Sheila Tracy

Sheila Tracy (10 January 1934 – 30 September 2014) was a British broadcaster, writer, musician and singer. She began her career as a trombone player during the 1950s, in all-female bands.

Biography Tracy was born as Sheila Lugg, on 10 January 1934, in Mullion, Cornwall in 1934. and studied piano, violin and trombone at the Royal Academy of Music, then was a member of the Ivy Benson All Girls Band between 1956 and 1958. Subsequently, she formed a vocal/trombone duo, The Tracy Sisters, who appeared in variety, on radio and television, as well as in cabaret all over the world. When the act broke up, she joined BBC Television as an announcer and worked mostly in television until 1974 when she became the first female newsreader on BBC Radio 4 on 16 July. She also qualified as a Special Policewoman in London. She became a popular lecturer on P&O Cruises and wrote two other reference works.

Personal life and death Tracy was married to actor John Arnatt from 1962 until his death in 1999.

Tracy died at the age of 80, on 30 September 2014, at the Princess Alice Hospice in Esher, Surrey.

Selected publications Who’s Who on Radio. Worlds and Work, 1983. Who’s Who in Popular Music: The British Music Scene. Worlds and Work, 1984. Bands, Booze And Broads. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing, 1984. Talking Swing: British Big Bands. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing, 1997.