Babs Beverley has died.
The Beverley Sisters singer – who found fame alongside her siblings, the late Joy, and her twin Teddie – passed away on October 28 aged 91, according to an obituary in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The singer married dentist James Mitchell in 1963 after just five weeks together, but their union ended just a few weeks later and they eventually divorced in 1967. She had no children.
Babs – who was born Babette P. Chinery – and her sisters grew up in Bethnal Green, east London but were evacuated to the Midlands during World War II.
The trio had their own BBC TV show in the 1950s but were best known for their songs such as ‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus’ and ‘How Much is that Doggy in the Window’.
In 2002, the ‘Sisters’ hitmakers sang at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and made it into the Guinness World Records as the world’s longest-surviving vocal group without a line-up change, and they received MBEs four years later.
After Joy – who shared the same birthday as the twins but was three years older – passed away in August 2015, Babs and Teddie admitted they had been unable to face going to their funeral.
Babs said at the time: "It would have destroyed us. I don’t think we could have coped with kind people saying how sorry they were. Because we still can’t quite believe Joy’s not here. Of course, we said our own prayers for her, but I know once I start to cry I’ll never stop."
And the twins recalled how their older sister had always wanted to be the first to die.
Teddie said: "Joy had said to me once when we were making tea, ‘I hope I die before you two. I hope I’m first to go.’ She didn’t want to be left without us.
"When I think about her now, I know if anyone is in the heavenly choir, Joy will be. As long as she’s the soloist and the others follow her phrasing!"
Babs Bevereley dead at 91
