Clodagh Rodgers, former UK Eurovision contestant, dies at 78

Clodagh Rodgers, the UK’s Eurovision contestant in 1971, has died at the age of 78.

The news was confirmed on Saturday (April 19) by her son Sam Sorbie, who wrote on Facebook: “With a heavy heart, my dear beautiful mum Clodagh has sadly passed away after battling an illness for the last three years. She passed away peacefully yesterday surrounded by her family in Cobham.”

He went on to say that she had “lived an incredible life, full of love and happiness” and that “life will not be the same without Mum, but she will finally be at peace now with dad, nanny and pappa. We all love and miss her terribly.”

Rodgers was the UK’s entry in Eurovision 1971 with ‘Jack In The Box’, finishing fourth. Watch the track here:

A native of Warrenpoint, County Down, she was chosen to represent the United Kingdom at the heights of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, with the contest being held in Dublin that year. Coming from a Catholic family, her representation of the UK led to her becoming the target of kidnap threats from the IRA, who considered her to have been a traitor to Ireland.

At the time, Rodgers was a successful solo artist, scoring top ten singles with ‘Come Back And Shake Me’ and ‘Goodnight Midnight’ in 1969. ‘Jack In The Box’ also made Number Four in the UK and Number Five in Ireland.

She had been singing live since she was 12 years old and left school at 15, when her father secured her an audition for a record company, which proved successful. Her family moved to England to pursue her career, but it took several years for her to have a commercial breakthrough.

Following her Eurovision success, Rodgers spent much of her career appearing on high-profile TV shows such as The Two Ronnies, Sunday Night At The London Palladium and The Morecambe And Wise Show. She also had a stage career, starring in Talk Of The Town and Cinderella in the West End in London.

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