The 59-year-old singer, who was diagnosed with the disease in 1994, died at her home in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, just four weeks after receiving an OBE at a private gathering in the Royal Marsden Hospital. The Queen was said to be "saddened" to hear of the singer's death so soon after receiving the award.

Once dubbed "the white negress" by Cliff Richard, because of her soulful vocal style, Springfield was described yesterday by Sir Elton John as "the best white British female singer" of her time.

Her first success in 1963 with "I Only Want To Be With You." was followed by a string of hit singles, including "Stay Awhile," "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself," and "little By Little." In 1966 she had her first number one, the ballad "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me."

Her image was as striking as her music. The heavily mascaraed "panda eyes" which became her trademark, coupled with her blond beehive hairstyle, earned her the moniker Queen of the Mods.

Her perfectionism earned her a reputation for being difficult in the studio, which was matched by her status as a wild party-goer with a penchant for throwing food.

She refused to play to segregated audiences in South Africa in 1964, incurring the ire of some on the British music scene, but her popularity was unaffected, and in the same year she was voted Best Female Vocalist in the prestigious NME [New Musical Express] Awards, an accolade she was to win again in 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1969.

But commercial success eluded her, while constant rumours about her sexuality left her craving privacy. Alcohol and tranquilliser abuse followed, and the Seventies saw her depressed and losing focus on her music.

True to her survivor's reputation, she stormed back into the British charts in 1987 with "What Have I Done To Deserve This?", a duet recorded with the Eighties pop duo the Pet Shop Boys. The song was a worldwide hit, and was followed by a second collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys, "Nothing Has Been Proved," the theme to the film Scandal.

Matt Snow, editor of Mojo, said yesterday that, in bringing rhythm and blues into British pop music, Springfield had proved herself as significant as Lennon and McCartney.

"She was an unconscious stylistic revolutionary, but a revolutionary none the less. Her emergence symbolised the beginning of a new era, with white singers adopting the emotional range of black artists. Since the Pet Shop Boys rediscovered and re-presented her, she has been established in the pantheon of significant pop stylists and nothing can remove her from that.

"The unusual thing about her as a big star was that she appeased her hunger for stardom quite quickly, and was not desperate to keep plugging away. She went into semi-retirement with barely a backward glance. Her legacy is the style in which every British singer sings."

Adam Mattera, editor of the gay men's magazine Attitude, said Springfield's personal story had a huge resonance with gay men at the time.

"When the rumours began about her sexuality, and she actually said that she was attracted to men and women, it was very significant. Her lyrics were all about secret loves, but instead of going into the corner and weeping, she stood defiant. After lost years, with her Eighties comeback, there was a clever, knowing sense of camp. She was in on the joke, which separated her from traditional gay icons. She understood what made her popular in the gay community and played up to it."

Springfield bridged the gap between old-school divas like Judy Garland and more modern artists. "She paved the way for people like Gloria Gaynor and Donna Summer, through to Debbie Harry and Madonna, who took defiance further.

"She broke the mould with her music, her sexuality, by refusing to fit comfortably into the music industry's expectations. She was subversive."

Lucy O'Brien, whose biography of Springfield was published in 1989, said: "Dusty pushed back the frontiers and redefined the role of women in British pop music. She chose classic material which she invested . . . with a unique pathos and vulnerability. She made an enormous contribution to British pop."

Tributes were paid by all generations of the pop business. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of the Pet Shop Boys said they had been proud to work with Britain's greatest female singer.

Libby Brooks
The Guardian, (London)
March 4, 1999