ABOUT THE SHOW

‘Pure Bassey’ is a unique production, performed by Miss Julia Martin,  paying tribute to the biggest diva of them all … ‘Dame Shirley Bassey’. This singing legend needs no introduction, her unwavering global appeal spans more than four decades and as many generations. In this show Julia captures the instantly recognisable voice of Dame Shirley Bassey and combines it with a passionate delivery of every lyric. The BBC in a recent interview with Julia cited her has the UK’s No 1 Shirley Bassey tribute.

With more than 20 years in the business and over 3,400 tribute performances to her name, Miss Julia Martin is acknowledged to be one of the most versatile and sought after Shirley Bassey tribute artistes in the world. Her sensational tribute show to DSB has taken Julia around the globe, performing for Heads of State, Celebrities, Blue-Chip Companies, Cruise Companies and Leading Hotels of the World.

Julia’s recent touring schedule includes not just the the length and breadth of the UK, but also visits to Pakistan, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and a host of European Countries.

Julia’s dedication and attention to detail is what makes her shows so special and her amazing ability to mimic both the voice and movements would leave you thinking that you had seen the original artiste. Julia matches Shirley’s magnetism, stage presence and extravagance of gowns every step of the way and she is the only Shirley Bassey tribute artist in the world to own and use within her show a collection of stunning original Shirley Bassey gowns. This was brought about by the successful purchase of these incredible and totally authentic show gowns from Christies of London. Each of these unique gowns has its own profiled history and between them they span over 50 years of Shirley’s success.

This captivating story, regarding the purchase of these gowns is soon to be a television documentary, presented by Julia, who is touring the world interviewing other owners, who also purchased gowns from Christie’s of London, in a star-studded televised auction, with Dame Shirley herself in attendance. Julia now owns the largest private collection in the world of these priceless show gowns, each one with a fully documented history of when and where they were worn by DSB. Follow this story by clicking on the ‘Gowns’ tab in the top menu bar.

DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY TRIBUTE SHOW ‘PURE BASSEY’

CHECK OUT THE VIDEOS

WHAT SETS THIS SHOW APART

A number of unique trademark features within this show are what elevates this show to a ‘World-Class Production’, placing it firmly above any other DSB tribute show on the market today. Julia’s voice, movements and mannerisms are just ‘Pure Bassey’ and when you add, original Dame Shirley Bassey gowns, lighting fast costume changes and Julia’s unique ability to communicate, interact and entertain her audience, you can understand why clients all over the world want to book Julia to perform. But please don’t just take our word for it, read what some of our clients and guests have to say.

“Amazing, Never seen anything like it. Julia was so like Shirley it is unreal. She has a really powerful voice and looked, sang and spoke like Shirley. Would watch her again and again. Such a lovely energetic person and puts everything in to performing. Thank you for such a great evening”.

Peter, James, Eileen & Sophie. Hayling Island Hampshire.

“Just to say thank you so much for your performances last week at my 50th Birthday party. I did not quite know what to expect when I booked you as a Shirley Bassey tribute act, I had looked at your web site and seen you on you tube; all I can say is that neither do you justice. I expected you to be good, but not absolutely amazing. From the voice, the mannerisms and the frocks all were incredible. To top it all you were also incredibly funny. All my guests have sung your praises and we all agree it was one of the best parties that any of us have been to. I just need an excuse to book you again before I am 60!!!!”

Warm Regards – Stephen

“WHAT A PARTY – or should I say My Diamond Jubilee ? I have had a never-ending stream of cards, calls, texts & e-mails complimenting us on a Fantastic Evening at The Hanbury Manor & begging us to think of a way to repeat it all. We cannot thank you enough for making our celebration such a Spectacular, Once-in-a-Lifetime Event. Tell me IT WAS DSB – the mannerisms, the superb dresses (Shirley’s own) the way you worked with the audience, the accent & Ohhhh ! – that VOICE – A Brilliant Performance !! We were also privileged to welcome the incredibly authentic Odd-Job & Jaws plus three Gorgeous, Sequinned, Feather-bedecked Dancers to our 007-themed Party. Thank you for supplying all the cast and making the event such a success and thank you for your Professionalism, for the effect you had on our guests (most have only just recovered from the excitement) & for chatting with them & posing for scores of photos – – – I MUST think of a reason as soon as possible for another Celebration”

Phil Ryan

“Your Dame Shirley Bassey performance was spectacular, your interaction with the audience was wonderful, everyone enjoyed your performance and we wouldn’t hesitate in inviting you back again. Thank you so much for giving us such a fabulous day”

