Scottish singer and Broadway performer Lena Martell has died at the age of 86.
She was the first solo Scottish female singer to top the UK singles chart with her cover of the song One Day at a Time in 1979.
Born Helen Thomson in Glasgow, Martell recorded a number of albums over the years and performed in New York and Las Vegas alongside Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Barbara Streisand.
She became a familiar entertainment star in the 1970s when she hosted her own BBC prime time television show for about a decade.
In posts on social media, fans paid tribute to Martell and shared memories of listening to her chart-topping single.
Fellow Scottish singer Barbara Dickson said she was sad to hear of Martell's death.
She said: "She had a lovely melodious quality to her voice and I remember my late father admiring her quiet talent".
Martell first started singing as a child with her elder brother's band before she went on to perform with the Jimmie McGregor Band at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow as a singer.
As a teenager, Martell appeared on a 1950s ITV show called Find the Singer.
She received her first recording contract at 16.
Her musical career took her overseas and she eventually left the UK to work on Broadway, where she understudied Streisand in Funny Girl.
The singer performed on cruise ships and in cabarets and concert halls, spending extensive periods in the United States.
In the 1970s, Martell had her own BBC television series, which saw her singing and chatting to different big-name guests in front of audiences of more than 12 million every week.
Her early studio albums were released under the Pye record label
Martell's cover of the song One Day at a Time, written by Marijohn Wilkin and Kris Kristofferson, reached the top of the UK singles chart for three weeks in October 1979.
The single sold almost three million copies and earned her a place in the Guinness Book of World Records when it stayed in the charts for 36 weeks.
She went on to place six albums in the UK albums chart between 1974 and 1980, including four in the top 20.
Martell faced a series of health problems throughout her life.
She was diagnosed with cancer and later underwent a triple heart bypass – a surgical procedure which uses a blood vessel from somewhere else in the body to create another way for blood to reach the heart muscle.
After her recovery, Martell returned to the stage and continued to perform at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow.
It is understood she died at a care home after a short illness.



