Lulu Kennedy-Cairns (born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie; 3 November 1948), known professionally as Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress and television personality. Noted for her powerful singing voice, Lulu is internationally known, but especially by UK audiences in the 1960s. Later in her career she had hits internationally with "To Sir with Love" from the 1967 film of the same name and with the title song to the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun.
Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie was born in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire, and grew up in Dennistoun, Glasgow. At the age of 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. In 1964, under the wing of Marion Massey, she was signed to Decca Records. When she was only fifteen, her version of the Isley Brothers' "Shout", credited to 'Lulu & the Luvvers' and delivered in a raucous but mature voice, peaked at no. 7 on the UK charts.
After the success of "Shout", Lulu's next charting single was "Leave a Little Love" in 1965, which returned her to the UK Top Ten. Her next record, "Try to Understand", made the Top 40. In 1966, Lulu toured Poland with the Hollies as the first British female singer to appear live behind the Iron Curtain. In the same year, she recorded two German-language tracks; "Wenn du da bist" and "So fing es an" for the Decca Germany label. After two hit singles with the Luvvers, Lulu embarked on a solo career.
In 1966 she left Decca and signed with Columbia, to be produced by Mickie Most. She returned to the UK singles chart in April 1967, reaching no. 6 with "The Boat That I Row", written by Neil Diamond. All seven singles she cut with Mickie Most made the UK Singles Chart, ending with "Boom Bang-A-Bang" reaching number 2 in 1969. She made her acting debut in 1967 To Sir, with Love, a British vehicle for Sidney Poitier. Lulu both acted in the film and sang the title song, with which she had a major hit in the United States, reaching no. 1. "To Sir with Love" became the best-selling single of 1967 in the United States, selling well in excess of one million copies; it was awarded a gold disc, and was ranked by Billboard magazine as the no. 1 song of the year.
In 1969, Lulu recorded New Routes, a new album, at Muscle Shoals studios: several of the songs, including a version of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles", featured slide guitarist Duane Allman. The album was recorded for Atlantic's Atco label and produced by Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin. In 1974, she performed the title song for the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. The same year she covered David Bowie's songs "The Man Who Sold the World" and "Watch That Man". Bowie and Mick Ronson produced the recordings. "The Man Who Sold the World" became her first Top 10 hit in five years, peaking at no. 3 in the UK chart in February 1974 and was a Top 10 hit in several European countries.
She has been active releasing albums, touring and performing. Her last show was December 2019.