Julie Calderdale (Operations Manager)

“Julia, thank you for your wonderful performance as Dame Shirley Bassey at our James Bond Charity Ball. You were sensational from entertaining our guests to participating in the fund raising by auctioning a song and being involved throughout the evening. Thank you also for providing the casino tables for the event our guests thoroughly enjoyed having a gamble to raise more funds for our charities. I have had fantastic feedback from our guests who thought you was exceptional and I would have no hesitation in recommending you or booking you again in the future” 

Yours Sincerely , Donna Gardner-Hickman – VIP Event Planners

“Hello Julia, we’ve just got back from honeymoon and I wanted to thank you so much for making my wedding the most talked about event in Northumberland! Glamorous, spectacular and funny, you were wonderful, spectacular and made the party go with a bang – honestly people have not stopped talking about it! Thanks again and big hugs to you”

Mr and Mrs Sweeney xxxxxxxx

“Miss Julia Martin was lovely and very willing to go the extra mile for our event, particularly knowing we are a charity raising money for the benefit of the school’s children. As a result we were able to both raise additional funds and provide unexpected photo opportunities for our guests. Julia contacted us a few days before the event and was happy to spend time talking through the evening with us in advance; this really helped us in ensuring the whole event ran smoothly. Julia worked discreetly and with an extremely friendly manner alongside other contractors during the evening. Julia was a really fantastic Dame Shirley Bassey performer and a very professional entertainer, what a transformation from the daytime too! Her show gowns were amazing and being ‘originals’ really showed off the quality of her act. Thank you for a wonderful performance on our behalf”

Heidi Nally (On behalf of St Cedds School Parents Association)

A SELECTION OF JULIA MARTIN’S DSB ORIGINAL GOWNS

JULIA MARTIN VISITING SWAROVSKI IN AUSTRIA 

1,200 miles driving, 1 ferry crossing, 4 Countries and just 24 hours to get there!

A PERSONAL REFLECTION BY JULIA MARTIN:

It all sounded really exciting and somewhat cavalier when my manager suggested that I should drive with a film crew through the night to the small village of Wattens in Austria to film a documentary. Now after the event, that original idea was not quite so grand; I thought it would be a great opportunity to explore hundreds of miles of beautiful scenery, through 4 different Countries. How wrong I was, very little countryside, but lots and lots of motorways and driving through the night. Why did I not insist that I fly? We left the UK at 3pm in the afternoon; a two-man film crew accompanied me, a ferry crossing at 9pm to sail from Dover to Calais. Then through, France, Belgium, Germany and Austria en-route to Wattens, some 1,200 miles I was reliably informed, and that was just one-way.

Swarovski Crystal Worlds was my final destination, home of the largest collection of original Dame Shirley Bassey show gowns. A priceless collection, bought at auction some 9 years ago, the only time that Dame Shirley ever sold her fabulous gowns. Some 50 gowns were auctioned on the night at a star-studded event at Christie’s in London. Swarovski had an open cheque book and bought some 18 gowns, paying the highest price of the night of £35,000 for Dame Shirley’s most famous gown ‘The Diamond Dress’ a unique Douglas Darnell creation with some 156,000 hand-stitched Swarovski Crystals, weighing in at a staggering 6 kg.

I had the pleasure of being one of only a selected handful of people to be given complete access to the vault where these wonderful dresses were stored. I was allowed to examine and photograph the dresses in minute detail, and was blown away by the incredible work and thousands of man-hours that went into the construction of these masterpieces.  What’s more I was filmed trying all the dresses on, the filming was for a Television Documentary I had been invited to work on, tracking down where all the 50 gowns that were sold at auction went too. This filming not only included my trip to Austria but it will also take me around the world to visit and interview other purchasers of the unique collection of gowns that went under the hammer.

The people at Swarovski were wonderful and over 4 days I had total control over this unique collection. My visit accumulated in performing ‘Diamonds are Forever’ wearing the Diamond Dress complete with Cape in the Crystal Dome. What a privilege to wear the most famous dress in the ‘Bassey’ collection and how often can you slip into something that is totally one-off and worth  £35,000.

This trip was worth every single mile and I came back to the UK with not only some incredible memories, but also pictures and film footage that will last me a lifetime. What’s more I got to wear every single gown, gowns that had never been worn by anyone other than Dame Shirley Bassey and I performed in the Crystal Dome wearing the ‘Diamond Dress’, the Holy Grail of the Bassey collection.

