dee Band (1974).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AMG_2-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[2]  In addition to her burgeoning career as a lead vocalist, she could sometimes be heard singing backing vocals on various Elton John recordings, such as "All the Girls Love Alice" on "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and various tracks on Rock of the Westies. Her biggest hit came when she recorded a duet with John, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" in 1976. The single reached No. 1 in both the UK and US, remaining at the top for six weeks in the UK.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-kiki_4-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[4]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">After a quiet period in the late 1970s, Dee launched a comeback in 1981, releasing one of her biggest hits, "Star", written by Doreen Chanter of the Chanter Sisters. This later became the theme music to theITV programme Opportunity Knocks between 1987 and 1990. Also in 1981, Dee joined forces again with Elton John, recording a cover of the Four Tops' song "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" which was written by Ivy Jo Hunter and Stevie Wonder. Both of these were included on her album Perfect Timing, which became a modest hit on the album chart. In 1983, she supplied backing vocals to Elton John's album Too Low for Zero. Dee also sang the song "What Can't Speak Can't Lie" (1983), composed and recorded by the Japanese jazz fusion group Casiopea, and with lyrics by Gary Osborne.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[5] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[6]  In 1985 she performed at Live Aid, reprising "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with John, and performing backing vocals on the other songs in his set. In 1992, she also contributed backing vocals on John's The Onealbum, and a year later recorded "True Love" with John for his 1993 Duets album.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Kiki released the live album Almost Naked a joint effort between Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri in 1995 followed by the studio albums Where Rivers Meet (1998), The Walk Of Faith (2005) with musical partner Carmelo Luggeri. In September 2013 Kiki and Carmelo released their third studio album A Place Where I Can Go on Spellbound recordings. ===Musical theatre<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Dee has also appeared in musical theatre, notably in the lead role in Willy Russell's West End musical Blood Brothers,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-AMG_2-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[2]  in which she took on the role originally played by Barbara Dickson for the 1988 production and recording. She received an Olivier Award nomination in 1989 in the Best Actress in a Musical category.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-British_Hit_Singles_.26_Albums_-_16th_Edition_1-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[1]  In 1990, she contributed to the last recording studio collaboration between Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, on the album Freudiana, performing "You're On Your Own" and part of "No One Can Love You Better Than Me".

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">In 2008, Dee's first DVD was released. Under The Night Sky was a collaboration with guitarist Carmelo Luggeri, filmed live at the Bray Studios in London, and the music was produced by Ted Carfrae. That same year, several albums from her earlier 1970s-1980s Rocket catalogue were re-released by EMI Records, including an expanded edition of Almost Naked with extra tracks, including a cover of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" and a new take on "Sugar on the Floor". Also that year, Demon Records (UK) issued a remastered edition of Perfect Timing, with several bonus tracks including an alternate mix of "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever."

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Dee had previously starred in Pump Boys and Dinettes in London's West End, at the Piccadilly Theatre, from 20 September 1984 to 8 June 1985. ==Personal life<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Kiki Dee has never married. She lived in California with Davey Johnstone, a guitarist in Elton John's band at the age of 28. In her late thirties, she was diagnosed with an early stage of uterine cancer.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[7] ==Discography<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;">Kiki Dee has released 39 singles, three EPs and 12 albums. Kiki Dee (right) performing at London's Royal Albert Hall, October 2009, in aid of the PRS for Music(formerly the Performing Right Society) for Music Members' Benevolent Fund.===Albums<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.363636016845703px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302947998px;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-British_Hit_Singles_.26_Albums_-_19th_Edition_8-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.909090995788574px;">[8] ===Singles<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ===