Julie Grant

Vivien Foreman was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, on 12 July 1946 and relocated as a small child to Cape Town (South Africa) with her family.

The family eventually returned to England after four-and-a-half years, where she attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and grew up in Leeds, where her family ran a guest house.

She trained in dance and opera, singing with a local orchestra on weekends. During this time, she beat Helen Shapiro in a talent contest at a Brighton holiday camp.

At the age of 15, she was discovered by singer Frankie Vaughan and signed with Pye Records, adopting the stage name ‘Julie Grant’  (taken from the name of her father’s accountant, Julian Grant).

Her debut single, Somebody Tell Him, was released in March 1962 – the first of fifteen singles, all produced by Pye producer Tony Hatch.

Her fourth single, a cover of The Drifters‘ Up On The Roof, provided her chart debut at #33. Despite being beaten by a rival UK release by Kenny Lynch (which reached #5), Grant gained a series of television guest spots and a place on a British package tour which also featured The Rolling Stones, The Everly Brothers and Bo Diddley.

Her follow-up single, the Tony Hatch composition Count on Me (March 1963), reached #24 – her best chart placing in the UK. She achieved a third and final UK chart hit with Come to Me (August 1964), which reached #31.

In 1967, Julie Grant joined The Zaras, a Spanish-based lounge act that toured Europe and the US, where the group made Las Vegas their home base from 1970. She performed with The Zaras throughout the Caribbean, Canada, and America until 1975, playing casinos, resorts and cruise ships.

She eventually branched out as a solo act until she retired from performing in 1994 to work as a booking agent in the US.