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Jenny Hill
Jenny Hill
British music hall performer
1
Vesta Tilley
Vesta Tilley
English music hall performer and male impersonator
2
Bessie Bonehill
Bessie Bonehill
English vaudeville performer
3
Kitty Colyer
Kitty Colyer
British music hall performer and politician
4
Marie Lloyd
Marie Lloyd
English singer, comedian and actress (1870–1922)
5
Ella Shields
Ella Shields
Music hall, male impersonator
6
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
American jazz singer
7
Bessie Wentworth
Bessie Wentworth
8
Nelly Power
Nelly Power
British singer
9
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
American blues singer
10
Vesta Victoria
Vesta Victoria
English comedian (1873-1951)
11
Denise Orme
Denise Orme
singer and actress
12
Ada Reeve
Ada Reeve
British actor and singer
13
Kitty Brown
Kitty Brown
American classic female blues singer
14
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
American jazz singer
15
Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele
British entertainer
16
Wee Georgie Wood
Wee Georgie Wood
British comedian
17
Alfred Vance
Alfred Vance
English singer
18
George Leybourne
George Leybourne
British singer and comedian
19
Big Mama Thornton
Big Mama Thornton
American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter
Bessie Bellwood
British entertainer

Bessie Bellwood

Intro
British entertainer
Genres
Bessie Bellwood- detail from a sheet music cover

Bessie Bellwood (born Catherine Mahoney; 30 March 1856 – 24 September 1896) was a popular music hall performer of the Victorian era noted for her singing of 'Coster' songs, including "What Cheer Ria". Her onstage persona was that of an abrasive but loveable character with an ability to argue down even the toughest of hecklers.

Born in London, she made her music hall debut in Bermondsey, London. She became popular with cockney working-class audiences, and went on to appear on the same bill as Jenny Hill at the Canterbury Theatre of Varieties and the same bill as Vesta Tilley at Carlo Gatti's Charing Cross Music Hall. Off-stage, she became a popular figure in London for her many charitable donations to the poor. In later life Bellwood suffered from alcoholism as well as financial troubles and bankruptcy. With her health in decline, she died at her home in London, aged 40.