Ayshea (; born Ayshea Hague, 12 November 1948) is a British singer, actress and television presenter.

Biography

Born in

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

, London, and educated at

Arts Educational School Arts Educational Schools, or ArtsEd, is an independent performing arts school in Chiswick, West London, England. Overview ArtsEd provides specialist vocational training at secondary, further and higher education level in musical theatre and ...

, London, Ayshea was trained in ballet, music, drama and dance. She made her film debut as an uncredited extra in the film ''

Tom Thumb Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. ''The History of Tom Thumb'' was published in 1621 and was the first known fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, ...

'' (1958). As a teenager, she was signed to her first record label,

Fontana Fontana may refer to: Places Italy *Fontana Liri, comune in the Province of Frosinone *Fontanafredda, comune in the Province of Pordenone * Fontanarosa, comune in the Province of Avellino *Francavilla Fontana, comune in the Province of Brindisi ...

, which released her debut single, "Eeny Meeny", in 1965. In 1965 and 1966 she toured in the UK with

Jimmy Cliff James Chambers, Jamaican Order of Merit, OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hol ...

as part of his band The New Generation. She made appearances on television shows such as '' Thank Your Lucky Stars'' and ''Discotheque''.

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

's producer

Muriel Young Muriel Young (19 June 1923 – 24 March 2001) was an English television continuity announcer, presenter and producer. Early life Young was born in 1923 in Bishop Middleham near Sedgefield, County Durham. As a child, she lived with her family ...

hired Ayshea to host her own pop show, ''

Lift Off with Ayshea ''Lift Off with Ayshea'' is a British TV show, produced by Granada Television for the ITV network, and starring Ayshea Brough, which ran for 122 editions spanning eight series, between November 1969 and December 1974. Preceded by the show '' ...

'', in 1969. The series ran for 122 episodes until 1974. After being romantically linked with

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

Chas Chandler Bryan James "Chas" Chandler (18 December 1938 – 17 July 1996) was an English musician, record producer and manager, best known as the original bassist in The Animals, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

and

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

, she married

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...

's record producer, Chris Brough (the son of ventriloquist

Peter Brough Peter Royce Brough (26 February 1916 – 3 June 1999) was an English radio ventriloquist who became a well-known name to audiences in the 1950s. He is associated with his puppet Archie Andrews. Early life and career Peter Royce Brough was ...

), who produced her records and was her manager. Ayshea was a regular on quiz shows such as ''

The Golden Shot ''The Golden Shot'' is a British television game show produced by ATV for ITV between 1 July 1967 and 13 April 1975, based on the German TV show '' Der goldene Schuß''. It is most commonly associated with host Bob Monkhouse, but three other ...

'' and ''

Celebrity Squares ''Celebrity Squares'' is a British comedy game show based on the American comedy game show ''Hollywood Squares''. It first ran on ITV from 20 July 1975 to 7 July 1979 and was hosted by Bob Monkhouse, then—also hosted by Monkhouse— ...

''. As an actress, she appeared on '' Jason King'' and had a recurring role on ''

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

'', the

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist, who is known for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s production ...

live-action series. After starring in pantomimes and summer shows all over the UK, Ayshea then built up a following for her live cabaret performances. After Ayshea and Chris Brough divorced in the early 1970s she dated

Roy Wood Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. Wood formed the Move in 1965, and ...

who wrote and produced her single "Farewell". They were engaged for a year but never married. In 1975, she represented Great Britain at the

World Popular Song Festival The , also known as Yamaha Music Festival and unofficially as the "Oriental Eurovision", was an international song contest held from 1970 until 1989. It was organised by the Yamaha Music Foundation in Tokyo, Japan. The first edition of the World P ...

in Tokyo with a song written for her by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

, entitled "The Flowers Will Never Die". Following the engagement to

, she later married Steve Alder who had the lead role in the London stage production of the musical ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

''. While staying with her friend Susan George in the US, Ayshea met and married the agent and film producer Michael Levy in 1983. She appeared in the films '' Gotcha'' (1985) and '' Demolition Man'' (1993) and worked as an interior designer. In the early 2000s Ayshea moved back to the UK (in

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

, Lincolnshire) to be close to her mother, Rose. In 2024 Ayshea was honoured by the Asian Media Awards where she was given the Outstanding Contribution to Media Award.

Discography

Albums

*''Ayshea'' (1970) *''Lift Off with Ayshea'' (1974)

Singles

*"Eeny Meeny / Keep My Love" (1965), Fontana *"Celebration of the Year / Only Love Can Save Me Now (1968), Polydor *"Another Night / Taking the Sun from My Eyes" (1969), Polydor *"Mister White's White Flying Machine / Ship of the Line" (1970), Polydor *"Who's Gonna Rescue Jesus? / Flowers Are Mine" (1970), Polydor *"

Master Jack "Master Jack" is a song written by David Marks and first recorded by Four Jacks and a Jill. It reached #1 in South Africa and Canada (2 weeks at #1), #3 on the US adult contemporary chart, and #18 on both the ''Billboard'' chart and in Australi ...

/ Both Sides Now" (1971), RCA *"An Old Fashioned Love Song / The Family of Man" (1972), MAM *"Farewell / The Best Years of My Life" (1973), Harvest *"Another Without You Day / Moonbeam" (1974), DJM *"Don't Wait Till Tomorrow / Moonbeam" (1975), DJM *"The Flowers Will Never Die / The Best Years of My Life" (1975), DJM *"Golden Oldie / "Keep Me from Blowing Away (1977), DJM

References

External links

* *
Lift Off with Ayshea – personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayshea 1948 births Living people Actors from the London Borough of Camden Singers from the London Borough of Camden Actresses from London English television presenters English women pop singers People from Highgate