Cilla Black OBE (born Priscilla Maria Veronica White, 27 May 1943) is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie. After a successful recording career and a brief time as a comedy actress, she became the best paid female presenter in British television history. In September 2009, Black's 45 years in showbusiness were celebrated by EMI (the record label which launched her career in 1963) with the release of a new CD/DVD set alongside an album of club remixes (aka Cilla All Mixed Up). In May 2010, new research published by BBC Radio 2 claimed that Cilla Black's version of Anyone Who Had a Heart was the UK's biggest selling single by a female artist in the 1960s.

Priscilla White was born in Liverpool, England to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother.[citation needed]. Determined to become an entertainer, she got a part-time job as a cloakroom attendant at Liverpool's Cavern Club, best known for its association with The Beatles. Impromptu performances impressed The Beatles and others. She was encouraged to start singing by Liverpool promoter, Sam Leach,who gave her her first gig at the Cassanova Club, where she appeared as "Swinging Cilla". She became a guest singer with the Merseybeat bands Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes and, later, with The Big Three. She was also, meantime, a waitress at the Zodiac coffee lounge, where she was to meet her future husband Bobby Willis. She was featured in an article in the first edition of the local music newspaper Mersey Beat; the paper's publisher, Bill Harry, mistakenly referred to her as Cilla Black, rather than White, and she decided she liked the name, and took it as a stage name.