Kiki Dee

Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records. her 1976 duet with Elton John, which reached number one on the UK singles chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her 1981 single "Star" became the theme song for the talent show Opportunity Knocks when it was revived by the BBC in 1987. In 1993, she performed another duet with John for his Duets album, a cover version of Cole Porter's "True Love",

At age 10, she won a local talent contest.

Career Musician After singing with a local band in Bradford in the early 1960s, Dee began her recording career as a session singer. She sang backing vocals for Dusty Springfield, among others, but did not achieve solo success in the UK for many years. In 1963, Dee released her first single, "Early Night",

She recorded her debut album, I'm Kiki Dee, in 1968 which included a series of Phil Spector-style tracks and covers. Her 1968 release "On a Magic Carpet Ride", which was originally a B-side, has remained popular on 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.

Songwriter Mitch Murray created her stage name, and penned her first single, "Early Night". In the United States she became the first white British artist to be signed by Motown, At the end of the summer, she played as support act to Queen at their Hyde Park concert in front of a crowd of 150,000 people. Prior to the concert, in an interview for Record Mirror, she stated, "My confidence is at an all-time high."

After a quiet period in the late 1970s, Dee launched a comeback in 1981, releasing one of her biggest hits, "Star", which became a modest hit on the album chart, and she supplied backing vocals for John's 1983 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.

She performed at Live Aid in 1985, reprising "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with John, and performing backing vocals on the other songs in his set. After signing to Columbia, Dee released the album Angel Eyes in 1987. She contributed backing vocals to Elton John's 1992 album The One, and a year later recorded "True Love" with John for his 1993 album Duets.

Dee released the live album Almost Naked, a joint effort with Carmelo Luggeri in 1995, followed by the studio albums Where Rivers Meet (1998) and The Walk Of Faith (2005) with Luggeri. In September 2013, Dee and Luggeri released their third studio album, A Place Where I Can Go, on Spellbound Records. They have been touring together ever since and have played alongside Roger Taylor, Jack Bruce, Fish, Paul Young, Tom Robinson, Graham Gouldman and Madeline Bell.

In October 2009 she performed, with Luggeri, at London's Royal Albert Hall, in aid of the PRS for Music (formerly the Performing Right Society) for Music Members' Benevolent Fund.

Dee's single "Sidesteppin' with a Soul Man", released in October 2013, was her 40th single release.

Dee and Luggeri's album Long Ride Home was released in April 2022. In November that year Dee joined Elton John on stage to sing "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" again for the final US show of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Musical theatre Dee has appeared in musical theatre, including a leading role in Willy Russell's West End musical Blood Brothers,

Personal life In her forties, Dee was diagnosed with uterine cancer. As of 2024, she has never married and has no children.

Discography Kiki Dee has released 40 singles, three EPs and 22 albums.

Albums

Singles Release dateSingle titleUK AUS 99 – EMI 1984 "Amoureuse" 77 – – Rocket 1986 "Another Day Comes (Another Day Goes)" 117 – –Columbia (US)1987 "I Fall in Love Too Easily" – – – "Stay Close to You" – – – "Angel Eyes" – – – 1993 "True Love" (with Elton John) 2 – 56 Rocket

DVDs 2008 – Under the Night Sky Live (with Carmelo Luggeri) – New Wave Pictures (produced by Ted Carfrae)

In media Dee was portrayed by actress Rachel Muldoon in the 2019 Elton John biopic Rocketman.