Antwerp, Belgium

1945

Born in Antwerp in 1945, Ann Christy began her career performing with the Adams Orchestra and touring across Belgium and France with Salvatore Adamo. After failing three times to progress from her homeland's Eurovision Song Contest selection process, she finally got the chance to represent her country in Stockholm in 1975 with "Gelukkig Zijn," a half-Dutch, half-English track that finished a disappointing 15th. After a lengthy stint in a musical adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, she scored a massive hit in 1980 with a cover of Bette Midler's "The Rose." But after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, she tragically died at the age of only 38 in 1984. ~ Jon O'Brien