"Barbara Dickson was born on September 27, 1947 in Dunfermline, Scotland. In the 1960's she began making her name as part of the burgeoning Scottish folk scene of the time alongside Jack Beck, Archie Fisher and Rab Noakes. Turning professional in 1969, Barbara cut three acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful folk albums for Decca Records. On the advice of Hamisch Imlach she moved to the north of England to expand her career on the folk circuit. Fate intervened in 1974 when friend Willy Russell offered her the singing role in the hit Beatles' musical "John Paul George Ringo...& Bert". Hits such as "Answer Me", "Another Suitcase In Another Hall" and "January February" followed throughout the late 70's and well into the 1980's, with regular appearances on TV in shows such as "Scotch And Wry" and "The Two Ronnies". By 1985 Barbara was selling out major venues such as London's Royal Albert Hall as she enjoyed her first number one, "I Know Him So Well", with Elaine Paige.

 

However, as the 90's dawned Barbara began to reassess her career and began to return towards the folk and traditional music which had always been closest to her heart. 1992's "Don't Think Twice It's All Right", an album of Bob Dylan covers surprised many, and she followed it with the critically-acclaimed folk set "Parcel Of Rogues" in 1994, which reunited her with Archie Fisher.

The late 90's saw Barbara combining acting roles in TV series such as "Band Of Gold" and "Taggart" with theatre work - 2000 saw her named as Best Actress In A Musical for the second time for her role as pools winner Viv Nicholson in "Spend Spend Spend" at the Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2001 Barbara was made an OBE in the Queen's New Years Honours List.