Dusty Springfield: Google doodle honors performer and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer

The Doodle of today honours Dusty Springfield, a performer and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Springfield was a cultural icon whose brilliant career lasted more than five decades. She was renowned for her impressive versatility across genres, eye-locking stage presence, and her trademark blonde beehive. I Only Want to Be with You, Dusty’s debut solo record, was released on this day in 1963.

Springfield developed a love for music at a young age and, after finishing school, focused her life on performance. She briefly joined the Lana Sisters in 1958, which marked the start of her professional career. Soon after, Dusty recruited musicians like Tom, her brother, and Tim Field to form The Springfields, a pop-folk trio. A top 20 hit in America was achieved by the group’s 1962 single “Silver Threads and Golden Needles,” a remarkable achievement for a British group at the time. She found her creative destiny was closer to soul and R&B music during a life-changing stop in New York on her route to Nashville for a recording session.

Dusty continued the Springfield stage character into her solo career despite the band breaking up. She released a series of songs during the ensuing ten years, including the enormously popular “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me.” Her career reached its zenith in 1968 when the U.S. and the UK received widespread praise for her album “Dusty in Memphis.”

Springfield’s career path included a range of genres and styles in the next years. She recorded her final studio album in the 1990s, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 1999, and was named the greatest pop vocalist to ever come out of Britain by The Rolling Stones!

Dusty, you appreciate you constantly keeping us wishing and hoping. We’re honoured to honour you today!