Thanks to her beautiful singing voice, bright blue eyes and eye-catching beehive hairdo, Dusty Springfield was one of the biggest icons of the Swinging Sixties.
Before her sad death at the age of 59 in 1999, the star sang major hits like You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, I’ll Try Anything, Son of a Preacher Man and What Have I Done to Deserve This?.
The 1960s were famed for being a sexually liberating time, something that Dusty took in her stride, never putting a label on her sexual identity. In an interview with the Evening Standard in 1970, she famously said: “Many other people say I’m bent and I’ve heard it so many times that I’ve almost learned to accept it.
“I know I’m perfectly as capable of being swayed by a girl as by a boy. More and more people feel that way and I don’t see why I shouldn’t.“
In a 1973 interview, she added: “People are people. I basically want to be straight, I go from men to women, I don’t give a [expletive]. The catchphrase is: I can’t love a man. Now, that’s my hang-up. To love, to go to bed, fantastic but to love a man is my prime ambition. They frighten me.”
Join HELLO! as we look inside Dusty’s relationships with famous singers and actresses, including a marriage that was never legally recognised.
Norma Tanega
Between 1966 and 1972, Dusty was in a relationship with songwriter Norma Tanega, with the pair living together in both the UK and the US. Norma wrote some of Dusty’s hits, including No Stranger Am I and The Colour of Your Eyes.
The pair first crossed paths when American-born Norma headed to the UK to promote her own music. As part of her press tour, she appeared on ITV’s Ready Steady Go!, where Dusty was also making an appearance.
Despite Norma heading back to America following her press tour, she remained in touch with the singer, racking up a huge phone bill for several transatlantic calls with Dusty.
Speaking to the journalist Penny Valentine about Dusty, Norma once remarked: “She was witty and flirty, how could you not love her?”
During their time together, they hosted many parties for Hollywood stars, with Norma’s future partner, Diane Divelbess once recalling: “Another time at a costume party, Dusty dressed up as Marie Antoinette. Norma didn’t need a costume, because she was just Norma. She was comfortable everywhere.”
Faye Harris
Sadly, not much is known about Dusty’s relationship with American photojournalist Faye Harris, but the pair had an on-off relationship between 1972 and 1978.
Carole Pope
In 1981, Dusty started dating Carole Pope, who was part of the Canadian rock band Rough Trade, most famous for their song High School Confidential. The couple were together for 18 months, but Carole later confessed in her memoir Anti Diva that the pair split due to Dusty’s substance abuse.
© Toronto Star via Getty ImagesSpeaking of their relationship, in the documentary Antidiva: The Carole Pope Confessions, the singer said: “Dusty was a powerhouse. I knew going into it that it was going to crash and burn. But she was worth it, fascinating and funny, a brilliant artist and ahead of her time. I never got tired of all her stories. She was with me, but in the closet and was tortured.”
Teda Bracci
Dusty’s final relationship was with the American actress Teda Bracci, known for her roles in The Big Bird Cage, Xanadu and Hocus Pocus. The pair first met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in 1982, moving in with each other the following year.
© Alamy Stock PhotoAlthough they exchanged wedding vows with one another, state law in California at the time didn’t officially recognise their relationship. The pair had a tempestuous relationship, culminating in Teda hitting Dusty in the face with a pan. Dusty lost teeth in the altercation and required plastic surgery, and the pair separated two years after they exchanged vows.
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