𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Martell first started singing as a child with her elder brother’s band before she went on to perform with the Jimmie McGregor Band at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow as a singer.

As a teenager, Martell appeared on a 1950s ITV show called Find the Singer.

She received her first recording contract at 16.

Her musical career took her overseas and she eventually left the UK to work on Broadway, where she understudied Streisand in Funny Girl.

The singer performed on cruise ships and in cabarets and concert halls, spending extensive periods in the United States.

In the 1970s, Martell had her own BBC television series, which saw her singing and chatting to different big-name guests in front of audiences of more than 12 million every week.

Her early studio albums were released under the Pye record label

Martell’s cover of the song One Day at a Time, written by Marijohn Wilkin and Kris Kristofferson, reached the top of the UK singles chart for three weeks in October 1979.

The single sold almost three million copies and earned her a place in the Guinness Book of World Records when it stayed in the charts for 36 weeks.

She went on to place six albums in the UK albums chart between 1974 and 1980, including four in the top 20.

Martell faced a series of health problems throughout her life.

She was diagnosed with cancer and later underwent a triple heart bypass – a surgical procedure which uses a blood vessel from somewhere else in the body to create another way for blood to reach the heart muscle.

After her recovery, Martell returned to the stage and continued to perform at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow.

It is understood she died at a care home after a short illness.