Dame Vera Lynn ‘came to define the soul of a nation’
Dickon Stainer said he had worked with the late singer, who has died aged 103, for more than 20 years.
Dame Vera Lynn was an “absolute figurehead of Britain” who came to “define the soul of a nation”, according to a music industry boss who worked with the late singer.
Dickon Stainer, president and CEO of Global Classics & Jazz at Universal Music Group, said that she had an “unnerving, disarming, calm and effortlessness about her singing”.
His comments came after it was announced on Thursday that the singer has died aged 103.
Stainer told the PA news agency that Dame Vera’s “phrasing was smooth, her breath control was incredible, it was almost like she was talking to you and she was singing just for you, when in fact she was singing for lots and lots of people”.
“That is one of the things about her career really, she just tore down the walls of the concert venue and became this singer for everybody in a way that has never quite been done before or afterwards.”
Stainer, who said he worked with Dame Vera for more than 20 years, added: “She was an absolute figurehead of Britain and I think there’s not a person in the country who didn’t feel that she was their person.”
He said that her legacy is “almost hard to put into words”, adding: “There are probably very, very few people in our country or in any country that you could say define the soul of a nation, which she did and I think that is her legacy.”
