PETULA CLARK to receive the Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award

Internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter, recording artist, and actress Petula Clark will be honored at the 36th annual Bistro Awards on Friday, April 30. This virtual special event will have its premiere screening at 8 pm. Ms. Clark will be receiving the Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award for her eight decades of artistic accomplishments.

Petula Clark first arrived in America as the distaff member of the historic British invasion of the '60s. Her iconic single "Downtown" soared up the charts, the first in a series of memorable hits that won the hearts of listeners. But she had established herself as a beloved and important star long before her journey across the Atlantic.

Ms. Clark started as a child performer in England singing to the Allied forces in WWII. She made her public radio debut on the BBC at age 9 and was soon being dubbed Britain's Shirley Temple and "Radio's Merry Mimic," with over 500 concert appearances before she was 12. A successful film career as a child, and then as an ingenue, led to a recording career and sales of over 70 million recordings worldwide and two Grammy Awards. She is the most successful female recording star in Great Britain; she has received the Le Grand Prix National du Disque Français as France's most successful recording artist; and she was awarded the CBE honour by the Queen in 1998. Appearances on dozens of top shows and her own series of specials endeared her to television audiences and led to a return to film, this time in Hollywood, with Finian's Rainbow and Goodbye, Mr. Chips, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. Moving to the stage, she triumphed in The Sound of Music, Blood Brothers, Sunset Boulevard, and her self-penned Someone Like You.

She continues to tour and act (2020 Olivier Award nomination for her performance in the latest production of Mary Poppins, sidetracked by the UK lockdown) and record. She is currently promoting her latest singles "Starting All Over Again" and "New Flag" (with the John Williams Syndicate), as well as the Collector's Edition of her legendary 1974 Royal Albert Hall concert, available for the first time in its entirety. Post-vaccination tour plans are already in the works. She shows no signs of slowing down, and for all lovers of great music, that is good news indeed.

This special tribute to Ms. Clark will be a highlight of the Bistro Award's first-ever streamed event and will be open to the public. Details on how to access the event are forthcoming.

Photo Credit: Pip/BMG