ArtistInfo

Iris Williams

voc, *1944 GB
Singer of Pop
A.k.a. Iris Williams OBE

Iris Williams OBE (Order of the British Empire) (born 20 April 1944) is a Welsh singer. Williams reached the peak of her popularity during the 1980s.Williams was born in Pontypridd, South Wales. Brought up in a children's home, she won a scholarship to the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. In 1979, she had her biggest UK hit, "He Was Beautiful", a song based on the already well-known theme from The Deer Hunter with lyrics by Cleo Laine. In Wales, however, she had already had major success, particularly with "Pererin Wyf" (1971) a Welsh-language version of "Amazing Grace". As a result of hitting the national charts, she was given her own BBC series. She also won the Welsh talent contest, Cân i Gymru (A Song for Wales) in 1974 with the song 'I gael Cymru'n Gymru Rydd' (For a Free Wales).

Genres

• Pop
• World
• Folk
• Soundtrack
• Jazz