British singer/songwriter Lynsey De Paul has died, aged 64. The veteran pop star, who was the first woman to win an Ivor Novello songwriting award, passed away at a hospital in London on Wednesday morning (01Oct14) after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
Her longtime songwriting partner Barry Blue has paid tribute in a message posted on Twitter.com, writing, "I can't really take this tragic news in... We were like brother and sister for over 40 years. I have lost a true friend... RIP Lynsey." Her niece, Olivia Rubin, says, "She was in perfect health. She was a vegetarian, she didn't smoke, she didn't drink - she was amazing, in fact. (Her death) was completely unexpected." De Paul rose to fame in the 1970s and scored her first chart hit with 1972's Sugar Me.
Her other hits included Won't Somebody Dance With Me, which earned her an Ivor Novello, making her the first woman to take home the prestigious award. De Paul won a second for her 1974 track No Honestly, the theme tune to the sitcom of the same name.
She represented Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977, coming in second place with Rock Bottom, and she went on to write hits for acts including Dame Shirley Bassey and The Real Thing. In later years she branched out into TV work, classical music and even acting in a TV show called Kingdom opposite Stephen Fry. De Paul dated celebrities including Ringo Starr, James Coburn, Sir Sean Connery, Bernie Taupin and Dudley Moore, but she never married.