Imagine - Winter 2009 - Dame Shirley Bassey: The Girl from Tiger Bay

Alan Yentob gains exclusive access and insight into the creative world of Dame Shirley Bassey. After a triumphant Glastonbury appearance and a major illness, at 72, Dame Shirley, one of our greatest singers, tentatively re-enters the ring to confront her life in song. Some of the best contemporary songwriters, including Gary Barlow, the Pet Shop Boys, Manic Street Preachers, Rufus Wainwright, Richard Hawley and KT Tunstall, along with the famous Bond composer John Barry and lyricist Don Black, have interpreted her life through song for a new album produced by David Arnold. The songs frame and explore the myth of Shirley Bassey, the girl from Tiger Bay, and the voice and the desire are not found wanting. A back story profiling Shirley, complete with archive of her greatest performances, tells what makes her the living legend that she is today.