Can you tell me whatever happened to singer Petula Clark?
—Jim W., Pennsylvania
The sweet-voiced English songbird, who made Downtown the place to be in 1964, may have disappeared from pop radio, but she’s never stopped singing. “I’ve been performing in front of audiences since I was a very young girl in England during World War II,” she says. “Although I consider myself somewhat shy, there is something about being on stage that allows me to really open up,” she says. “I enjoy the energy that an audience brings and I think American audiences are really the best. They know how to let a performer feel their affection and excitement.” In addition to touring and making records, Clark has starred in plays on Broadway and in London, most notably playing Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. She lives mainly in London, though she has homes in Geneva, Miami, and France. “I’ve had a wonderful career all over the world and I’ve been blessed with a wonderful family too,” she says. “I now have two grandchildren in the U.S. and they’re marvelous. I still enjoy singing, recording, writing songs and acting. It’s who I am, and I’ll keep on performing as long as people want to hear me.”
