Cardiff’s most famous daughter and ‘Tiger Bay’ resident has officially been nominated to receive the Freedom of the City.
During yesterday’s full Council meeting at City Hall a motion was agreed that Dame Shirley Bassey should be granted Freedom of the City with arrangements now being made to invite Dame Shirley Bassey to accept the award at a special ceremony, which will be announced in the future.
Since 1886 only 60 people and 9 organisations have been given the Freedom of the City, the last person being Sir Tasker Watkins in 2006. Freedom of the City can be bestowed on ‘persons of distinction’ and persons who in the opinion of the authority, rendered eminent services to the place or area.
Dame Shirley Bassey was born in Cardiff in 1937 and rose to fame at the tender age of 16. Since then she has performed across the globe flying the flag for both Cardiff and Wales. She has had a career that has spanned 5 decades, selling over 135 million records both at home at across the Atlantic.
Although she now lives abroad she has never forget her roots and has played a key role in major events in Wales, including singing at the opening of the National Assembly for Wales and attending the Ryder Cup celebrations in 2010. Dame Shirley Bassey is also a keen supporter of charities including the Cardiff-based Charity, the Noah’s Ark Appeal, and helps to support Welsh arts with the Dame Shirley Bassey Scholarship at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Cardiff Council Leader, Cllr Rodney Berman, said: “It gives me great honour to announce the nomination of Dame Shirley Bassey to be awarded the Freedom of the City. Dame Shirley is a true ambassador for Cardiff and Wales. The nomination recognises all that Dame Shirley has done, and continues to do, for the city, and I for one cannot think of a more worthy candidate to receive this award.
“Dame Shirley is synonymous with Cardiff and she has helped to promote the city over many years. The work she has done in promoting Cardiff and Wales is priceless. I would like to personally thank Dame Shirley for everything that she has contributed to the city. It is hard to think of someone from such a humble upbringing in Butetown and Splott who has gone on to become such a huge international star.
“She has never forgotten Cardiff when it has come to helping us mark milestone events in the city – such as the opening of the Rugby World Cup in 1999 and the concert at the Millennium Stadium to mark the start of the 2010 Ryder Cup. I will personally never forget seeing Dame Shirley steal the show in her Welsh flag dress at the concert to mark the official opening of the National Assembly for Wales.
“But it is also for her charity work in the city that this honour is so deserved. Whether that’s for the scholarship which bears her name at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama or for her long-standing and very generous association with the Noah’s Ark Appeal for the Children’s Hospital of Wales as Patron, she has done much to help others in Cardiff over a number of years. That in itself deserves to be recognised.”