PLEASE CHECK OUT MY VIDEO BELOW, AND CLICK HERE TO VISIT MY SWAROVSKI PICTURE GALLERY

CREATE A WOW FACTOR WITH A FUN CASINO NIGHT

If you want to add the WOW FACTOR to your event and create a really memorable night, then why not combine Julia Martin's DSB Tribute with Casino Tables, to create a 007 Themed Casino Evening. We can also provide James Bond, Jaws and Odd-Job Look-a-Likes, Bond Girls and even an Aston Martin, all of which is guaranteed to provide an evening of entertainment and glamour that your guest will be talking about for many months after. Further details can be found by following the picture links below.

JUST A SMALL SELECTION OF THE CLIENTS THAT HAVE BOOKED 

AND ENJOYED THE TRIBUTE TALENTS OF MISS JULIA MARTIN

With over 3,200 tribute performances to her name, you can imagine that Julia has worked for a lot of different and varied clients, many of whom bring her back time after time. In fact Julia still has some of the same clients asking her back that she first worked for 20 years ago.

The range and type of clients is tremendous, they span the world, from international blue chip companies to private parties and from cruise ships to golf clubs, you name it and Julia has probably done it. All of Julia’s clients are special to her, be it the International Banker who Julia recently worked for at a black tie ball in Switzerland to Ernie who celebrated his 100th Birthday on New Years day in Manchester, and wanted a tribute to his favourite artist.

Over the years Julia has received hundred’s of thank you letters and emails, each and every one of them hold a special place for her and she is always appreciative of the time taken by a client to jot down a few words of thanks. You can read a selection of these messages by following the ‘Comments’ link in the menu header bar.

Julia would like to dedicate this section as a THANK YOU to the thousand’s of clients, who over the last 20 years, have taken the time to ask for information, make a booking and place their trust in Julia to deliver another knock out performance.

Miss Julia Martin 

Thank you for taking the time to visit my Dame Shirley Bassey tribute website. I have been a professional singer for 20 years; I perform throughout the UK, Europe and around the world. I’ve entertained in world-class hotels, arenas, theatres, cruise liners and the homes of the rich and famous. The job is awesome, I get paid for doing what I enjoy the most, paying tribute to some of the world's most celebrated female artists.

My passion is performing and taking on the persona of other characters, to sound like them, dress like them and deliver a performance to an audience in such away that the audience feels they are watching the original performer. Whilst this site is dedicated to my Shirley Bassey tribute show, I do have a selection of other tribute shows that I regularly perform. (MORE INFORMATION)

I also own an events management company, that organises everything from a private themed party to a full scale theatre production, services can include dancers, costumes, props and entertainment. One of my recent events for an audience of nearly 1,000 people included lots of pyrotechnics and a live tiger on stage. (MORE INFORMATION)

Having performed over the years on a number of cruise liners, I was recently invited onto 'Cruising with the Stars', a popular chat show, on SKY television. The video clip from the show is below, and I was given the opportunity to talk about my life in show business, not just on the cruises but also in other venues around the world. I have also launched my new www.juliamartin.net website, which is now fully up and running, if you want any further information on any of my other shows or more details on my Events Company 'JM Productions', then please feel free to visit this site, just click on the link to the left.

I enjoy helping to raise money for charities, my youngest son Charlie is 22, and severely autistic, he is the inspiration behind much of my charity work. I am the founder and chairperson of Autism Unseen, a charity that helps young autistic individuals integrate into society, and I work with the Conflict Free Mineral Association (CFMA), to help abolish child slave labour in the DRC. I also regularly get involved in other fund raising ventures, for a number of other charitable endeavours, and just recently I completed an 80 km walk from Switzerland to France in aid of Syria Relief. (MORE INFORMATION)

Three years ago, I decided that I wanted to take on new challenges, and to fulfil another of my childhood dreams, that of becoming a Barrister. With my children now grown up, I enrolled at the University of Hull on a 4-year joint honours degree in Law & Legislative Studies. This process of going back to being a student, albeit a mature student, changed my life completely and although I still regularly sing, I have become involved in many new and exciting projects. These include, being Law Society President, BPP Liaison Officer, and the most rewarding of all, working for a full year in the House of Lords, alongside Lord Norton of Louth. (MORE INFORMATION)

I still have many new challenges, not least to become a Barrister, but I will never leave behind my passion to sing. Every week I shall step out onto stage, it might be Switzerland, Singapore, Dubai or somewhere in the UK, and I will continue doing what I enjoy the most  ... performing, being an entertainer not just a singer, working an audience, and delivering a tribute show that makes the audience believe that they have just seen the original artist.

Love Julia x