Former Decca Records boss Dickon Stainer has paid tribute to late music legend Dame Vera Lynn insisting her "golden voice will live forever".
The singer-and-actress – who was dubbed the Forces’ Sweetheart for helping to raise morale for British troops during World War II – passed away on Thursday (18.06.20) just three months after celebrating her 103rd birthday.
The ‘We’ll Meet Again’ singer was signed to Decca Records from 1938 to 1960 and now the label’s former chief has remembered one of its most famous artists in the wake of her passing.
President and CEO of Global Classics & Jazz, Universal Music Group, Dickon Stainer – who worked closely with Dame Vera during his time leading Decca Records – said: "The golden voice of Dame Vera Lynn will live forever. She is the definition of a timeless artist."
A statement from Decca Records read: "Decca Records are deeply saddened at the passing of the brightest and most enduring star on the label, at the age of 103. From the 1930s, Dame Vera Lynn recorded regularly with Ambrose and his Orchestra for Decca Records even before her singing and entertaining the troops during World War II made her a national icon. Blessed with a pure voice and presence she has come to represent a whole era, and never stopped encouraging people to, in her own words on her recent birthday in March, ‘Keep smiling and keep singing.’
"To say Dame Vera Lynn was a unique entertainer is an understatement. Forever breaking records and making chart history, the singer always had the unfailing ability to keep spirits up during the most difficult times. Famously boosting the nation’s morale during the darkest days of World War II and, over the decades, her popularity has never waned. She was perhaps the most beloved of all British female vocalists."
In 2019, when Dame Vera was in her early 90s, she became the oldest living artist to land a UK number one album with a new greatest hits collection, setting a new record in the history of music and making her the only recording artist in the world to have spanned the pop charts from the 1940s to the 21st century.
Three days before her 100th birthday on 17 March 2017, a new LP entitled ‘Vera Lynn 100’ was released through Decca Records and featured her unforgettable vocals to new re-orchestrated versions of her songs.
Just weeks ago, Queen Elizabeth II quoted the lyrics from Dame Vera’s ‘We’ll Meet Again’ to inspire the UK in the midst of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.